KOCHI: Kerala scripted history by apponting as many as 36 non-Brahmins, including six Dalits, as priests in temples across the state last week. The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which appointed them, manages at least 1,248 shrines, including the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala.Kerala’s priests have created history earlier too. In 1936, they threw open temples to all Hindus by birth or faith irrespective of caste through the ‘Temple Entry Proclamation’.
Now Kerala has ensured reservation, required by law, with the appointment of Dalits as priests under a transparent merit system. This is the first time that six people from the Scheduled Caste community have been recommended as priests.Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran indicated that more such appointments were likely. There are 3,000 vacancies in temples controlled by five temple boards, TDB, Cochin Devaswom, Malabar Devaswom, Guruvayur Devaswom and Koodalmanikayam Devaswom.
A bigger surprise may be in store for the Hindu faithful of the country where women are worshipped as goddesses are usually not permitted to perform tantric rituals.An 18-year old girl is breaking barriers of gender and age. Jyotsna Padmanabhan, a second-year BA Sanskrit student at the Sree Sankara College, Kalady, is performing the rituals at the Sree Krishna Temple, Ponjanam, near Kattoor.
“I’ve been exposed to all tantric rituals practised in the Kerala temples right from childhood, and I got opportunities to interact with acharyans and scholars in the field,” said Jyotsna. “I’ve been doing all pujas at the Sree Krishna Temple as an upasana, but I’m not interested in pursuing tantra as a career,” said Jyotsna. She says she wants to devote more time to the study of tantric rituals that “awaken the dormant potential force in human beings”. Jyotsna’s father and the temple’s chief priest Padmanabhan Naboothiripad of Tharanellur Thekkiniyedathu Mana says neither any Hindu text, nor the tantric tradition prohibits women from performing the rituals.
“The male-dominated society always kept women away from tantric rituals and traditions citing precedence. In fact, women are the best to perform tantric rituals in temples because they are creators and they have the quality to purify themselves. No man can purify himself like a woman does and it is very important considering that all these rituals are an upasana,” said Naboothiripad.
Thriprayar Sri Rama Temple priest Tharanellur Veluthedathu Padmanabhan Namboothiripad started teaching Jyotsna the basics and nuances when she was just seven.Akkeeramon Kalidasa Bhattathirippad, vice president of All India Brahmin Federation, said ancient texts do not forbid women from performing pujas and rituals prescribed by tantric traditions. The only thing is that the woman who wishes to perform the rituals should follow the customs laid down by acharyas from the past such as abstaining from temple premises whey are menstruating, he said.
Recent Developments
2006:
DMK regime headed by Karunanidhi issues GO on May 23 stating that members of all castes can become archakas provided they have necessary training about temple rituals and other practices
December, 2015:
SC gives verdict, but it is ambiguous and fails to make an impact
August 2017:
Non-Brahmin archakas move HC seeking directions to evolve a scheme for appointing them as priests in Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments-run temples
October 5:
Travancore Devaswom Board appoints 36 non-Brahmins, including six dalits, as priests