CHENNAI: After the Kerala government’s decision to appoint non-Brahmins as temple priests, Tamil Nadu, a State where the idea was propagated strongly as part of Dravidian politics, is seeing renewed calls from political party leaders for a change.But despite policy decisions being taken, no non-Brahmin has so far been allowed inside the sanctum sanctorum of government-administered temples.
It was the DMK regimes headed by M Karunanidhi that took two major steps in this regard: first in 1970, the government abolished the practice of hereditary succession of priests, and then in 2006, it amended the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE) Act to pave way for appointment of non-Brahmins as archakas, and ordered training for them.
As many as 207 men were trained in 2007; but a decade since, not one have been employed in any of the HR & CE temples due to the allegedly ambiguous verdict by the Supreme Court in 2015.
Many, like 29-year-old R Arun from Sivaganga, are working in small temples in villages after failing to get a job despite sending several petitions. “There were 35 of us who trained at Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple,” said Arun, who belongs to most backward caste (MBC) Agamudaiyar community, and works as a priest at a Mariamman temple in Athur near Salem.
They earn a little extra by doing poojas at devotees’ homes, but a government job is still a distant dream. “I am not earning enough to meet my expenditures. Due to family pressure, I am working in a private company in Chennai,” says N Thirumurugan (32) from Natrampalli in Vellore district. A member of the Kulalar community (MBC), he was trained at the Parthasarathy temple in Triplicane, Chennai.
Many of them accept offers to conduct poojas and rituals, including Graha Pravesam and marriages, at the households of their community members. “There is no problem for me as a priest. In our areas, there are backward community families who accept me as priest,” said G Balaguru (32), from Nathankinaru in Tirunelveli, hailing from Parayar community (Scheduled Caste).
Sabarinathan, a 29-year-old hailing from the Vettuvagoundar community (MBC), said he had attended some interviews in government temples, including Bannari Mariamman temple, where his application was rejected quoting temple customs. He now works as a priest at a Vinayaka temple in Maravapalayam in Karur that is not under the HR and CE Department.
According to activists, the pause in this move was due to the ambiguity in Supreme Court verdict. Though the verdict upheld the State government’s right to appoint members of all castes as priests, another part of the verdict thwarted the objective by stating, “appointment of archakas in temples following Agama rituals of individual temples concerned would continue”.
“Since that verdict in 2015, there have been no signs of appointment of any non-Brahmin archakas in the government temples although the verdict empowered it to appoint qualified persons from other communities as archakas,” said S Senthilnathan, counsel for the non-Brahmin archakas trained by the State government.If one were to go strictly by the norms, there is hardly any temple in Tamil Nadu following Agamas strictly. Though there are 26 Agamas in Hindu tradition, only a few — Karana Agamam, Kamiya Agamam and Bahula Agamam in Saivite temples and Pacharathra Agamam and Vaikanasa Agamam in Vaishnavite temples — are in practice. “So, the argument that appointing archakas according to the agamas is meaningless in today’s context,” he contended.
In August, Sabarinathan, one of the trained archakas, filed a writ before the High Court seeking direction to evolve a scheme to appoint them. “As per the report of Justice AK Rajan Committee in 2006, there is no mention about caste either in Vedas or Agamas saying that only persons of a particular caste could perform poojas. There is absolutely no authority that says persons belonging to a particular caste alone are eligible to perform poojas in Saivite, Vaishavite or Amman temples,” he said.