PATHANAMTHITTA: A group of devotees led by the SNDP Joint Committee had a darshan at the Kakkat Koikkal Sree Dharmashasta temple at Perunad in the Pathanamthitta district wearing shirts.
They defied the custom of the shrine in protest of the Irinjalakuda Koodalmanikyam temple incident.
On March 23 at around 9 am, a group under the SNDP joint committee visited the temple under the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB). After lining up in a queue, each devotee wearing a shirt offered prayers before the deity.
The joint committee members said the act was a protest against the incident at Koodalmanikyam in Irinjalakkuda, where the temple priest had decided to stay away from rituals following the appointment of a man belonging to a 'lower' caste as kazhakam -- a temple staffer assigned to make floral garments for the deity and to oversee preparations for rituals.
Challenging the traditional dress code norms, the protest was conducted in a peaceful atmosphere without any intervention. Police were at the spot. However, they did not interfere in the matter.
"Devaswom board is showing discrimination towards SNDP. When PSC provides a post to someone, they are being targeted. We are protesting against it," VK Vasudevan, a leader of the joint union said.
He said the devotees are taking a massive movement against such discrimination. The protest was in support of the Sivagiri Mutt president Swami Sachidananda's recent opinion.
The seer had asked the temples under the control of the Mutt and SNDP Yogam to give up rituals that prohibit male devotees who visit temples from wearing upper garments.
Koikkal Sree Dharmashasta temple in Pathanamthitta district is an integral part of rituals related to sacred jewels of the deity in Sabarimala, a major hill shrine in the country.