CHENNAI: The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) Department has sought detailed reports from all regions in the state about the discrimination being meted out to non-Brahmin archakas appointed by the state government in 2021 in several temples.
Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu Association for Trained Archakas, has urged Chief Minister MK Stalin to enact a special legislation to address the issue of discrimination and ensure appointment of archakas from all castes in all temples, including ‘agamic’ temples.
When asked whether the state government is devising a mechanism to structurally address concerns of discrimination and ill-treatment allegedly being meted out to non-Brahmin archakas, HR and CE Commissioner PN Sridhar told TNIE that the department has sought detailed zone-wise reports from senior officials on the issue and steps would be taken based on the reports.
In 2021, the DMK government appointed 24 non-Brahmin archakas to various temples and four more were appointed later. The appointments, however, were challenged before various courts and a few cases are still pending before the Supreme Court.
TNIE spoke to many of these non-Brahmin archakas from across the state, who confirmed that they are not being treated equally. Their identities have not been revealed based on their request.
Many archakas alleged that since the law is against open discrimination, Brahmin priests do not confront or openly discriminate against them but the bias was subtle. Other priests rarely maintain any friendly relationship with us, non-Brahmin archakas said.
One of the non-Brahmin archakas said, "Initially, I was not allowed to perform puja at all. After the intervention of officials, Brahmin archakas were asked to perform puja till afternoon and I’ll handle the evening work. But the Brahmin archakas take away all the garlands offered to the presiding deity till afternoon, except one."
“Every morning, the garlands offered to the deity the previous day are given to devotees. But since I am taking care of the evening pujas, the garlands offered to the deity in the evenings go to the garbage bin. Also, the Brahmin priests remove the silver kavachams from the deities when their duty is over. We have to get them back from the authorities and decorate the deities again," they added.
Another non-Brahmin archaka said, "I was not allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum of the presiding deity. I have been allowed to perform puja only to the parivara devatas around the temple corridors."
A few of the non-Brahmin archakas said they faced difficulties in finding rental houses in rural areas because of their caste.
Since salary is fixed based on the grade of the temple, the non-Brahmin priests said they are also struggling to make ends meet. One of them revealed that they are managing their routine with the offerings given by the devotees and the amount earned through performing pujas in houses.
Some of them said that an encouraging sign is that the people in some bigger towns don't inquire about their caste.
"Since they see us in the temple, they invite us to perform pujas at home. To be safe, we also do not reveal our caste," said another archaka.
However, in some places, devotees prefer only Brahmin priests, they said.
A couple of non-Brahmin priests told TNIE that they did not face any problems since there were no Brahmin archakas in their temples.
V Ranganathan, president of the Tamil Nadu Association for Trained Archakas, told TNIE that the stay issued by the SC for the appointment of archakas to agamic temples is in force. Several cases against the appointment of priests from all castes are pending before the Madras High Court. A special legislation is needed to overcome all these hurdles, he said.
More than 100 persons completed archaka training courses in 2008 and all of them should be appointed. Ranganatham further said that the goal of non-Brahmin archakas entering the sanctum sanctorum of agamic temples like Meenakshi temple in Madurai, Ranganathar temple in Srirangam, and Kapaleeswarar temple in Chennai still remained a dream.
Ranganathan said 178 non-Brahmin archakas who have completed appropriate training given by the government have been waiting for their appointment orders for the past 16 years. About 204 persons who have completed their training from 2021 are also waiting for jobs, he said.
When asked about the remedial measures for ensuring equality among the Brahmin and non-Brahmin priests in HR and CE temples, C Lakshmanan, retired faculty of Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS), said, "The government should implement the rule of law. When the government appoints non-Brahmin archakas, others should treat them equally. Those who fail to do this should be punished and made known to all so that it would act as a deterrent to others. If the government ignores this issue, it will aggravate further.”