ON AUGUST 14, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin handed over appointment orders to priests, 24 of them non-Brahmins, in temples that come under the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department. Posts for othuvars (hymn reciters), poosaris, mahouts and garland stringers were also filled.
“With these appointments, the wish of our leader Karunanidhi—who sought to fulfil Periyar’s dream of making people of all castes archakas (priests)— has been realised. It was achieved after drawn-out legal battles,” said HR&CE Minister P.K. Sekar Babu.
Periyar E.V. Ramasamy had held a meeting on the issue a week before his death in 1973. Karunanidhi had, in May 2006, passed a special government order facilitating the appointment of qualified archakas of all castes. A decade and a half later, Stalin has gone a step further with the appointments. “This has been a long battle and the new appointments are a triumph of Stalin and the DMK, who follow in the footsteps of Periyar,” says political observer and academic P. Ramajayam.
A week after the appointments, a series of writ petitions were filed in the Madras High Court assailing the appointment of non-Brahmin priests. Stalin had challenged the domain of the rightwing groups, particularly the BJP, which had been trying to “liberate temples from the clutches of the government”. The party’s manifesto for this year’s assembly elections had promised to curtail the HR&CE department’s powers. It proposed handing over administration of Hindu temples to a separate board consisting of Hindu scholars and saints.
Bu hikaye THE WEEK dergisinin September 26, 2021 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye THE WEEK dergisinin September 26, 2021 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
What Will It Take To Clean Up Delhi Air?
IT IS ASKED, year after year, why Delhi’s air remains unbreathable despite several interventions to reduce pollution.
Trump and the crisis of liberalism
Although Donald Trump's election to a non-consecutive second term to the US presidency is not unprecedented—Grover Cleveland had done it in 1893—it is nevertheless a watershed moment.
Men eye the woman's purse
A couple of months ago, I chanced upon a young 20-something man at my gym walking out with a women’s sling bag.
When trees hold hands
A filmmaker explores the human-nature connect through the living root bridges
Ms Gee & Gen Z
The vibrant Anuja Chauhan and her daughter Nayantara on the generational gap in romance writing
Vikram Seth-a suitable man
Our golden boy of literature was the star attraction at the recent Shillong Literary Festival in mysterious Meghalaya.
Superman bites the dust
When my granddaughter Kim was about three, I often took her to play in a nearby park.
OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Meet G. Govinda Menon, the 102-year-old engineer who had a key role in surveying the Vizhinjam coast in the 1940s, assessing its potential for an international port
Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets
THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET has delivered a strong 11 per cent CAGR over the past decade, with positive returns for eight straight years.
Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay
AFTER A ROARING bull market over the past year, equity markets in the recent months have gone into a correction mode as FIIs go on a selling spree. Volatility has risen and investment returns are hurt.