The Madras High Court on Thursday directed Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department to ensure that all devotees, without any caste discrimination whatsoever, are allowed to participate in the ongoing Chithirai-Vaigasi festival at Droupadi Amman temple at Marakkanam in Villupuram district.
The summer vacation bench of Justices B. Pugalendhi and V. Lakshminarayanan passed the orders while disposing of a public interest litigation petition filed by local resident B. Nagaraj who complained to the court that the Scheduled Caste people were being sidelined from the 22-day temple festival that commenced on May 14.
In his affidavit, the petitioner said the temple had a list of 22 Ubayadharars (donors) for conduct of the festival but, ironically, no one from the Scheduled Caste had been included in the list. Though it was a public temple and not a denominational temple, rampant discrimination was being practised unabashedly, he said.
The petitioner said that the HR&CE Department had intervened and taken control of the administration of the temple by appointing the Executive Officer of Bommeishwaran temple in Marakkanam as the Fit Person of Droupadi Amman temple in February this year. Yet, the dominant caste groups continued to discriminate others, he lamented.
