The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department will hold a series of peace meetings with Caste Hindus and Dalits in Thenmudiyanur village in Thandrampattu block of Tiruvannamalai district in the coming week to conduct the annual post-Pongal festival that involves various communities of the village.
Speaking to The Hindu, M. Jothi Lakshmi, Joint Commissioner, HR&CE (Tiruvannamalai), said that petitions have been submitted by members of both communities on the festival to the department last week. Dalits want to have the festival in the temple, whereas Caste Hindus have decided to stay away from the festival.
As per tradition followed by residents in the village, the festival commences on the third day after Pongal and will be held for 13 days, providing each community in the village to conduct rituals and poojas as per their tradition at the Muthalamman Temple, which is maintained by the HR&CE.
However, it has been said that caste Hindus are reportedly not willing to conduct the rituals in the temple this year. They sought permission from HR&CE officials to conduct rituals on a private individual land where an idol has been placed by members of Caste Hindus a few days ago.
In such a scenario, only dalits will be performing the ritual on the specified day given by the HR&CE . “The festival is for 13 days. It cannot be done for a single day by one community alone. A mid-path will be found to resolve the issue,” Ms. Lakshmi said.
It was on January 30, 2023, when dalits entered the temple for the first time in over 70 years in the presence of Collector, B. Murugesh, P. Karthikeyan, SP, Revenue Divisional Officer and HR&CE officials.
More than 300 police personnel were deployed to ensure peace in the village on the occasion. Subsequently, the temple was closed until last September when dalits sought the re-opening of the temple to conduct daily poojas. Since then, the temple has remained open on all days for worship.
However, Caste Hindus have not visited the temple since its re-opening last September. Meanwhile, they mobilised funds from the public especially from Caste Hindus in the village and made the bronze idol for consecration on a private individual land. “They [Caste Hindus] can worship anywhere they want. However, if it becomes a temple even built on private land, everyone including Dalits should be allowed for worship. That’s our demand,” said K. Sivakumar, district secretary, CPI(M), Tiruvannamalai.
Mr. Sivakumar has been spearheading the campaign for dalits in the village. With the appointment of a new Collector, D. Bhaskara Pandian, who was the collector of the neighbouring Tirupattur district, dalits in the village are planning to meet him to inform him about the conditions faced by them in the village and resolve the issue amicably.
