A peace meeting has been convened by the tahsildar of Mandya taluk on Thursday to resolve the row over entry of devotees to Sri Beereshwara Swamy Temple in Cheeranahalli village in the district.
The peace meeting has been convened in the wake of a fresh controversy that had broken in the village after the priest of the temple placed a table across the main entrance creating hurdles for the devotees allegedly to deny entry into the temple to Dalits.
Though complaints about the denial of entry to Dalits into the centuries-old Sri Beereshwara Swamy Temple of Cheeranahalli and their participation in the procession of the deity had surfaced earlier this year too, the same had been resolved following the intervention of the Mandya taluk administration officials a meeting of representatives of various castes and village elders.
But, the complaints had erupted again last month when the temple priest placed a table across the entrance to the temple allegedly to deny entry to Dalits, thereby creating hurdles for all the devotees.
Taking cognizance of the complaint lodged by advocate Lakshman Cheeranahalli, the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Mandya district had written to the tahsildar of Mandya taluk on April 17, 2024 to take necessary steps to ensure that all devotees had equal rights to enter the temple, which is a C category temple belonging to the Muzrai Department.
In a notice dated April 29, the tahsildar of Mandya taluk had convened a peace meeting in the temple premises at 11.30 am on May 2 in connection with ensuring that there is no discrimination among the devotees to enter the temple and have a darshan of the deity.
The tahsildar had directed the temple priest to inform the village elders and leaders of different castes and communities in the village to attend the peace meeting.
However, Mr. Lakshman Cheeranahalli has taken serious exception to the action of the temple priest to deploy tom-tom drum beaters to announce the peace meeting and asking one person from each house to attend the meeting.
He expressed concern over a large number of people gathering for the peace meeting, leading to disturbance. Such an approach may not help bring about harmony in the village, Mr. Cheeranahalli said and urged the Deputy Commissioner of Mandya to ensure that the row over entry of devotees to the temple is resolved in a sensitive manner.
