Dalits from Thenmudiyanur village near Thandrampet of Tiruvannamalai district entered the Muthumariamman temple for the first time in 80 years on Monday, January 30. Hundreds of Dalits entered the temple and worshipped the deity, even as caste Hindus from different communities like Udayar, Agamudaiyar, Reddy, Naidu, Chettiyar, and Vanniyar, reneged upon an earlier commitment and picketed the temple in protest.
The 80-year-old Muthumariamman temple has been under the control of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department (HR&CE) for the last three decades. Caste Hindus in Thenmudiyanur celebrated the 12-day-long Pongal festival in the temple where Dalits also wanted to be a part of the celebrations. But the caste Hindus refused to allow them to participate. The Dalits then petitioned the HR&CE Department to take the initiative to let them enter the temple. Based on their petition, the HR&CE conducted an inquiry and on Wednesday, January 25, Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) Mandhagini held a peace committee meeting with village residents. The caste Hindus initially opposed the idea but eventually agreed on Dalits' entry to the temple starting from Monday.
Anticipating trouble, Tiruvannamalai SP Karthikeyan deployed police in large numbers around and inside the temple on January 29. Security was beefed up in the locality due to the protest and to prevent untoward events. Caste Hindus, especially Udayars and Agamudaiyars, gathered on Monday morning and staged a protest against Dalits' entry. District administration and police officials scrambled to have another peace meeting with caste Hindus to convince them to withdraw the protest. After the meeting, District Collector (DC) Murugesh, SP Karthikeyan, HR&CE Joint Commissioner Ashok Kumar, RDO Mandhagini, and Thandrampet Tahsildar Parimala accompanied the Dalits and offered their prayers. People from the Dalit community entered the temple with garlands, fruits and pongal dishes to offer to the deity.
After the entry to one Muthumariamman temple, people belong to Dalit community prepare Pongal to offer the Deity in #Thenmudiyanur of #Thiruvannamalai district pic.twitter.com/bIIRyZwEf8
— Nithya (@NityaPandian) January 30, 2023
“Our village strength is nearly 7,200 and it consists of more than 10 castes. But Dalits are more in number and our population is around 2,500,” said 41-year-old Murugan, a resident of Thenmudiyanur, who entered the temple for the first time. According to him, Dalits from the village tried to enter the temple 50 years ago, but the caste Hindus were against their entry and denied their right saying that the temple would become impure if Dalits entered.
“In 2019, we raised our concerns with HR&CE and the district administration. The officials gave a nod but again, the caste Hindus were against our wish. After struggling for nearly 80 years, we went inside the temple and offered our prayers to the goddess Muthumariamman,” Murugan related.
Dalits in Thenmudiyanur constructed a small temple with the deity Mariamman. In the last 15 years, they developed this temple and offered prayers during the Pongal festival. In the Tamil month of Thai, each community in the village performed the temple ceremony where a car procession with the presiding deity was taken on the streets where they reside. This year, Dalits wanted to take the deity procession in Ambedkar Nagar and also wanted to participate in Jallikattu where a bull from each community would be released in the arena, but their demands were denied again. It was then that the Dalits approached the HR&CE Department to take the initiative to let them worship in the temple.
"This temple is common for all and it is under HR&CE so that anyone can come and offer their prayers. Security will be provided to all the people who are visiting the temple. If any problem arises in the future, the HR&CE will take full control of the temple," District Collector Murugesh said during a press meet.
This is the third time in a month that Dalits entered their village temples which were denied to them for decades. On December 27, Pudukkottai DC Kavita Ramu and SP Vandita Pandey took Vengavayal villagers to Sri Ayyanar temple located in nearby Eraiyur village. The entry by Dalits was made possible after the DC received complaints about the Dalits not being allowed entry into the temple. The DC was visiting Vengavayal village where the overhead water tank used by Dalits was contaminated by human excreta in December.
Four days later, Dalits entered Sri Varadharaja Perumal temple in Eduthavainatham village in Kallakurichi district where Dalits had been denied entry to the temple for around 200 years. The Dalit community brought the issue to the notice of the district administration. Following their complaint, Kallakurichi RDO S Pavithra held a peace meeting with villagers on December 27. A few days later, on January 2, more than 250 Dalits entered the temple and offered their prayers.
Watch: Dalits enter Tiruvannamalai temple after 80 years