A decade after a temple in Tamil Nadu was shut down to prevent the entry of lowered caste residents, on Wednesday, June 28, an inter-caste couple and their families entered it with police protection. The couple, Sudha, who belongs to the Paraiyar community (Scheduled Caste, SC), and Suresh, who is from the dominant Vanniyar caste, entered the Mariamman temple in Veppamarathur village of Dharmapuri district, amidst protests and opposition from the Vanniyars of the village. On the day of their entry, a second consecration ceremony was held at the Mariamman temple to mark its reopening after 10 years, to which the couple were initially denied entry due to their inter-caste status.
Sudha and Suresh married in 2010, and the latter’s Vanniyar family was accepting of their inter-caste relationship. Initially, Sudha’s lowered caste status was hidden from the residents of Veppamarathur, from where Suresh hails. In 2013, the residents built a Mariamman temple and conducted a consecration ceremony, to which Suresh’s family contributed Rs 14,000 in ‘temple tax’. However, residents soon learned that Sudha is a Dalit. “When they came to know about Sudha's caste, they refused to let her or us participate in the temple festival that was held 48 days after the consecration,” recalled Ramesh, Suresh’s brother. “Later, they returned the Rs 14,000 that we had paid and ostracised us,” he added.
Not only did Sudha, Suresh, and their family face ostracisation in the village, the dominant caste residents closed the temple soon after the consecration to prevent Sudha or other Paraiyars in the village from entering the temple. “Our community members were not ready to accept Sudha and they feared that this one instance would lead more Paraiyars to enter the temple. So they simply kept the temple closed for the last 10 years,” Ramesh said. Veppamarathur has 110 Vanniyar households and nearly 200 Dalit households.
Sudha filed a police complaint against 22 Vanniyar residents in 2013. The perpetrators were acquitted by the District and Sessions Court, Dharmapuri, in 2022. “We filed a petition regarding the same with the Madras High Court and perpetrators were issued a notice,” Sudha said.
“As a Dalit woman, I have faced a lot of caste discrimination in the village,” Sudha stated. “They first ostracised us, nobody was willing to talk to us. With each passing day, their discrimination became severe. The Vanniyars used to even clean the hand pipes after I fetched water,” she added.
Talking to TNM, Suresh said that their community leader ordered the residents to not maintain any social relationship with him or his family. “We were not allowed to participate in social gatherings, family functions, or any festivals. Some residents were fined just because they talked to us,” Suresh explained.
Ten years after the first consecration ceremony, in 2023, the Vanniyars announced the re-opening of the same Mariamman temple and a second consecration ceremony. Yet again, the inter-caste couple faced severe discrimination from the Vanniyars when they expressed their wish to participate in the temple festival. The Vanniyars were firm on not allowing the couple and their families into the temple and refused to collect the tax from them.
Questioning the discrimination, Sudha and Suresh approached the Village Administrative Officer (VAO), as a result of which, on Sunday, June 25, the VAO conducted a peace talk. However, the Vanniyars stood firm in their decision. The VAO later brought the issue to the attention of high officials including the tahsildar and the Superintendent of Police, Dharmapuri.
Following this, the inspector of Bommidi police station arranged a meeting between Sudha, Suresh, their family, and some of the Vanniyar leaders on Monday, June 26. Even though the Vanniyars agreed to the temple entry in the presence of the police, they backtracked on the promises as soon as the police inspector left. A Community Service Register (CSR) was filed against Vanniyar residents Venkatesan, Durai, Thangaraj, Anbu, Murugesan, and former Godali Panchayat president Ranganathan. It is to be noted that Ranganathan was among those who opposed Sudha’s entry to the temple in 2013.
On the evening of June 26, six Vanniyars reportedly consumed payasam laced with poison to mark their opposition to the inter-caste couple’s temple entry. Ramya, Kavitha, Alamelu, Thenmozhi, Amutha, and Vijayalakshmi, who consumed the poison were rushed to the Dharmapuri Government Hospital. Bommodi police told TNM that they are out of danger.
Following this incident, on June 27, one more peace meeting was conducted in the presence of the Deputy Superintendent of Police, the Bommidi inspector, VAO, revenue officials, and Pappireddipatti AIADMK MLA Govindasamy.
During the meeting, Pattali Makkal Katchi councillor Murugan opposed the entry of the inter-caste couple. To prevent the situation from escalating, the police warned the Vanniyar residents and issued a deadline for them to accept the conditions of temple entry. On JUne 27 evening, 15 Vanniyars signed a document allowing the inter-caste couple and their families to enter the temple. “They let us enter the temple today, but they continue to refuse to collect the temple tax from us,” Ramesh added, alluding to possible discrimination in the future.