Dalits enter TN temple after 400-year wait

A group of Dalits broke a 400-year-old ban on their entry in a temple in Anaiyur Kokkulam village in Madurai of Tamil Nadu.

It was not an easy entry for the Dalits, who had been fighting the villagers, who prevented them from entering the temple for over 400 years. When the Dalits approached the Madurai bench of Madras High Court, the Court ordered the Madurai District Administration to ensure that the Dalits get an entry into the temple and they were also asked to report the matter to the Court.

As a result, Madurai District Collector S Aneesh Sekhar ordered officials of the revenue department, including Divisional Revenue Officer and the tehsildar to implement the order.  These officials and police personnel held meetings with the villagers for over a week, but the meetings turned out to be futile as the villagers refused to agree to their entry. However, when they were told about the High Court order, some village elders, agreed to allow temple entry to the Dalits. However, this was not before they took an “approval” from god.

Finally, the Dalits entered the temple in the presence of revenue officials. The temple is under the control of the Kallar community, considered a Most Backward Class and the Kallars have been preventing the Dalits from entering the temple. The Dalits were allowed to offer prayers from outside the temple. Strangely, the temple priest is a Dalit. However, the priest refused the puja for the Dalits, even though the revenue officials asked him to perform the rituals for the Dalits.

Anaiyur Kokkulam village of Tirumangalam panchayat union is surrounded by six villages. Among all of them, Piramalai Kallars, categorised as Most Backward Class (MBC) are dominant in all the villages. The Arulmigu Karupannaswamy temple also known as Sri Pekkaman Karuppasamy temple is almost 400 years old and is said to be under the control of the Kallars. Although the priest at the temple, Muthiah is a Dalit, other members of his community were restricted from entering the temple and are only allowed to offer prayers from the temple entrance, until now.