It was the wish of members of the Scheduled Castes (SC) in Thenmudiyanur village in Tiruvannamalai district in Tamil Nadu to pay obeisance, at least once in their lifetime, at the Muthumariamman Temple which was built 80 years ago.
Dalits were restricted from entering the temple managed by the Hindu Religious and Endowments Department (HR & CE) and several efforts by the members of the marginalised community over the years failed to move the dominant caste in the village.
The 80-year-old wish was fulfilled on Monday with District Collector B Murugesh and Superintendent of Police K Karthikeyan leading the members from the SC community inside the temple, amid vociferous protests from nearly 1,000 women belonging to upper castes from the village who gathered outside the temple.
A procession of people from the SC community carrying loads of flowers and fruits entered the temple for the first time in 80 years. The district authorities offered prayers before the presiding deity along with the SC community.
The temple was locked two days ago following an altercation between members of the SC community and upper caste over allowing the former to enter the place of worship. The altercation began after members of the SC community filed a petition before HR & CE authorities seeking their permission to attend the 12-day annual festival of the temple.
“After an inquiry by the HR & CE department, it became clear that there was caste discrimination and we decided to allow members from the SC community inside the temple from Monday,” a senior district official told DH, adding that the village was brought under the control of police since Sunday evening apprehending protests from the upper caste.
Despite the heavy police presence, the villagers held a massive protest outside the temple premises against the HR & CE decision. The district collector, after failing to cool the tempers, warned that he will have to lock the temple if members from the SC community aren’t allowed inside as the place was built on government land.
“The district administration will ensure that all villagers irrespective of their caste are allowed to pray at the temple,” Murugesh said, before taking the SC members along with him inside the temple.
Shalini, a resident of the village, said they were thrilled to enter the temple. “We have never been inside the temple but today we were allowed not just to pray but also to make offerings to the deity,” she said.