Happy to end hegemony over priesthood, says women Othuvars
Bharkavi was one among the five women Othuvars, out of the total 15 persons received appointment orders as Othuvars.
Minister for HR&CE P K Sekarbabu handed over the appointment orders to the five women Othuvars on Monday.
CHENNAI: Thirty-five-year-old K Bharkavi is on cloud nine to continue her passion to be Othuvar and expressed that she was “excited” to break the hegemony and gender inequality in the priesthood.
Bharkavi was one among the five women Othuvars, out of the total 15 persons received appointment orders as Othuvars.
“I am happy to break the gender inequality in the priesthood, which is being dominated by our counterparts, and represent our (women) community,” said the mother of a 10-year-old girl.
She completed a four-year course on Thevaram and Thiruvasagam. She was appointed to the Thiruvalleeswarar temple in Padi. “I am happy for my wife. Today, her dream came true,” said Bharkavi’s husband Kamalakannan, a native of Anna Nagar West.
Four others - M Dharani (Agastheeswarar temple -Villivakkam), P Sarumathi (Siddi Buddi Vinayagar temple - Royapettah), Sivaranjani (Mundakanni Amman temple - Mylapore) and M Komathi (Sivasubramaniya Swamy temple - Saidapet) - have also received appoint order along with 10 other Othuvars from Minister for HR&CE P K Sekarbabu.
They thanked Chief Minister M K Stalin and the minister for giving them the opportunity to pursue their passion for singing hymns in the sanctum sanctorum of the temples. They echoed that there were hundreds of qualified women Othuvars in the state and appealed to the government to give them opportunities to continue their passion.
The Minister said in addition to the five women Othuvars, who had been appointed earlier, the department now issued appointment orders to five more women Othuvars. “We are giving priority to women, who completed Archaka and Othurvar courses, in appointing them as priests and Othuvars in the temples,” said the Minister and recalling the appointment of the state’s first woman priest Suhanjana Gopinath in 2021.
He continued that 107 out of the 180 postings of Othuvars have been filled up. The remaining vacancies would also be filled up soon.
Stating that the Tamil Nadu government’s Anaithu Saathiyinarum Achagar Agalam scheme has been receiving good response from the people of the state, the minister said the resolution proposed in the assembly in 1970 by then chief minister M Karunanidhi paid way for this and created opportunities for all Hindus, irrespective of the caste, to become priests.
It may be recalled that three women received the Archakar course completion certificate recently. They would be enrolled as trainee priests for a period of one year in major temples in the state to help them experience the rituals and poojas. They would be assisting the senior priests in the respective temples during the training period.