1000 Dalits enter T’malai temple with protection

TIRUVANNAMALAI: Nearly 1,000 Dalits cooked Pongal and entered the 70-year-old Muthumariamman Temple at Thenmudiyur village in Thandarampattu taluk in Tiruvannamalai district on Monday with police protection. Though it was the practice to allow each community to participate in the Pongal festivities in the temple, Dalits were prevented from entering the temple for long.

A major confrontation was averted by huge police presence in the village on Monday. A peace committee was formed and it held talks, around 12 noon an agreement was reached between the Dalits and non-Dalit communities, some of the latter even threatening to immolate themselves over the issue.

BJP Dalit wing, Tiruvannamalai district general secretary Kubendran told DT Next, “We do not know why non-Dalits are preventing Dalits from entering the temple when it is a HR&CE facility over which no caste can claim ownership.”

However, Dalits accepted that they had a temple in the colony, which belonged to them as it was constructed with their funds. What annoyed other communities was “Why Dalits want to enter Mariamman Temple and cook Pongal on its premises when they have their own temple where they can do what they want.”

The police deployment was led by Tiruvannamalai SP Karthikeyan and Tirupattur SP Dr Balakrishnan with a sizeable number of revenue officials. Tiruvannamalai Collector B Murugesh also visited the spot.

Kubendran later told this reporter that they would now be allowed to visit the temple and that after Monday’s function the temple was locked by HR&CE authorities.

C Murugan, a Dalit resident told, “For about 80 years, Dalits could not enter the village temple. The district authorities, including police officials together have got us a new liberation to offer worship. We thank the authorities and the government. We are overwhelmed by boundless joy. I am 41-years-old and I am standing on the temple footsteps for the first time. Such was the caste barrier in the village and the authorities have reformed the people.”.

A girl, also a Dalit, said she was thrown out of the temple years ago and only now she could enter the shrine.