Karunanidhi’s decades long fight bore fruit with the induction of a non-Brahmin priest at Thallakulam Aiyappan temple in Madurai.
Non-Brahmin youths have thanked DMK president M Karunanidhi, who is currently in Kauvery Hospital in Chennai.
Karunanidhi’s decades long fight bore fruit with the induction of a non-Brahmin priest at Thallakulam Aiyappan temple in Madurai.
However, this has not signalled the end of taboo around the concept. Because, though the priest has been appointed, his name has not been made public as the temple authorities fear repercussions.
However, a change has been implemented and all this started in 1970, when Karunanidhi, who followed the principles of his leader and a known social reformer Periyar to give justice to the downtrodden, started his fight towards this.
He passed an order to appoint people regardless of caste as priests in temples. But this order was quashed by the Supreme Court.
But Karunanidhi, who was Tamil Nadu’s chief minister for five times, was not among the people to give up and in 2006, he again knocked the doors of Supreme Court. The apex court upheld Karunanidhi's decision to appoint priests regardless of caste.
This judgement of the Supreme Court encouraged 206 youths, of which 24 belonged to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe, joined the temples to get trained.
The training was imparted at temples owned by Tamil Nadu’s Department of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment. They completed the Junior Priest certification.
The one to get appointed as the priest in Thallakulam Aiyappan temple is one among those trainees. News 18 stated that the appointment was made according to Agamas Shastra.
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