Non-Brahmin priests at Tamil Nadu temple allege they were barred from sanctum sanctorum

Two non-Brahmin priests at a temple in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruchirappalli have alleged that hereditary priests have not allowed them to enter the sanctum sanctorum of the presiding deity, The Indian Express reported on Wednesday.

The priests, S Prabhu and Jayapal, were appointed in 2021 at the Kumaravayalur Subramania Swamy Temple in Tiruchirappalli as part of an initiative of the Tamil Nadu government to open priesthood to all castes.

In a petition to the state government, Prabhu and Jayapal claimed that they had not been allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum of the temple’s main deity, Murugan, even though they had been serving there for three years. They alleged that they have been restricted to conducting rituals only at the secondary shrines at the temple.

The priests addressed the petition to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments PK Sekar Babu, as well as top officials from the ministry, PTI reported.

Prabhu and Jayapal told the state government that they had been “completely sidelined” ahead of a consecration on February 19.

They said that while devotees at the temple treat them with respect, the hereditary Brahmin priests deny them equal rights.

“This discrimination has caused us immense mental distress and humiliation,” they said in the petition, according to The Indian Express. “We wonder how we…

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