Dalits in Chellankuppam village in Kilpennathur block of Tiruvannamalai district entered the Amman temple in the village on Wednesday for the first time in the 40 years since it was built.
Amid police protection, the SC community members, including women and children from the village, carrying garlands and fruits entered the temple, which is under the administration of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department.
They were allowed entry at around 8.30 a.m. “We [Dalits] were not allowed inside the temple from the time it was built. We thank the district administration and the police for taking efforts in allowing us to enter the temple,” said S. Ramu, a resident.
The village consists of 1,300 families, of which 300 are Dalits, while the rest are caste Hindus. Police said as per tradition, rituals are done by six communities at the temple in the village after the Pongal festival every year. Each community is given one slot a day to perform their rituals, except for the Dalits.
The Dalits petitioned the district administration and police seeking an intervention in the issue. Following this, a series of peace meetings with both sides of the village were held, and it was explained to all that no one had the right to prevent anyone from worshipping at the temple. Dalits were then given the slot on August 2 to conduct their rituals at the temple.
Around 400 police personnel were deployed to prevent any untoward incidents in the village. A team comprising Tiruvannamalai Superintendent of Police K. Karthikeyan; R. Mandakini, Tiruvannamalai Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO); S. John, Tahsildar (Kilpennathur), and G. Mahalakshmi, Revenue Inspector (RI), pacified other residents in the village.
Caste Hindus claim that they spearheaded the development of the temple and financially contributed to it, while no such efforts were made by the Dalits. However, officials said that such discriminatory practices were against the law as the temple falls under the HR&CE Department.
As per tradition in the village, revenue officials said the temple will be opened only on Tuesdays and Fridays when members of the caste Hindus worship. On other days, only tourists from other States and countries were allowed to visit the temple after prior nod from panchayat officials. Likewise, Dalits will be allowed on the earmarked days in the week for worship in the temple, officials said.
