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  India   All India  30 Sep 2018  After SC order, non-brahmins hope to be Sabarimala priests

After SC order, non-brahmins hope to be Sabarimala priests

THE ASIAN AGE. | T SUDHEESH
Published : Sep 30, 2018, 5:39 am IST
Updated : Sep 30, 2018, 5:39 am IST

Narayanan has almost 20 years of experience as melsaanthi in various private temples in Kottayam district.

Karppoorazhi procession is being taken out at Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala. (Photo: PTI)
 Karppoorazhi procession is being taken out at Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala. (Photo: PTI)

Alappuzha: The non-brahmin priests, who have been struggling for long to enter the sanctum sanctorum of Sabarimala temple, have received a shot in the arm with the Supreme Court allowing all women to worship at the Ayyappa temple.

The Travancore Devaswom Board had kept in abeyance the applications of non-Brahmin priests as it prefers those from the Malayala Brahmin community for priestly duties at Sabarimala and Malikappuram temples. This in spite of the fact that the apex court had passed a verdict in favour of non-brahmin priests in 2002. (N. Adhityan versus TDB).

Last year, the TDB had rejected the application of Vishnu Narayanan, 38, a non-Brahmin priest from Moolavattom, for the post of melsaanthi (chief priest) and he had approached the high court. But the case is still pending. The devaswom vigilance inquiry had endorsed his academic and priestly qualifications except denomination.

Narayanan told this newspaper that he had applied for the post of head priest at Sabarimala this year also. "I sent an application in August after the TDB issued a notification.  As per the proceedings, the TDB vigilance inquiry was done last week.

“I hope the TDB will take appropriate steps in the case of non-Brahmin priests in the light of the latest verdict. If the TDB rejects my application, I will approach the high court again," he said.

The devaswom secretary, in a directive issued to all devaswom board commissioners in 2014, had said that the appointment of priests should be conducted without considering clan and caste of the candidate.

Narayanan, melsanthi of Pallam Subrahmanya Swamy Temple, also known as Dekshina Kaashi, said that he was not being considered because he is non-Brahmin. "Last year, the vigilance officials who came to my home and the temple where I am working, were happy with my prospects. But since they reported that I am a non-Brahmin, I was ignored," he said.

Narayanan has almost 20 years of experience as melsaanthi in various private temples in Kottayam district. "The TDB had ignored the application of my guru Mathanam Vijayan tantri for the post Sabarimala melsaanthi in 1983. He died in 2008. I want to take forward his dream and I have full faith in the court," he said.

However, the TDB says non-Brahmin priests will be appointed in major temples like Sabarimala only after they prove their dedication and way of life.

Last year, Devaswom minister Kadakampally Surendran had said that the appointment of non-Brahmins as priests in cash-rich Sabarimala temple would be made only on the basis of consensus.

Tags: sabarimala temple, supreme court