06-13-2006, 01:10 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->DMK ends Brahmin dominance in TN temples]Alaphia Zoyab
Sunday, June 11, 2006 (Chennai):
<b>Brahmin-bashing can never be politically wrong in Tamil Nadu.</b>
One of the first things the DMK government did after coming to power was to ensure that priesthood in temples was no longer the preserve of Brahmins alone. Now caste is no longer a barrier to become a priest leaving the orthodox in Tamil Nadu silently fuming once again.
From now onwards, anybody who undergoes training in the holy texts can become a priest.
"Only people trained in *Agama* rules and who know Vedas and Sanskrit, if at all the *poojas* are performed in Sanskrit, can go inside and do *poojas*. There is nothing wrong in it," said TKS Elangovan, organising secretary, DMK.
"We have got references and evidences from history that we are all children of God and anybody can become a priest and worship God if he knows the method," said an Amarnath historian.
*Ancient texts*
But it has outraged the purists. And at the centre of this debate on the caste barrier are ancient texts called the *Agamas*.
How a temple should be built, how it should be governed and who should perform the *poojas* all of that is supposed to be contained in these sacred texts called *Agamas*.
Now critics of the government believe that the government hasn't answered any long felt need by allowing non-Brahmins to perform the *poojas*.
They believe it has ended up rejecting these sacred texts, the very basis on which such temples are built.
"It is generally thought that only Brahmins are allowed inside the temple,"said MA Venkatakrishnan, professor of Vaishnavism.
"I am also a Brahmin. I have also studied so many texts and all - *Vedas, Agamas*. Because I know *Agamas* I cannot go inside the sanctum sanctorum,"he said.
"Most of the people now in the government are atheists and so they don't have any faith in the religious traditions and so they are doing all these things but ultimately the judiciary is the only last refuge for us," he said.
*Anti-Brahmin movement*
The Dravidian movement's success has its origins in the anti-Brahmin movement launched in the first part of the 20th century.
<b>One century on, the DMK continues to stoke those feelings. But the move is well timed. Thanks to reservation, social justice has returned to the centrestage of political debate.</b>
But priesthood is not a very lucrative career and many are wallowing in poverty, so to neutral observers, this move is empty posturing.
"I cannot understand why the government is worried about this issue when there are issues like Dalits not being allowed to become Panchayat chairman, reserved categories are not fulfilled," said VR Anil Kumar, Sanskrit researcher.
There are already many non-Brahmin priests, but with this order, they can now perform *poojas* in any temple, big and small.
And irrespective of what any holy text might have prescribed, the DMK has written its own scriptures.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Sunday, June 11, 2006 (Chennai):
<b>Brahmin-bashing can never be politically wrong in Tamil Nadu.</b>
One of the first things the DMK government did after coming to power was to ensure that priesthood in temples was no longer the preserve of Brahmins alone. Now caste is no longer a barrier to become a priest leaving the orthodox in Tamil Nadu silently fuming once again.
From now onwards, anybody who undergoes training in the holy texts can become a priest.
"Only people trained in *Agama* rules and who know Vedas and Sanskrit, if at all the *poojas* are performed in Sanskrit, can go inside and do *poojas*. There is nothing wrong in it," said TKS Elangovan, organising secretary, DMK.
"We have got references and evidences from history that we are all children of God and anybody can become a priest and worship God if he knows the method," said an Amarnath historian.
*Ancient texts*
But it has outraged the purists. And at the centre of this debate on the caste barrier are ancient texts called the *Agamas*.
How a temple should be built, how it should be governed and who should perform the *poojas* all of that is supposed to be contained in these sacred texts called *Agamas*.
Now critics of the government believe that the government hasn't answered any long felt need by allowing non-Brahmins to perform the *poojas*.
They believe it has ended up rejecting these sacred texts, the very basis on which such temples are built.
"It is generally thought that only Brahmins are allowed inside the temple,"said MA Venkatakrishnan, professor of Vaishnavism.
"I am also a Brahmin. I have also studied so many texts and all - *Vedas, Agamas*. Because I know *Agamas* I cannot go inside the sanctum sanctorum,"he said.
"Most of the people now in the government are atheists and so they don't have any faith in the religious traditions and so they are doing all these things but ultimately the judiciary is the only last refuge for us," he said.
*Anti-Brahmin movement*
The Dravidian movement's success has its origins in the anti-Brahmin movement launched in the first part of the 20th century.
<b>One century on, the DMK continues to stoke those feelings. But the move is well timed. Thanks to reservation, social justice has returned to the centrestage of political debate.</b>
But priesthood is not a very lucrative career and many are wallowing in poverty, so to neutral observers, this move is empty posturing.
"I cannot understand why the government is worried about this issue when there are issues like Dalits not being allowed to become Panchayat chairman, reserved categories are not fulfilled," said VR Anil Kumar, Sanskrit researcher.
There are already many non-Brahmin priests, but with this order, they can now perform *poojas* in any temple, big and small.
And irrespective of what any holy text might have prescribed, the DMK has written its own scriptures.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->