05-21-2007, 04:33 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Guruvayur temple in fresh row </b>
Pioneer News Service | Thrissur
The famous Sree Krishna Temple at Guruvayur has still not got out of controversy as the dust raised by the issue of Devaswom Minister G Sudhakaran's letter requesting entry for Christian playback singer KJ Yesudas is yet to settle. The new controversy is related to Saturday's performance of 'punyaham' (purification rites) on the instruction of temple Tanthri Chennas Namboothiri after Ravikrishna, son of Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi, visited the temple, on the grounds that the minister's son was a non-Hindu.
Cultural leaders have voiced their strong protest against the Tanthri's decision, but temple authorities said that it was the usual practice in the temple - where non-Hindus were not allowed - whenever a non-Hindu was known to have entered the temple. Punyaham was performed seven years ago when Ravikrishna had visited the temple after his marriage.
<b>Ravi, his son and daughter-in-law Nisha had visited the temple on Friday for the ritual of the first meal (choroonu) for the Minister's grandchild. After performing the choroonu, they worshipped at the temple making offerings including Thulabharam.The punyaham was performed on the instructions of the Tanthri even after the Minister and his family were accompanied by personalities like Guruvayur Devaswom committee chairman Thottathil Raveendran and administrator V Satheesan during their darshan. </b>
<b>Ravikrishna is considered a non-Hindu by the temple authorities, as his mother Mercy Ravi is a Christian. </b>
Writer-Critic Sukumar Azheecode said in Perinthalmanna that the punyaham performance after the visit by Ravi and his family was a humiliating act.
<b>Describing it as "not correct, Minister Ravi said in Kochi on Sunday that he was not for a confrontation on the issue. Ravi told at a function in Kochi, "Who has the right to ban the entry of my generation to the temple?" Asked whether he would take up the issue, Ravi said, "No, I have not decided to take up the issue. Let my son take the decision. I am not going for a confrontation."</b>
To a question whether he preferred a public debate on the issue, Ravi said, "That is not for me to say. People will have to say." Devaswom committee chairman Thottathil Raveendran confirmed that the punyaham performance was performed on Tanthri's instructions. The authority for decisions on such matters at the temple was with the Tanthri, Raveendran added. Raveendran said that there should be a public debate on such matters in the context of the controversy. There should be amendments in temple laws in accordance with the changing times, he said in Perinthalmanna.
<b>The Guruvayr temple has strict rules regarding the religion of the devotee who enters the temple for worship. If any born non-Hindu has to visit the temple, he or she has to produce a certificate from the Arya Samaj in Kozhikode showing conversion into Hindu religion. </b>
A letter written by Devaswom Minister Sudhakaran to Thottathil Raveendran asking him to take appropriate steps to grant Yesudas, an ardent devotee of Lord Guruvayurappan, an opportunity to worship at the temple, had created controversy after community organisations NSS and SNDP Yogam registering their opposition to the proposal.
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Pioneer News Service | Thrissur
The famous Sree Krishna Temple at Guruvayur has still not got out of controversy as the dust raised by the issue of Devaswom Minister G Sudhakaran's letter requesting entry for Christian playback singer KJ Yesudas is yet to settle. The new controversy is related to Saturday's performance of 'punyaham' (purification rites) on the instruction of temple Tanthri Chennas Namboothiri after Ravikrishna, son of Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi, visited the temple, on the grounds that the minister's son was a non-Hindu.
Cultural leaders have voiced their strong protest against the Tanthri's decision, but temple authorities said that it was the usual practice in the temple - where non-Hindus were not allowed - whenever a non-Hindu was known to have entered the temple. Punyaham was performed seven years ago when Ravikrishna had visited the temple after his marriage.
<b>Ravi, his son and daughter-in-law Nisha had visited the temple on Friday for the ritual of the first meal (choroonu) for the Minister's grandchild. After performing the choroonu, they worshipped at the temple making offerings including Thulabharam.The punyaham was performed on the instructions of the Tanthri even after the Minister and his family were accompanied by personalities like Guruvayur Devaswom committee chairman Thottathil Raveendran and administrator V Satheesan during their darshan. </b>
<b>Ravikrishna is considered a non-Hindu by the temple authorities, as his mother Mercy Ravi is a Christian. </b>
Writer-Critic Sukumar Azheecode said in Perinthalmanna that the punyaham performance after the visit by Ravi and his family was a humiliating act.
<b>Describing it as "not correct, Minister Ravi said in Kochi on Sunday that he was not for a confrontation on the issue. Ravi told at a function in Kochi, "Who has the right to ban the entry of my generation to the temple?" Asked whether he would take up the issue, Ravi said, "No, I have not decided to take up the issue. Let my son take the decision. I am not going for a confrontation."</b>
To a question whether he preferred a public debate on the issue, Ravi said, "That is not for me to say. People will have to say." Devaswom committee chairman Thottathil Raveendran confirmed that the punyaham performance was performed on Tanthri's instructions. The authority for decisions on such matters at the temple was with the Tanthri, Raveendran added. Raveendran said that there should be a public debate on such matters in the context of the controversy. There should be amendments in temple laws in accordance with the changing times, he said in Perinthalmanna.
<b>The Guruvayr temple has strict rules regarding the religion of the devotee who enters the temple for worship. If any born non-Hindu has to visit the temple, he or she has to produce a certificate from the Arya Samaj in Kozhikode showing conversion into Hindu religion. </b>
A letter written by Devaswom Minister Sudhakaran to Thottathil Raveendran asking him to take appropriate steps to grant Yesudas, an ardent devotee of Lord Guruvayurappan, an opportunity to worship at the temple, had created controversy after community organisations NSS and SNDP Yogam registering their opposition to the proposal.
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