CHENNAI: After a long wait of more than a decade, Yoganathan, 32, of Theni district was thrilled. On Saturday he was given his job order by chief minister M K Stalin to be a priest in a temple managed by the state-run Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE) department. He was among the 24 non-Brahmin, trained archakars or priests, including five dalits, appointed in HR & CE temples in the state. A woman 'odhuvar' (a scholar who sings Tamil devotional hymns) too was given an appointment order. This was to mark the 100th day of the DMK government and a pre-poll promise of the Dravidian party.
"I am excited to receive the appointment from the CM. It was a long struggle," said Yoganathan, who was appointed as priest in a temple in a village in Tirupur district. They were among the 200-odd trained non-Brahmin archakars, who completed a one-year 'junior Saiva archakar' course as per the agamas. The M Karunanidhi government had launched the course in 2007 in six temples in the state, aimed at permitting all Hindus to become priests, irrespective of their castes. The DMK regime could not appoint them in state-managed temples as the issue was caught in a legal tangle.
The trained archakars came together under the banner 'Tamil Nadu Government Archakars Association' to fight the legal battle, which ended in December 2015 following a Supreme Court order. Trained achakars, according to the verdict, can be appointed as per the agamas of respective temples. Several protests of the trained archakars demanding jobs from the HR & CE temples ended in vain.
"To fulfill a dream of Periyar (E V Ramaamy), this government has implemented Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) government's order that allowed all Hindus to become priests," Stalin said, after handing over the appointment orders to as many as 174 people to various posts, including the 24 trained non-Brahmin archakars. HR & CE minister P K Sekar Babu has promised that the government would open the course to women, interested in becoming priests.
