After intensive consultation with the Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department officials, O.S.Manian, Minister for Handlooms and Textiles suggested four options to end the deadlock over holding rituals at Sri Badrakaliamman Temple at Kallimedu: Extending a day of the seven-day festival to facilitate Dalits to hold mandagapadi on the extended day; jointly organising a day’s mandagapadi by caste Hindus and Dalits; allowing Dalits to hold mandagapadi from dawn to dusk for a day or restricting caste Hindus to hold mandapagadi for two days, instead of three days to allow Dalits a day.
While the Dalits refused to accept the suggestion of dawn-to-dusk mandagapadi and insisted on 24-hour schedule, caste Hindus rejected other suggestions by stating that they could not deviate from traditional practices being followed for several decades.
N. Pakkirisamy, head of Pazhag Kallimedu Dalit hamlet, said the claim of tradition put forth by caste Hindus could not be accepted as the temple was originally located in their hamlet.
They had every right to stake claim to hold mandagapadi when caste Hindus had been sponsoring the festival for three days.
The Dalits were humiliated in 2014 when the procession route of urchavar (processional deity) was cut short, he added.
“The temple was shifted from Pazha Kallimedu to Kallimedu sometime back. Hence, it is natural for us to claim the right to hold the ritual. We have been fighting for several years to get our rights.
However, our rights are denied as we belong to the oppressed class. We cannot be discriminated against any longer,” Mr. Pakkirisamy said.
Case in court
However, representatives of caste Hindus argued that the agama rules and practices could not be altered under any circumstance. Moreover, a case filed by Dalits on the issue was pending before the Madras High Court. They were ready to abide by the court verdict.
“We need to preserve age-old customs and practices. It should not be diluted. We should not be compelled when the matter is before the court,” contended A. Sivasubramanian, a leader of Pillaimar group.
As the two sides failed to reach an agreement, Collector S. Palanisamy announced that it has been decided to ban the festival, scheduled to begin on August 8.
When asked about the Dalits’ threat to embrace Islam, Mr. Palanisamy said their intention was essentially to draw the attention of the officials to the issue. No Dalit in the hamlet had converted to other religions, he said.
