Tension in Madurai village as Dalits offer prayer to Pipal tree

A view of the Sri Muthalamman Temple, Uthapuram, Madurai district.

Tension gripped Uthapuram village in Madurai district when Dalits offered puja to the Pipal tree at the Muthalamman Temple amidst objection by the Caste Hindus on Wednesday.

Huge posse of police have been deployed in the village near Usilampatti to avert any untoward incident.

The district administration had reversed its prohibitory order on celebration of the Muthalamman festival on Tuesday night after the Caste Hindus pleaded for permission and agreed to allow the Dalits to offer worship at the temple.

“We had given the orders with the condition that the rights of the Dalits to worship at the temple should be upheld,” the Usilampatti Revenue Divisional Officer, M. Balasubramanian, said. Following the permission, the earthen idol of Muthalammman was brought in procession from Elumalai on Tuesday night. In the morning, the caste Hindu devotees brought ‘mulaippari’ and offered their prayers.

Later, some 40 Dalits led by C. Sankaralingam and Ponnaiah, came to the temple and worshiped the deity. Deeparathana and puja were performed by the priest and the devotees were offered the holy ash and kumkum at around 10.30 a.m. Just as they were coming out, the Dalits put up two garlands on the Pipal tree on the temple premises and offered their prayers. They also performed deeparathana and broke coconut.

Suddenly, over a dozen caste Hindus, who were present at the temple objected to it. Even as both sides started arguing over the issue with the police trying to pacify them, somebody pulled down one of the two garlands from the Pipal tree and threw it on the ground. This angered the Dalits, including women, who squatted on the Elumalai Road. However, the large posse of police managed to remove them and took them to their hamlet.

While the caste Hindus demanded that the garlands should be removed, the Superintendent of Police, Vijayendra Bidari, said that he could not allow any such thing. He warned that those who tried to remove them would be arrested. Meanwhile, Vishwa Hindu Parish leader, Chinmaya Somasundaram, and a Dalit leader, Athimoolam, pacified them. The RDO and the SP and at least, half a dozen DSPs were camping in the village.