A non-Hindu Bharatanatyam dancer here has alleged that her name was removed from the list of performers at a dance and music event in connection with a festival of the Koodalmanikayam temple, Irinjalakuda, in Thrissur district.
In her Facebook post V.P. Mansiya, 27, wrote that according to the dance/music festival notice published by the temple authorities earlier, her performance was scheduled between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. on April 21, on the sixth day of the festival.
Officials’ query
However, a temple official called her later to inform that she cannot perform in the festival as she is a non-Hindu. “They also cross-checked with me whether I had converted to Hinduism as I had married violinist Shyam Kalyan recently. Artists have been judged on the basis of their religion, not on their talent,” she noted.
“I don’t follow religion. Why should I convert to any religion?” she asked in the post. “It is not a first experience for me. A chance to perform at the Guruvayur festival too was cancelled for the same reason,” she said.
The temple authorities allegedly cancelled her performance citing that the venue of the dance programme was within the temple compound.
Mansiya, who started practising Bharatanatyam at a tender age, had earlier faced boycott form Muslim clerics for learning the artform. “I have been suffering such discrimination. Nothing has changed here. Sadly we are increasingly adhering to orthodoxy.”
Another allegation
Earlier, Koodiyattam dancer Kapila Venu had alleged that caste discrimination prevailed in Koothambalams in the State. Though she stays close to the Koodalmanikyam temple, she was not allowed to perform in the Koothambalam because of caste discrimination, she had alleged. As per existing norms, only people from communities such as Chakyar, Nangyar and Nambiar can perform at Koothambalams.
