A 200-Year-Old Temple In A Tamil Nadu Village Welcomes Adi Dravidars
Update: 2023-01-04 21:54 IST
Amid 300 police officers providing security in Eduthavainatham village, more than 500 people belonging to the Adi Dravidar community marched towards the temple.
For the first time, Adi Dravidars attended Sri Varadharaja Perumal Temple in Tamil Nadu's Kallakurichi district's Eduthavainatham hamlet. According to the Department of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE), the Varadharaja Perumal Temple, which is situated in the village, is two centuries old.
Other upper-caste communities in the village forbade Adi Dravidars to enter the shrine to worship. Adi Dravidars opted to worship the god after being denied access to the temple for such a long time, and they have been protesting for the past six months.
At the Chinnasalem Tahsildar and Revenue offices in Kallakurichi, peace negotiations took conducted. The Adi Dravidar group then obtained authorization by visiting the Joint Commissioner for Hindu Religious Charities Department in Kallakurichi. Adi Dravidars were given permission to access the Varadharaja Perumal shrine on January 2 to perform worship.
However, more than 500 Adi Dravidars marched into the temple while holding garlands and fruits, entered the temple while singing "Govindha Govindha," and started worshipping the god amid 300 police personnel providing security in Eduthavainatham hamlet.
Meanwhile, following the peace negotiations, last week at the Ayyanar Temple, the three communities from the Iraiyur Vengavayal village celebrated "Samathuva Pongal."