For these non-Brahmin women trained as priests in TN, entering sanctum sanctorum remains a dream

In 2023, 94 non-Brahmins, three of them women, completed priesthood course at archakar training schools. But with process held up by SC case, none have got practical training or jobs.

Udhayanidhi Stalin awarding certificates to three Dalit women for the successful completion of a one-year junior priesthood course | Tamil Nadu Department of Information and Public Relations

Chennai: For 25-year-old Ranjitha, entering the sanctum sanctorum of a temple was not merely a dream, but a significant accomplishment to mark the end of generational discrimination faced by the Dalit community in Tamil Nadu.

A Dalit woman from Thanjavur district, Ranjitha was among 94 non-Brahmins—three women and 91 men—who, in 2023, had completed their priesthood training at archakar training schools (schools in Tamil Nadu that teach people to become priests) at six locations run by the state’s Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department. Archakars are Hindu temple priests who perform rituals.

The three women—Ranjitha (from the Scheduled Caste community), Ramya and Krishnaveni (from the Most Backward Classes)—were especially celebrated at the time of the completion of their theoretical course. However, none of the 94 non-Brahmin priests have been able to get jobs.

Entering the sanctum sanctorum remains a dream for the three women. This is because, despite completing their one-year junior priesthood certification course in September last year, they are yet to receive their practical training schedule from Tamil Nadu’s HR&CE Department.

P.K. Sekar Babu, the minister for HR&CE Department, told ThePrint that the government was doing all it could to make the women attend the training, but a case pending before the Supreme Court is holding things up. 

“If the government were not interested in making them priests at the HR&CE temples, why would they have admitted women to the archakar training schools run by the government?” he asked, adding that they would be admitted once the legal issues were cleared.

In June 2023, the archakars of the Tiruchendur temple filed a petition before the Madras High Court that the non-Brahmin priests appointed by the HR&CE Department were unaware of the temple rituals.

The next month, the Tamil Nadu government passed an order, asking the non-Brahmin priests to undergo one-year training under senior priests.

On 25 September last year, the Supreme Court ordered status quo on the appointment of priests in the agamic temples (those following the agamas, a collection of Hindu scriptures that provide guidance on temple construction and worship) of Tamil Nadu. This was based on the petition—filed by an association of archakars from the Tiruchirappalli district—against the appointment of non-Brahmin priests in the temples of Tamil Nadu, saying they were not appointed in accordance with the agamas.

Aspiration of women to perform pooja 

The initial response from the three women who completed their junior priesthood training at the government archakar training school in Srirangam, Tiruchirapalli, was that they had not got a job, and they did not want to talk about that. 

While Ranjitha remains uncertain about her future, Ramya moved to Chennai to work at a private jewellery showroom as a salesperson to make a living. Meanwhile, Krishnaveni conducts poojas at private functions in her native Thittakudi village in Cuddalore district, preferring not to leave her hometown.

“What is there to say about this? It’s all over,” Ramya remarked, as she prepared to finish her day’s work at a jewellery showroom in Chennai. Ramya, who holds a master’s degree in mathematics, learned about the priesthood course through her friend Krishnaveni, who also completed the one-year course with her. 

Although Ramya’s parents and relatives encouraged her to pursue the course, she said that there was also opposition and criticism towards her pursuing priesthood as a woman.

“I can’t stop everyone who speaks ill of me. Since it’s the first time women are entering this field, I anticipated opposition. But the teachers at the archakar school and my fellow students were very supportive,” she explained. 

Ramya, who overcame various obstacles to pursue the course, now feels dejected because no one can answer her question: “When will I be allowed inside the sanctum sanctorum to perform pooja?”

While Ramya’s father, Sundaramurthy, works as a village priest, performing poojas at house functions, her mother, Tamilarasi, is a tailor. Tamilarasi expressed her desire to see her daughter enter the sanctum sanctorum, which her husband could not do because of their caste.

“He was a village priest, performing poojas at housewarming functions, funerals, and puberty ceremonies. He couldn’t perform poojas at agamic temples due to our caste. Since she had the opportunity, I was hoping for it, but she couldn’t wait any longer and it’s been a year now,” Tamilarasi said. 

Krishnaveni, a neighbour and friend of Ramya, is trying to make a living through priesthood in her village. Like Ramya’s family, Krishnaveni’s family members were also village priests who couldn’t perform poojas at agamic temples. 

“I didn’t want to do what my father and grandfather did in the village. But now, despite being qualified to perform pooja at HR&CE temples, I am compelled to take up my father’s work of performing house poojas,” Krishnaveni shared. 

She also mentioned that they had dedicated themselves to serving God by performing poojas at the temple for an entire year. 

“But the entire year of the course is now useless, and we don’t know when we will get to use it,” she lamented. 

“Teachers and colleagues at the school were very supportive, unlike the people outside. But now, it’s not just us three women, even the men who finished the course haven’t attended further practical training or been placed at temples for work,” Krishaveni said, adding that she had nothing more to say until she got to perform pooja at the temples.

Being a Dalit and woman

Unlike Ramya and Krishnaveni, whose family members were village priests, Ranjitha, who is from an SC family, had no idea about priesthood until she joined the classes at Srirangam.

“We have been discriminated against based on our caste in our village. I wanted to change this. I wanted our family to live with dignity, and that’s why I chose to pursue the priesthood course, leaving behind a job at a mobile manufacturing unit in Chennai,” Ranjitha explained. 

Although Ranjitha does not regret the decision she made a couple of years ago, she wonders where her future is heading. 

“It’s been a year since I completed the course, and there’s been no word about practical training or an appointment. I do not know what I am supposed to do now,” Ranjitha said. 

Unlike Ramya and Krishnaveni, none of Ranjitha’s classmates pursued higher education. While her father Natraj is bedridden, her mother Uma works as a farm labourer. Although none of her siblings has graduated, Ranjitha’s mother said that it was her siblings who encouraged Ranjitha to pursue her dreams. 

“She wanted to study BSc in visual communication, and, so, we put all our savings into admitting her to college. Later, she aspired to study priesthood. We also thought it would erase our ‘untouchable’ identity and allow us to live with dignity. So, we sent her to study,” she explained, pondering on what to do next. 

Ranjitha is now helping her ageing parents at their home in Thanjavur. Even as she was washing her clothes by hand, Ranjitha said she felt they had all been let down by the system.

Struggle over appointment of non-brahmin priests

It is not the first time that the Tamil Nadu government has fought to allow individuals from all castes to become priests. In 1971, after coming to power for the first time, chief minister M. Karunanidhi of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) amended the Tamil Nadu HR&CE Act, 1951, abolishing the hereditary appointment of priests and allowing individuals of all castes to become priests. However, it was later struck down by the Supreme Court.

After a long legal battle, the first non-Brahmin priest, trained at a government archakar school in 2006, was appointed a priest in a HR&CE temple in 2017, during the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) administration. Until now, of the 301 qualified priests, the state government has appointed only 24 non-Brahmin priests at the HR&CE temples in the state. The first batch of about 207 students was trained from 2007 to 2008 and the second batch of about 94 students was trained from 2022 to 2023.

(Edited by Radifah Kabir)