Where Dalits do the poojas in AP village temple
----------------------------------------------------
VIJAYAWADA: It's a unique village where caste Hindus and Dalits have been living in perfect harmony since centuries.
The historic Chennakesava Swamy temple in this village employs as many as nine Dalit priests to perform daily rituals and poojas, but the upper caste devotees are not at all against offering worship to the presiding deity.
Set in verdant rice-rich delta area of West Godavari district, Uppuluru, an otherwise sleepy village wakes up to the chanting of `Slokas' over the mike atop the temple. The difference is that they are rendered by Dalit priests.
All the nine priests belong to Maladasari community listed as SC-C group in the state. They perform `Sevas' and `Pujas' done by their Brahmin counterparts in temples elsewhere in the country.
Ironically, the priesthood has not been conferred on them by the secular and democratic leaders of our times but by the Kings of yore some 700 years ago.
A majority of 8000-strong population of Uppuluru consists of upper castes but they do not have any qualms in receiving blessings from the Dalit priests. Though the number of devotees visiting the temple is less on an ordinary day, hundreds of people visit the place during Dhanurmasam in which processions and `Pallaki Sevas' are performed. It is a week-long festival for the people of Uppuluru and the surrounding villages when a `Mela' is organised.
The priests --Veedhi Krishna Murthy, Udayavarlu, Ramakesava, Narasimha Chary, Venkateswara Rao, Kesava Swamy, Krishna Kesava Dasu, Konatham Krishna Murthy and Thota Seshaiah Dasu --have passed the Archaka and Agama tests conducted by the Endowments department in 1998. Apart from their archaka duties, some of them hold government jobs.
Konatham Krishna Murthy Dasu said priesthood was given to their ancestors by Brahman Naidu, a social reformer of the 14th Century. Naidu made Maladasaris trustees of the temple in Macherla. During the battle with Nagamma, Brahmannaidu asked them to take away the idol of Lord Chennakesava to a safer place and it was brought to Uppuluru where it was installed by Kandala Ramakrishna Chary in 1335.
Raja Joopalli Raghana built a temple in 1650 for the Lord which was later renovated by Raja Dharma Appa Rao Bahadur of Sanivarapupeta.
The priests perform all traditional and spiritual rites apart from marriages and `Panchanga Sravanams'. But their passion to learn `Vedas' still remains a dream. "We asked several experts to teach Vedas, but they refused to do so because of our caste," said Thota Seshaiah.
Erra Manikyam, temple committee chairman, said that the money earned from the 40-acre grant to the temple by the princely states was being spent on various religious activities.
E Narayana, a villager, said that no discrimination is shown against the Dalit priests in the village and devotees from all communities visit the temple.
Hindunet News
Hindu News Headlines for July 15, 2002
Kurnool(A.P) gets first Dalit Priest
----------------------------------------------
2002-07-15 Published by Times of India Gathered by Staff Reporter
HYDERABAD,JULY 15: A sheduled caste (SC) youth, Gorla Mural, has achieved the unique distinction of becoming an archaka at the Sri Chennakesava Swamy Temple in Kurnool district. He is also the first Dalit priest in Kurnool town. The 20 year-old youth, a resident of Budhawarpet in Kurnool town, completed the archaka course offered by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanamas(TTD). He performs all the daily rituals at the temple in his colony, which did not have a regular archaka. Murali, a second year BA student in the Government College for Men, had applied for the archaka course when Y.Suryachandra Reddy, the then officer of TTD Kalyanamandapam, visited Budhawarpeta and asked locals to send a boy for the course. Murali was selected from among 130 students from the state and trained for two months at Tirumala. Speaking to The Times of India, Murali said that he did a specialised course in Sthothrams of Lord Venkateswara, Suprabhatha Seva and Archana. Murali said he visited the temple regularly with other members of the Chennakesava Bhajana Mandali. "My neighbours were offering pooja to the God regularly, but not in a proper manner as they did not have knowldege in priesthood," he said. He began regular pujas form Monday at the temple. Murali said he performs all the rituals according to vedic dharma. He also said he was taught some of the improtant aspects of Vedas, Puranas and other rituals. Murali's father Ayyanna is construction laboureer. His mother Eswaramma works at the market yard.
Cast as priests
Dalits and women to the rescue of Hindu rituals
Nistula Hebbar/Lucknow & Unnao
-------------------------------------------------
The Hindus wanted the Vedas and they sent for Vyasa, who was not a caste Hindu. The Hindus wanted an epic and they sent for Valmiki, who was an untouchable. The Hindus wanted a Constitution, and they sent for me.
Dr B.R. Ambedkar
(Marathi, 1978)
When the Union human resource development ministry felt that the standards of conducting Hindu rituals were going down, it thought of a three-month training course for students aspiring to become priests. The 'Karma Kand Kriya' course, conducted by the Uttar Pradesh Sanskrit Sansthan, was open to Hindus of all hues including the Dalits. In a way it proved Dr Ambedkar right: whenever the great religion is in crisis, it will find saviours in Dalits.
"I had 24 Dalit students in a class of 30," said Avdesh Kumar Shukla, an instructor in Unnao near Lucknow. "They were all deeply interested in the religion. If caste Hindu society moderates its attitude, conversions will not take place."
Instructors from Banaras Hindu University and Sanskrit Vidyapeeth trained 2,500 aspirants-more than half of them Dalits and women-in 60 districts of Uttar Pradesh. "The Indian way of life has high regard for rituals and we wanted to preserve this in the spirit in which it was intended," said Dr Sachidanand Pathak, chairman of the Sanskrit Sansthan. "Nothing in the scriptures stops casteless from becoming priests. When we are born, all of us are casteless. According to the Vedas, only a person who dedicates himself to knowledge becomes a Brahmin."
Ushering in change: Instructor Vinod Mishra (above left in pic) performing puja; (right) Avdesh Kumar Shukla with his students
Shukla's student Sunita, who belongs to the scheduled tribe Chamar, now regularly does the Satyanarayan Katha ritual in her village Aulola Khera in Unnao district. She grew up watching Brahmin priests giving Chamars short shrift. "When I heard about the course in January, I jumped at the chance because it meant freedom from dependence on Brahmins," she said. "My achievement will make the people of my community confident."
For Ram Khilawan of Takia Nigohi, it was a search for his religious roots that led him to the course. "I am a Hindu, but did not know what my religion says about me," he said. "I wanted to find out what it is that makes me a Chamar and someone else a Brahmin."
These days Khilawan performs weddings, pujas and kathas in and around his village. "At a funeral, I pointed out to a priest that his pronunciation of certain shlokas was not correct," he said. "That made me feel I really knew something."
While Khilawan may not have faced much resistance when he enrolled for classes, Shukla has a different story to tell. He was often threatened with excommunication for enrolling Dalit students for the course. "I was told that Dalits were arrogant because of Mayawati [Uttar Pradesh chief minister] and that I was spoiling them further," he said.
Shukla countered the Brahmins saying that they should enroll enough Brahmin students for the course. That silenced them. "The Dalits were more interested in preserving the religion than the Brahmins," said Shukla. Many of his students accompany him for pujas, though they are yet to be invited by a non-Dalit family.
Instructor Vinod Mishra from Lucknow is so proud of his student Satyadev Oraon, a tribal from Jharkhand, that he reveals that the disciple has more takers than the master. A follower of the Arya Samaj sect of Hinduism, Oraon is not all that welcome in non-Arya Samaj families. "People still ask me how I am entitled to perform puja," said Oraon, a postgraduate in Sanskrit. "I may not be a Brahmin by birth but my karma is that of a Brahmin."
Mishra, who taught a fairly balanced class of Dalits, Thakurs and Brahmins, said that initially the Brahmin students did well as they had some grounding in the rituals. "The Dalit and women students made up with their enthusiasm," he said.
According to the late sociologist M.N. Srinivas, Sanskritisation is a case of casteless aping cast Hindus to be upwardly mobile. "This reflects not just the insecurity of the present political establishment vis-ˆ-vis the Hindu religion's ability to retain its followers but also the new Dalit thinking," said Dr Savyasachi, professor of sociology at Jamia Millia Islamia. "The Dalits in these pockets have no connection with the Dalit movement or protest against ritualism. Mayawati and this course are all features of a race to gain power."
Dalits thank CM for securing their safety
Chennai, Nov 22, 2002 :
A group of Dalit leaders today thanked Chief Minister Jayalalithaa for passing the conversion law in the State and said the law was aimed at securing their safety.
Led by P Viswanathan Kakkan who was present along with Kanchi mutt chief Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi during the public meeting held last month in Chennai by the religious leader to support the ordinance, the group, speaking to presspersons, said they took strong exception to the statements of DPI leader R Thirumavalavan and Pudiya Tamizhagam leader K Krishnasamy against the Sankaracharya.
The Sankaracharya never favoured untouchability, Viswanathan said adding that both the Dalit political leaders were vitiating the atmosphere by creating an impression about the religious leader which was contrary to his true self.
The Dalit leaders were doing this in order to meet their political ends, he said adding that they would seek clarification from the two leaders and if they fail to give proper reply, the group would take the issue to court.
He also said Hinduism has nothing to do with the caste based discrimination that exists in society. He said they would, however, take up the issue of the two tumbler system prevalent in society.
They also condemned former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi for his objectionable utterances on the meaning of the word Hindu.
Both Karunanidhi as also the Periyar Movement had taken certain select portions only to present a part of a truth hurtful to Hindus, he said.
V Ganesan of Tamilnadu Ambedkar Youth Federation said only if Hinduism was alive can one call themselves Dalits, Mudaliars etc. Only then can one be a human being, he said.
R Durai, a lawyer, thanked Sankaracharya and Chief Minister for passing the ordinance