Non-Brahmin priest ‘attacked’ by upper castes in Tamil Nadu

Chennai, July 8: An 80-year-old non-Brahmin priest, famous for his struggle to get permission to offer prayers in Tamil, was attacked allegedly by a group of priests at the Nataraja temple in Chidambaram on Monday night.

The priest, Arumuga Samy, recently obtained an order from the Madras High Court to offer prayers inside the sanctum sanctorum, and entered the temple premises under police protection despite protests from higher caste priests.

According to police, Samy had opposed the priests’ demanding a sum of Rs 100 from devotees for offering prayers at the Siva temple. The Government had issued an order against collecting such money, Samy told them. This led to an argument between Samy and the other priests, who beat him up regardless of his old age.

Policemen at Cuddalore district said that five priests — Rajasekhar, Manikandan, Kumar, Thillai and Kedarnath — have been named in the complaint, though none have been arrested. Through his struggle spanning several years, Samy had brought to the attention of the authorities that insistence on prayers being offered in Sanskrit would exclude non-Brahmins from becoming priests.

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