Mangalore: In what could be termed as historic in the Hindu tradition, Shri Gokarnatheshwara Temple, Kudroli appointed two women, belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC) community as archakas (priests) on Monday.
Dressed in traditional yellow saris, the two women – Lakshmi (65), a resident of Chilimbi, Urwa and Chandravathi (46), a resident of Kuthar, Ranipura – were taken to the temple in a procession with the beating of traditional drums.
Temple chief and former union minister B. Janaradhana Poojary led the procession.
Before entering the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, both the women washed their feet in the temple lake. Later, they performed puja to the presiding deity of Gokarnanatheswara temple gave away ‘tirtha’ and ‘prasada’ to devotees.
According to the Hindu tradition, only persons belonging to the Brahmin community entered the sanctum sanctorum of the temple and performed puja.
Last year, the Kudroli temple had appointed two widows as priests.
After entering the temple with Mr. Poojary and other devotees, the women priests performed puja to the statue of Sree Narayana Guru of Kerala, social reformer and founder of the temple. Later, they performed pujas at the shrines of Shani, Ganapati, Shiva, Subramanya, Annapoorneshwari, Kalabairava, Nava Grahas, Krisha, Sai Baba and Hanuman.
Bucking the trend
Later, Mr. Poojary told presspersons that Ms. Chandravathi underwent training in rituals for fifteen days and Mr. Lakshmi for two days by senior priest of the temple. It was the philosophy of social reformer Narayana Guru, who established temple at Kudroli in 1912, he said and added it’s not the mantra but the devotion that matters.
“Anyone can perform puja. It’s not reserved for any particular community. Hence, we have appointed two women from SC community. This is what Bhrahmashree Narayana Guru did when our (billawa) community were refused permission to enter the temple years ago, he said.
To a question, Mr. Poojary said there was no decrease in the number of devotees coming to the temple after appointing two widows last year. ‘The number of devotees has gone up. People have accepted this change’, he added.
He said the temple is paying Rs 6,000 each as salary to both the women. They will perform puja in the temple and we have arranged accommodation for them.
