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Indian Court Orders Participation For Dalit Village In Hindu Festival

By Howard M. Friedman

In India, the Madras High Court has issued a decision in favor of low caste Dalits who want to be part of the annual festival observed during the Tamil summer month of Aadi in which the diety from the Arulmighu Poottai Mariamman Temple near Sankarapuram is transported on a temple car. The court's decision is the subject of reports today in the Times of India and The Hindu. Controversy began in 2007 when Dalits demanded that the temple car go through their village and temple authorities objected. The temple is under the control of the state's Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department. High Court Justice Chandru said in his opinion: "Our Constitution also envisages equality, which includes special help and care for the weaker and oppressed sections of society, who have been downtrodden for thousands of years." The court ruled that the only constraint on taking the temple car through the Dalit village would be the width of the road. If that is a problem, authorities are to explore the feasibility of using a small car (sakadai) to take the deity through the Dalit colony and then back to the main street.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on December 22, 2009 (boomark / email).