Into priesthood: on training Dalits to become priests

Into priesthood: on training Dalits to become priests

Context:

• Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the independent trust which manages the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple at Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, had taken a unique decision to train Dalit and tribal youth in the procedures of performing temple rituals and practices.  
• It is in this context we need to understand whether training Dalits to become priests would really break down caste hierarchy or create another layer of stratification

A Reformative and revolutionary Step:

• According to many, this is indeed a step towards smudging social boundaries
• According to many progressive Hindus, the programme represents an inclusive, perhaps disruptive, social engineering that could bring marginalised communities, previously barred from entering temples for fear of “impurity”, into the mainstream.

Does this really break caste hierarchy?

• According to the critics, this mode of training and appointing Dalits as priests would not change the basic structure of Hinduism or the doctrine of temple rituals
• It is an unintentional creation of another social layer or a “sanskritised class of purity”
• It further signifies that a Dalit gives up his cultural and religious past to embrace the Brahmin way of life.
• This reinforces the superiority of the Brahmin and further entrenches the lower castes in their religious, ritual, social lowness.

Additional information:

Supreme Court Judgement:

• The Supreme Court in 2015 held that caste and birth should not determine induction of priests in temples.
• Rather, domain knowledge, traditional codes of practice and the Constitution’s guarantee of equality before law should be applied.