The Jayalalithaa regime in 2016 set up pathashalas for priests in the making, including non-Brahmins, with an objective to end caste discrimination in the appointment of archakas and to train all caste people as archakas
The appointment of the first non-Brahmin priest in Tamil Nadu has met with silence from the government. The silence stems from the existence of pathshalas that offer three-year certificate course on Veda Agamas, which have no 'non-Brahmins' as students.
There are two Vaishnava Vedha Agama pathshalas in Parthasarathi Swamy Temple in Chennai and Aranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam and a Saiva Vedha Agama pathshala at Kapaleeswarar Temple in Chennai which offer such courses even to non-Brahmin students. Despite the provision, multiple sources has confirmed that all those enrolled at these pathshalas are Brahmins, and that a majority of them are either priest who are serving at the temples or sons of the serving priests.
The Jayalalithaa regime in 2016 set up Veda pathashalas after giving a quiet burial to the six Archakar Payirchi Palli (Training School for Priests) opened by the DMK government in 2007 with an objective to end caste discrimination in the appointment of archakas and to train all caste people as archakas.
"At the Savia pathshala in Kapaleeswarar Temple, all the 13 enrolled for the three-year course are sons of priests serving in the temple or nearby areas at Mylapore even as they continue their school and college education. Similar is the case of the 17 students who have enrolled at the Vaishnava pathshala in Srirangam temple. At Parthasarathy Swamy temple, about 30 persons are pursuing the course but all of them are priests under the age of 45."
In July 2016, the Saiva and Vaishnava pathshalas invited application from the interested and 'qualified' Hindus between 13 and 20 years with an educational qualification of the eighth standard pass.
"We got application only from Brahmin students. Since none of the government trained archakas (one out of 206 trained persons was appointed as a priest) were given appointments, no non-Brahmins were interested in the new course," sources in Srirangam temple told DNA.
When asked about why only Brahmins are studying in the pathshala, Jothi Lakshmi, deputy commissioner of Parthasarathi temple said, "This is not Anaithu Jathiynarum Archakarragalam (all caste people can become a priest) scheme...The syllabus of this Veda pathshalas is different. Agamam, Vedham, Astrology and Prabandam. This course is only for Vaishnavas." Balaji, an employee in the temple said that Vaishnavas means Brahmins alone.
An official of the Kapaleeswarar Temple also insisted that the course is meant only for sons of Gurukuls (Brahmin priests) since they learn Vedham and Thevaram (a collection of Tamil Saiva devotional poems).
Despite the 1970 law that bans hereditary appointments of priests and 2006 GO that facilitates anyone with qualification can become a priest, the Brahmin community, however, effectively barred non-brahmins from becoming priests by putting their kin alone at these centres.
Not only the course has been reduced to 'Brahmin' only, but its rules were also relaxed. All the students were allowed to stay at home relaxing the condition to stay at the 'Gurukul' and classes are conducted on flexible timing to allow them to continue their academics and work as well. Besides, the trainees are being paid a stipend of Rs 1000 per month. Officials in Parthasarathy temple said that no stipends were being paid there as the government did not allocate funds.
V Ranganathan, coordinator of Tamil Nadu Government Trained Archakas Association said that conducting the course with only Brahmin students and allowing them to stay at home in violation of the rules indicates continuing discrimination in the temple administration. "When we pursued the one-year course in 2007, we were made to stay at Gurukul and allowed to visit home for a day in a month," he said. He demanded the government to immediately suspend the course and take action against the officials for subverting the rules. He said that the courses should be held only with the participation of all the caste people and it could be done only if the rest of the 205 trained archakas were appointed in the government-run temples.
ATTEMPT AT EQUALITY
The Jayalalithaa regime in 2016 set up pathashalas for priests in the making, including non-Brahmins, with an objective to end caste discrimination in the appointment of archakas and to train all caste people as archakas.
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