A 'village festival' that refuses to enter Dalit neighbourhood: The story of TN's Ayyampalayam

During the months of July and August every year, when the river Cauvery fills to its brim, it is festival season for the Ayyampalayam village of Musiri Taluk, in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruchirappalli district. As part of the month-long festival, deities Bhagavathi Amman and Ilayandi Amman visit their devotees in their temple cars, commuting from street to street in grand processions that villagers kick off from the river bank. The deities, however, do not enter certain streets — namely the Peramoor Colony, Pallatheru North Street, Ambedkar Nagar and Bharathi Nagar. Not so coincidentally, all of them are Dalit neighborhoods.

Caste untouchability is alive and kicking in Ayyampalayam, say Dalits who reside in the region. They allege that the caste Hindus block the entry of the temple car procession during the annual thiruvizha into their streets during the festival season. The village is home to around 200 Dalit families, and a majority of them are agricultural labourers. Among the 60 bricklaying units in Ayyampalayam, only one is owned by a Dalit. The Kallars, on the other hand, are a landed class with strong political influence. A majority of the streets in the village are named after the castes of the caste Hindus who live there. 

Though the Ilayandi Amman temple is officially under the management of the Tamil Nadu government’s Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department, the Kallars of the village — who belong to the Backward Classes (BCs) category — hold a significant amount of power within the temple festival committee. And they simply do not want the temple car procession to enter areas where Dalits reside, alleges a villager.

Entrance to the Ayyampalayam village in Musiri Taluk

“We Parayars and Devendrakula Velalars (both Scheduled Caste groups) constitute a majority in this village, but we don’t have any say in the festival committee,” says Senbagatamizhan, a resident of Ambedkar Nagar. “Though we can enter the temple, we are not allowed to make any monetary contribution to the village temple festival, which is supposed to be for all.” In the name of customs and traditions, caste Hindus have also restricted the entry of temple car processions to their areas, he adds.

Streets named after the caste of respective caste Hindus who reside there

According to Sukumar (name changed), another Dalit villager, the caste Hindus have even allotted a separate place in the temple bund for offerings and sacrifices by Dalits. “The temple car passes by the entrances of our street, but it doesn’t enter it. So we have to wait at the bund for the deity to reach us after covering every street of caste Hindus,” he says.

This year, the annual festival for the Bhagavathi Amman, Mariamman and Ilayandi Amman temples — the three major worshipping spots for the people of Ayyampalayam — is being held from August 12 to September 12. The Ilayandi Amman temple car procession has not been held for the past nine years. I'm 2013, a writ of mandamus petition was filed by Ranjith, a Dalit man from Ayyampalayam village, at the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court. Responding to the petition, the court had asked the petitioner to file a fresh representation for further queries in future, since the festival had gotten over by then. But while the petition was dismissed by the court and no new petition was filed until this year, there was tension in the village because Ranjith dared to go to court. 

Ilayandi Amman temple

“I am the first person from my community to approach the court to see an end to this discrimination. They never expected us to challenge their ‘customs’ and seek justice in the court,” says Ranjith. The temple committee decided not to hold the procession at all, until this year. 

After nine years, in July, the festival committee and several caste Hindus in the village approached the HR&CE Department and revenue officials, seeking permission to conduct the temple car procession as per “old customs and traditions.” Meanwhile, Dalits in the village submitted a petition to the district administration to ensure that the temple car carrying the deity enters their streets.

The authorities of both HR&CE and Revenue departments are highly biased towards caste Hindus, alleges Senbagatamizhan. “A committee was formed in the name of peacekeeping, they are asking us to follow the customs and traditions that legitimises untouchability,” he says, further calling out the bogus claim that the temple car could not enter their street because it was too narrow. “The temple cars are small. Our roads are wide enough for the cars to easily come inside and return, without any disturbance,” he says. Besides, he adds, he can also show the caste Hindu streets that are narrower than theirs, but the temple car enters them with no issues.

Dalit colony streets that authorities say is 'too narrow' for temple cars to enter

“How can you call this a village festival if Dalits don’t get to enjoy the same rights as upper caste members? When we enquired with the executive officer of the Musiri HR&CE to ensure the entry of the temple car in our streets, she asked us to get a court order because she can’t go beyond customs and traditions,” says Ranjith.

Subsequently, Ramesh, another Dalit man in the village, approached the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court in July this year, seeking permission to take the temple car procession to Dalit colonies. The Madras High Court, in its order on August 11, rejected his plea, and said that the festival can be conducted by following the old practice. Besides, after perusing the materials submitted by the respondents, the court came to the conclusion that “some rights and privileges (have been) given to the Scheduled Caste people during the festival." (sic) The order also directed the Musiri deputy superintendent of police “to monitor the situation and post sufficient force to ensure peace and tranquillity…in view of some displeasure, which might lead to trouble during the temple festival and temple car procession.”

The department is against any kind of discrimination, says Vidhya, the newly appointed executive officer of HR&CE, Musiri taluk. “There are no records to show how the temple car festival was being conducted in the past, and what the customs and practices associated with it were. After receiving inputs from the temple festival committee, we have submitted our answers to the High Court,” she says.

In the wake of the developments, political parties including the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Party (VCK), and other Dalit organisations staged a protest in Musiri on August 22, demanding the restoration of Dalits’ rights to worship.