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India Widows Appointed Hindu Temple Priests
By Habib Beary
Bangalore, BBC NEWS, INDIA
October 7, 2013: Two widows have been ordained as priests in a centuries-old Hindu temple in the southern Indian city of Mangalore in Karnataka state. Lakshmi and Indira formally began performing rituals at the Kudroli Shree Gokarnanatheshwara Temple on Sunday.
Hundreds watched the ceremony marked by a grand procession with music bands heralding their entry into the temple. The move is considered revolutionary in a society where widows are considered inauspicious and normally shunned.
"It is a historic moment. We will get more widows to become priests," said Janardhana Poojary, former federal minister and man behind the reform. Mr Poojary said he would talk to the state authorities to appoint more widows in government-aided temples across Karnataka. "There should not be any constraints on widows from offering prayers. No widow should be discriminated against because of her marital status," he told reporters after the initializing ceremony attended by Hindus, Muslims and Christians.
The widows, who were trained in scriptures for four months, would be paid a monthly salary and would be looked after by the temple management. Kudroli temple authorities say they appointed Lakshmi and Indira in order to change the mindsets and most people in the state have welcomed the move.
"It gives me joy to see them being greeted by devotees," said Anil, a student who felt social transformation was necessary to make the country modern. But in a country where traditionally widows have been kept away from temple rituals, there have been murmurs of protests from some hardliner groups. A revered Hindu seer Narayan Guru, the 18th Century social reformer from the neighboring state of Kerala, set up the temple.
