Thread: Dhikshitars of Chidambaram are also Tamil Brahmins too

This is with reference to the imbroglio over "worshipping" in Chidambaram Temple. The 'Dikshithars' of Chidambaram have traditional rights over the customs and rituals for centuries since time immemorial, similar to that of the traditional priests of Puri Jagannath Temple, and only a few such Temples are there in India and Thiruchendhur Senthil Andavar (Murugan) Temple is also one among them. Singing of Tamil Hymns has been going on in all the Temples of Tamil Nadu, and the 'Dikshithars' have been doing that themselves inside the Chidambaram Temple, even from the special "Chitrambalam Stage" regularly. For other singers, they allow from anywhere else except from inside the Sanctum Sanctorum and the special stage, fearing that they might lose their other traditional rights one by one, if once compromised. Their fear is justified when the mentality of the 'Atheist Dravidian Rulers' and other Dravidian politicians and their perennial interference in Temple affairs, showing scant regard to culture, history & tradition, is taken into consideration.

Centuries old historic traditions have to be respected and they cannot be compromised just for the sake of a few individuals. Even the Kings of Sangam period and medieval period have respected the Chidambaram Temple's traditions and accepted the rights of the Dikshithars, which have been sanctioned by none other than the Lord Shiva himself. The History tells us that the composers of Thevaram, the Prime Nayanmars (Trinity of Appar, Sundarar & Sambandar) have also respected the Temple traditions showing utmost regards to the Dikshithars. Once, when Raja Raja Chola went to Chidambaram Temple in search of the original manuscripts (Palm Leaf inscriptions) of "Thevaram" as per the findings of "Nambiandar Nambi" through none other than Lord Ganesha, he wisely arranged for the procession of the idols of the three Nayanmars, when the Dikshithars demanded their presence to open the stock room where the manuscripts were stored. This made the 'Dikshithars' to yield to his Bakthi, devotion and his interests on giving this world the timeless treasure of Thevarams. That being the case, the adamancy of Arumuga Odhuvar is unwarranted and uncalled for.

As the administration is traditionally run by the Dikshithars for ages, the HR & CE department has no authority to interfere in it and it is very unfortunate that the Madras High Court without proper application of mind directed the HR & CE to set right the issue. While the Court had erred inadvertently, the atheist Dravidian government, which always finds sadistic pleasure in interfering in Temple affairs, issued the order binding the Dikshithars, without even attempting to solve the issue through dialogue.

Arumuga Odhuvar should have exhibited his true devotion by singing the hymns from 'Artha Mandapam' for which the Dikshithars have not objected. Instead he yielded to the nefarious designs of DK & VCK thugs and brought disgrace upon himself through the politicization of the issue. It is also totally unfair on the part of the police to allow the atheists like DK and VCK cadres to enter the temple. Utilizing this opportunity, the Dravidian Politicians will come out hammer & tongues with their divisive agenda of anti-Sanskrit and anti-Brahmin Aryan-Dravidian nonsense. It would be wise and prudent on the part of the people of Tamil Nadu to ignore such divisive forces with utmost contempt and stay united in the service of God. Language should be used to unite the people, but not to divide them. The DK / DMK, which do not have the courage to enforce Tamil Prayers in Mosques, have been using Tamil Chauvinism to spoil the culture, peace & unity of Tamill Hindus..

courtesy from:

B.R.Haran,

Entire trouble in Chidambaram Temple looks instigated for some reason by vested interests. Because this temple follows unique system of chanting Vedic and Saivaite Tamil Hymns. Perhaps this is the only known Siva Temple which does not follow Siva Agama system of Temple rituals that all other Siva Temples follow. Here the Pooja involves a combination of abhishekas to the crystal Lingam and Deeparadana to Lord Nataraja and Devi Sivakami amidst the chanting of Vedic and Tamil Hymns. It is believed that this unique Puja procedure was initiated none other than Sage Patanjali himself and being followed till date by the Podu Dikshadars. It is believed that the Tamil word "Koil" refers to this Temple only.

Now that the differences are amicably settled by the Dikshadars and Oduvar, I hope there is no place for others to cause further trouble.

Regards,
Brahmanyan.

1. The Chidambaram issue is an old one which was not resolved earlier. The Bhakthas are happy if it has been resolved.

2. This has nothing to do with the Brahmin community as a whole. The political parties of Tamil Nadu have hijacked an issue which is one of belief.

3. The question of whether the courts can hear or arbitrate on such complaints has been under discussion for a long time now.

I would like to bring to the attention of our members certain legal issues and developments which are pertinent to this.

The ownership of the temples was a big issue at the time of accession of the states. The former kings claimed ownership of all the temples. It was decided that the public temples will be treated as Public property. Some of the kings were given private ownership of some temples. The Padmanabhaswamy temple was considered the private property of the Maharaja of Travancore.

About other temples the general opinion was that all temples are Public property.

After independence a number of cases have been filed before the courts regarding the ownership of the temples and their property. Most of these cases were files by Brahmins and maths for control of the temples. Many cases have reached the supreme court especially where there was a dispute over the ownership.

Some of the notable cases involving famous temples are:

1.Vaishno Devi: This was under the control of the Brahmin Pandas. The Bhakthas were facing hardship in worshipping. When Sri. Jagmohan was the governor of the state, the entire administration was reorganized and put in charge of a committee. The temple has grown by leap and bounds. You will not find a single devotee who sheds any tears for the old Brahmin Pandas.

2. Panduranga temple at Pandharpur: A couple of decades back, devotees used to wonder when the temple will be freed from the clutches of the Badves ( the Brahmin Priests). After a protracted legal tangle, the temple administration has been reconstituted and now the devotee can have Dharshan peacefully. The Badves get a share of the income under this arrangement.

3. Kalighat Kali temple: Still under the control of the Haldars. But there is a committee constituted by the High court to supervise the activities of the temple. Still devotees wonder when Maa Kali will be freed from the clutches of the commercial interests which control the temple. Very badly maintained and the devotees are exploited.

4. Lalita Tirupurasundari temple in Tripura; this Sakthi Peeth after which the State is named had fallen into bad times. The income was being misappropriated and regular pujas were not done. The government took over the temple from the Brahmin priests and now the Pujas are conducted regularly.

All the temples were constructed with public money by the Kings. The Brahmins/maths were entrusted with the management of the temple. They were TRUSTEES and not owners. Over the years the trust has been betrayed by many groups. What we have to remember is the temple which has been constructed with Public money exists for the welfare of the Public and not the families/maths controlling them.

This definition of public temples has created problems for Trusts which have erected temples. If it is a public trust the HR&CE in Tamil Nadu claims that it is a Public temple and they are always ready to take over if the temple has good income. Many temples who have faced this problem have gone to the court and retained ownership by different strategies. Even when these temples were controlled by Brahmins, noone has approached the community for support.

In the temple owned by my family, we have stopped admitting members of the general public and removed the Hundi long time back.

My idea of writing this was to emphasize that such incidents should not be interpreted as an attack against the community. When Public funds are involved the courts have an automatic jurisdiction.

These are struggles for power. Temples are sources of Power/Money.

Yes, I agree. Temples are source of money and money always attrack more nefarious elements than the honest one. It is one of the reason in those days the sanyasi never had a detail mutt or administration.

Shiva was considered as the great giver. He had given to any devotee irrespective of good or bad element [ devathas or demons ].

God had asked for the devotion and not the words. If my perception, devotion is measured by bhakti and not by erudation. That is the reason of bhaja govindam by the saint who was a great proponent of gnana yoga.

What is wrong in the devotees sing the praise of lord in tamil when shiva is considered the god who gave the tamil to ahastiya.

I feel the dikshitars have given opportunity for the dk and dmk to play more politics. As a lay man my understanding is that more than the mantras, concentration and devotion of the mind is more important.

The statement "This has nothing to do with the Brahmin community as a whole." is a cop out. This is a backhanded denial of the status of Dhikshitars as a Tamil Brahmin Community just to serve one's pseudo-secular non-caste outlook. Pity!

Now let's take the following statement. "The ownership of the temples was a big issue at the time of accession of the states. The former kings claimed ownership of all the temples. It was decided that the public temples will be treated as Public property." I wonder on what basis this statement is made. Without clear quote this statement would be unacceptable. Especially when one understands that the "Public Property" would be a property of all irrespective of their religion.

It is true that prior to the British occupation of India the kings were nominal owners of the temples by virtue of the fact that they or their ancestors have built them.

If the British had taken over the temples it is with a view to plunder its wealth and resources and not as the bhakthas that the Hindu kings were.

On the transfer of power from the British colonialists to the Indian politicians, if anyone is claiming that the plunder and loot of the temples should be inherited by the potiticians, then I would say that is an obvious twisting of the principles of accession. The pseudo-secular politicians and their apologists instead of allowing the Hindus to organize themselves atleast for the purpose of common worship, are simply exploiting the vaccuum of organizational head of the Hindus created by the Brtish colonialists to loot and plunder. They have found it as a useful cash cow and also use it to it to drive a wedge or many wedges among the Hindu community on caste lines and other hypeboles. The State has no role and business in the religious beliefs of man. This is secularism. (If I understand correctly I think Sri KRSji is with me on this.For me Secularism is preferable to pseudo-secularism. However Sanathana Dharma is the best for its motto is "Sarve jana sukhino bhavanthu") Trying to poke hole and say that Hindus practise human right violations and use it as a lever and plank to stir and sow confusion in an otherwise peaceful people is psuedo-secularism. Look around and see who are the champions of these pseudo-secularism from EVR, Kamaraj, Nehru to all of today's politicians of every hue and shade with Karunanidhi as the jewel among them and then judge as to what this pseudo-secularism means for us.

Today the Acharya Sabha is organizing itself to gather the Hindus behind and speak on their behalf. A true patriotic politician would help them organize so the State can get out of religion. But Of course the the pseudo-secularists would brand the Sabha as Hindu fundamentalists and try to put it down. Why? Because that would help them to continue to divide and exploit the Hindus.

Judiciary is an apparatus of the State that arbitrates disputes. The pseudo-secularists would ignore it at their convenience or twist its verdict if it would suit them.

Take the case of Chidambaram Temple. The court has given a verdict and so we do not have to confuse ourselves with the accession of India or lump the Dhikshitars as part of the power struggle and alienate them from Tamil Brahmins. Let me quote from a petition that is being submitted to the Honourable Chief Justice of India.

"Consequent to the order dated 15th of February 2008 of the Single Judge Justice V.Ramasubramaniam, concerning the non-Agamic Temples, on a petition filed by Mr. Thirugnanasambandam of Thirunelveli against the HR & CE Department of Tamil Nadu Government with regards to the compulsory usage of Tamil Hymns for rituals and functions in Temples, the Government of Tamil Nadu issued an order dated 28th of February 2008 binding the Dikshidars of Chidambaram Natarajar Temple to allow one Mr.Arumugasamy to sing the Tamil Hymns from the ‘Chitrambalam Medai’ close to the Sanctum Sanctorum.

The state government knowing pretty well that it doesn’t’ have any jurisdiction over the Chidambaram Natarajar Temple, which has ‘Agamic’ and ‘Denominated’ status, had deliberately misinterpreted the order of the Honourable High Court of Chennai and issued the order, which has resulted in chaos and melee inside the Temple and very close to the Sanctum Sanctorum. Cases have been filed against the Dikshithars, who have defended their fundamental rights and twelve of them have been charged with ‘attempt to murder’ charges. Cases have also been filed against the other group, who attempted to enter the sanctum sanctorum in the guise of singing Tamil Hymns.

The apathetic order issued by HR & CE department of Tamil Nadu Government and the manner by which it was implemented by the Chidambaram Police have resulted in the following:-

1. Violation of the Supreme Court’s verdict that Chidambaram Temple is a Denominated Temple and that Dikshidars are the sole traditional authority of the Temple and they have the fundamental rights to administer and run the Temple and that the HR & CE department doesn’t have any jurisdiction over it and hence it cannot interfere in the traditional practices of the Temple.

2. Contempt of Madras High Court, as its judgment dated 15th February 2008 has been deliberately misinterpreted and a wrong order has been issued by the state’s HR & CE department causing immense hardship to the Dikshidars and general devotees of the Temple.

3. The action of the HR & CE department and the Police force amounts to abuse of power and dereliction of duty.

4. The actions of the HR & CE departments and the police force, resulting in the sacrilege of the world famous and ancient Shiva Temple especially three days before the sacred and important festival of Shivrathri, have hurt the religious sentiments of millions of Hindus worldwide.

5. The concerned offenders namely Mr.Arumugasamy, his supporters (atheist political cadres) and the police force have trespassed the divine, sacred and traditionally important areas of the ancient temple, which is traditionally under the control of Dikshidars for centuries."

After reading the above petition, if it is still not possible for us as Tamil Brahmins to voice our support to the Dhikshitars, I would be at a loss to know who we actually are who call ourselves Tamil Brahmins.

First of all I think it is high time we called the bluff of the pseudo Hindus and pseudo Brahmins.

Hinduism is known for its tolerance and acceptance of all religious practices within Hinduism. Of late a political party coined a word "pseudo secularism" which is being used by some people to malign any Hindu who speaks out.

Who are these pseudo Hindus and pseudo Brahmins?

1. The first thing is their total intolerance of any views other than their own.

2. They represent sectarian and very narrow minded views of Hinduism and Brahminism.

3. They tend to blame everyone except themselves for al the ills of the world. They blame the Muslims, Westerners( especially those who did yeomen work for Hinduism) and all other Hindus except their own ilk.

4. They are not the Orthodox Hindus. Orthodox Hindus practice their religion and advise others of their views. They do not go around condemning everyone.

5. A couple of examples of the Pseudo Hindus is that anything in history which is not favourable to their own views of Hinduism/India is the work of the western/secular historians.

6. The pseudo Brahmins quote the name of the Vedas. They have neither read it nor do they understand the Vedas. If you point out that Maharishi Veda Vyasa and maharishi Valmiki were not Brahmins, you become pseudo secular. Upanishadic Hinduism which stresses on the equality of human beings has no relevance to them. They talk about karma kanda , but their knowledge is limited at the most to a couple of Dharma Sasthras.

7. This group of pseudo Hindus and pesudo Brahmins have indulged in activities which have brought nothing but shame to Hinduism and Brahminism.

8. Unfortunately these are the rabble rousers who are very active because they are driven by hate and malice. Malice towards one and all.

9. The majority of the Hindus and Brahmins keep quiet to avoid any confrontation with these power hungry groups. It is because they know that changing these people is as difficult as trying to change the spots of a leopard.

I will write in detail about other points raised later.

Friends,

This thread started with accusations! Just because people are silent, it does not mean that they have not done anything about the Chidambaram incident (there are a couple of petitions to the SC out there). In my experience, support from someone is not usually acheived for a cause by excoriating them first!

We do not need a 'litmus' test for measuring up a Tamil Brahmin. We unite as a community, understanding that amongst us are folks who hold different views on different subjects that address us all as Brahmins.

By the way, HR&CE was originally created by the British to administer the Hindu temples, mainly because the community could not agree on an administrative method and so a committe of prominent Hindus had to be convened, WHO RECOMMENDED THE CREATION OF HR&CE!

Forming the Acharya Sabha is a good first step towards wrestling control of the temples in TN from HR&CE. Hopefully, courts will recognize this and more importantly all Hindu stake holders promote this body to do this.

Pranams,
KRS

Just because people are silent, it does not mean that they have not done anything about the Chidambaram incident (there are a couple of petitions to the SC out there).

I would like to know if Sri KRSji or any other members of this forum have been involved with the petition to the Supreme Court. As far as I know there is only one and that too by a very close friend of mine.

Yes - there is one by Sri Haran Ji that is original on Petitions Online. There is also a Tamil version - at least for signing and comments in a different site, referring to this one.

There is also a contrarian article, asking for support.

Whether I have signed any petition is a personal affair (like voting, like giving to charity) and I do not need to see my name on a donated tube light! I am sure there are other fellow forumites who feel the same, even though many of them may be among the three hundred and fifty and odd.

Pranams,
KRS