TAMIL NADU, INDIA, September 9, 2008: Tension gripped a village in this Tamil Nadu district on Monday after a Hindu temple was opened to Dalits on the orders of the Madras High Court. The court ruling prompted the protesting upper caste Vanniyar community to leave the village, officials said. The temple had been closed for nine months due to a dispute with the upper castes over the right of Dalits to worship in the temple.
“The Dalits are celebrating their being able to pray in the temple after a long time, and are following the orders of the Madras High Court. But the Vanniyars are upset as they feel their hold over the 300-year-old shrine is lost forever and they have shifted to another temple temporarily with all belongings,” a police official said.