KALPETTA, KERALA, October 28, 2008: Breaking centuries-old caste barriers, 22 children from different communities, including Scheduled Tribes, have completed an 18-month course of training and have been authorized to serve as temple priests. These boys are the first to graduate from a program which was launched in 2007 by the Kshetra Samrakshana Samity in coordination with leading Vedic scholars and Hindu educational bodies of the state.
The first batch of graduates–including Brahmins, tribals and boys from other castes–were conferred “poojadhikara mudra,” the authority to perform pujas and rituals in temples, at a ceremony held at the Bhadrakali temple at Pongini yesterday. The candidates, aged eight to eighteen, were chosen from Kozhikode and Wayanad districts. The training course was designed so as not to disturb their secular education. After initiation through the upanayanam ceremony under eminent Vedic scholar Perumbadappu Hrishikesan Namboodiripad, the children were taught Sanskrit, mantras and how to perform pujas and rituals. They were also given practical training in temples managed by the Kshetra Samrakshana Samity under the tutelage of experienced priests.