Caste Hindus Destroy Temple In Vellore Village After Dalits Celebrate Festival

In an Indian village, caste Hindus demolished a Kaliamman temple after Dalits participated in the Aadi month festivities.

A group of caste Hindus demolished a Kaliamman temple near Gemmankuppam village in KV Kuppam taluk last week. This action followed the defiance of Dalits who were barred from participating in the temple's Aadi month festivities.

Photo Credit: X

After a delay of more than a week, KV Kuppam police registered a case under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against one individual from the caste Hindu community. According to official sources, the FIR was filed on August 14 after a detailed discussion during a recent law and order meeting chaired by the district collector.

The Dalits, who make up about 50% of the village population, stated that their community had primarily worshipped the deity for many years. S Naveen Kumar, who lodged the police complaint, mentioned that other castes began worshipping at the temple over time, but discrimination against Dalits has increased in recent years.

Temple Construction and Discrimination

The deity was initially enshrined in an open area on poramboke land three kilometres from the village. A small temple was built around it a few years ago. The Dalits claimed they contributed both cash and kind for its construction, which caste Hindus contested. "We were not even invited for the consecration of the new structure," alleged Naveen Kumar.

The caste Hindus in the village include Vanniyars, Yadavs, Chettiars, and Naidus. Naveen Kumar said Dalits were explicitly told to stay away from Aadi month festivities scheduled for August 2. D Loganathan, a caste Hindu named in the FIR who claims to be a medium and soothsayer, told villagers that Goddess Kaliamman appeared in his dreams and instructed that Dalits be kept away. "The caste Hindus backed his claim," added Naveen.

Demolition Incident

Despite police protection, on August 6, some caste Hindus demolished the temple using earthmovers and took away the idol. The Dalits alleged that this demolition occurred with support from then-jurisdictional DSP Ravichandran. However, when contacted by TNIE, Ravichandran denied these allegations and stated that the case is now being handled by the revenue department.

Bharath Tamil, a 37-year-old Dalit resident, shared that they usually start celebrations at their local Mariamman temple before cooking pongal at Kaliamman temple outside the village. He noted increasing discrimination recently; last year caste Hindus even refused to allow their procession through certain streets.

Community Reactions

After being excluded from festivities by caste Hindus, Dalit community members filed a police complaint leading to an inquiry where discriminatory statements were allegedly made by caste Hindus. On August 2, defying these restrictions, Dalits celebrated at Kaliamman temple while caste Hindus boycotted it.

Caste Hindus claimed Loganathan solely built the temple and expressed no issue with Dalits worshipping there but showed reluctance to celebrate festivals together. Loganathan declined to comment further on this matter.

Efforts for Resolution

The village panchayat president M Krishnamoorthy expressed willingness to organise joint celebrations if both parties agreed but left it up to villagers otherwise. Gudiyatham revenue officials have scheduled peace committee meetings with both communities to resolve this issue peacefully.

A senior revenue official acknowledged that demolishing any structure on poramboke land is inappropriate since many temples in Tamil Nadu stand on such land without issues.

Notably, DSP Ravichandran was among those transferred during recent district-wide police reshuffling.