Women as temple priests

Context: Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister PK Sekar Babu’s remark that women could be appointed priests in the 35,000-odd temples in the state is long overdue. 

Two major criticisms against the entry of women

• a) The fear of women coming in contact with men, and 
• b) notions of purity and pollution, especially associated with menstruation. 

Reasons to open temples to women priests

• Raj Kali Kuer vs Ram Rattan Pandey 1955 case: This judgment notes that many priestly offices in Indian temples were hereditary. The Supreme Court held that women have the right to succeed to religious office. 
• The authority of men, or of Brahmins, to conduct rituals is not vested in any religious texts including Srimad Bhagvad.  
• Completing the Bhakti revolution: The single biggest achievement of the Bhakti movement is elevating the dignity of the emotion among the public and marginalizing the ritual conformism of Brahmanism. So, the Opening up of inner sanctum ritual to all people is in line with completing the Bhakti revolution 

Road Ahead

• Now it is time for not only Hinduism, but also for all other religions to liberate religion from patriarchy.
• The purpose of opening up ritual functions to women cannot just be social engineering; there are good religious grounds for opening all ritual functions to women. The rest of India must follow Tamil Nadu’s example.
• There is nothing Sulabha about attaining this state. Hinduism will do itself a favour by emulating Sulabha and throwing off the needless restrictions that divide and exclude. Giving women full rights on all temple rituals is an idea whose time has come.