Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam is taking steps to cut down the caste discrimination by training the Dalit. The independent trust, Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam which administers the Tirumala Venkateshwara temple at Tirupati has now followed the suit with its decision to train Dalits as priests.
More than 200 people from the backward community will be given religious training for over three months on daily vedic rituals and practices. The pilot batch of trainees will be selected from Chitoor and West Godavari districts.
This is the first time that the world’s richest temple is offering a certificate course of this nature.
The traditional temple rituals called Agamas has three parts. The first part includes practices which only the traditional priest are allowed to perform. The other two parts include common rituals which even the general public may perform.
The first batch of priests will be trained in the ‘Smartha’ tradition which is common everyday ritual. After the completion of course the TTD will not employ the youth instead their main aim is to break the barriers of caste discrimination and make the profession of priesthood more inclusive.
