Mangalore, Oct 25: Former union minister B Janardhan Poojary said that he would exert pressure on Karnataka chief minister to take quick action over the nomination of priestesses in around 36,000 Muzrai temples run by the government across the state.
He was speaking to media persons after attending the house-warming ceremony of a widow Saroja Harishchandra who built a new house through her own efforts at Alagudde in Kodikal after being inspired by the social revolution taking place in the Kshetra in Kudroli.
A priestess offers pooja at Kudroli temple in Mangalore
There is opportunity for equal rights for all human beings in the Constitution. In this regard, the mindset of keeping widows away from social and religious practices should be warded off. Female priests should also be nominated and allowed to perform poojas in Muzrai temples, he said, adding that the chief minister and social welfare minister Anjaneya had assured of undertaking this move.
Mr Poojary said that the nomination of widow priestesses should not merely be limited to Kudroli temple. Other privately-run temples should also come forward to undertake this revolutionary move and provide widows with a bright future, he said.
Praising the efforts and hardwork of Saroja, he said that the exemplary work of Saroja should be an inspiration and example to other women who had lost their husbands.
Hailing from the Scheduled Caste community, Saroja was inspired to build her own home by the revolutionary change taking place in Kudroli temple. Previously employed by BSNL, her husband passed away in 2004, leaving behind Saroja and two daughters, both of whom are now married. After she was widowed, Saroja lived alone in her house, and inspired by the social revolutionary changes in the temple, she initiated the construction of an upper storey at her home, which she plans to rent out to people and achieve financial security.
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