Hindu Munnai volunteers assembled in front of the temple on May 9 (left) and the invitation card carrying pictures of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (right), Image: Twitter
A few days back an invitation card of the marriage of a Christian couple was shared on social media platforms. What was shocking is that the marriage was organised at a Hindu temple in Tamil Nadu. Soon, Hindu activists began protesting. As a result, the organisers have to thwart the marriage.
The viral invitation card “Holy Marriage Invitation” had a picture of baby Jesus on the top with mother Mary and father Joseph. As per the invitation card, the name of the bride and the groom was Kowsalya and Ajith Kumar respectively. The marriage event was scheduled for June 1st at Thiruvetteeswarar temple on Wanals Road in Egmore, Chennai.
Posting the invitation a Twitter user wrote, “Is the temple just a marriage hall for Christians in DMK to get married? Action should be taken against the employee who gave permission (for Christian marriage in Hindu temple)”
On May 9, the Hindu Munnani workers assembled in front of the Thiruvetteeswarar temple to protest against the permission given to Christian marriage. The protestors demanded that the permission should be revoked and that non-Hindus should not be allowed to use temple premises as a wedding hall from now onwards.
Notably, the Executive Officer of the Thiruvetteeswarar temple issued a clarification, stating that the Christian marriage scheduled to be held at the temple has been cancelled. The marriage was controlled by the Hindu Religious Charitable and Endowments (HR&CE) department of the temple.
The circular issued by the temple authorities read, “Thiruvetteeswarar temple in Triplicane is managed by the HR&CE department. Only Hindus will be allowed to marry in this temple. As you stated in your letter, the marriage between Ajith Kumar and Kowsalya is not of the Hindu religion, and thus the marriage scheduled for June 1 is cancelled. We would like to bring to your attention that the marriage scheduled for June 1 in the temple has been cancelled in the interest of the temple administration and the public interest of the devotees as the marriage activities were found to be in violation of HR&CE rules.”
This is not the first time that a Christian couple was allowed to marry at a Hindi temple in Tamil Nadu. In April 2022, a similar incident was reported from Shri Adi Jagannatha Perumal temple in Thirupullani. The wedding invitation went viral after which Hindus protested.
It was the wedding invitation of Vignesh and Bhavatharani. Even though all the names in the invitation are Hindu, the first line hails Jesus. It says, “Hail Jesus; This action is blessed by Jesus”.
The Hindu Munnai protested against the HRCE’s decision to allow the wedding of converted Christians in a Hindu temple and complained to concerned authorities. However, it is unclear if the marriage was cancelled after the protests or not.
In a similar incident from March 2017, HRCE officials in the Madhava Perumal temple in Chennai allowed a Christian wedding in a hall near the temple premises. Non-vegetarian food and liquor were served in the hall against protocols. When locals inquired the HRCE officials about it they received a rude response.
The officials said that the couple who got married were SC (Dalit) Hindus and even though the groom’s name was indeed displayed as ‘Charles’, his real name was ‘Yuvraj’ with ‘Charles’ being his pet name. They claimed that all allegations about temple sanctity being violated were just a conspiracy by ‘Brahmin vested interests’.
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