The head of Dharmapuram Adheenam Sri Masillamani Desiga Gnanasambanda Swamigal has criticized the DMK government in Tamil Nadu for setting a wrong precedent in the appointment of Odhuvars on behalf of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department.
Of the 183 temples of Dharmapuram Adheenam that falls under the ambit of HR&CE department, there are Odhuvars rendering their service in 107 temples.
For the rest, the Odhuvars are being appointed by the Tamil Nadu government through the HR&CE department.
A few days back, HR&CE Minister PK Sekar Babu issued the appointment orders for 15 new Odhuvars including 5 female Odhuvars.
The 27th pontiff of Darumapuram, Srilasree Masilamani Desika Gnanasambandha Paramachariar Swami has said in a statement that instead of appointing those who have studied in Thevaram Padasalai (Saivite schools) for 5 years, the Tamil Nadu government has appointed those who have studied for two years, which he fears will lower the quality of Odhuvars.
“It has been revealed through media reports that some of the people who were appointed as reciters yesterday (25 September 2023) on behalf of the Tamil Nadu Government’s Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department are not fully qualified. We consider this to be a wrongful appointment affecting those who have completed five years of formal education. It also sets a false precedent. We have been running a Thevaram Padasalai for 80 years and we are bringing this to the notice of the government on the moral grounds that most of the Odhuvars who are currently in service have studied here.“, the Adheenam said.
The Adheenam further added “Earlier only those who studied in five year Thevaram schools were recruited as Odhuvars and they were paid less. It was relaxed and those who studied full-time for four-year in university and a three-year music school were appointed and now in a more flawed way, those who obtained certificate by attending only 1 class per month and 24 classes in 2 years in 24 classes have been appointed. It is not even the syllabus for Odhuvar service. This will affect the future of students who are currently studying full-time in seminaries, universities and government music schools. Since the appointments to be made are less, we request the government to appoint only qualified Odhuvars for temples.”
The Adheenam also urged the government to treat the Odhuvars with dignity.