Tamil Nadu Timeline

Social ReformNational and Dravidian movements

Dalits enter Madurai Meenakshi Temple

· Meenakshi Temple

Dalits enter Madurai Meenakshi Temple
எஸ்ஸார், CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

A. Vaidyanatha Iyer led a group of Dalits and Nadars into the Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai, defying orthodox opposition.

On 8 July 1939 the Congress leader A. Vaidyanatha Iyer, then president of the Tamil Nadu Harijan Seva Sangh, entered the Meenakshi Temple in Madurai with L. N. Gopalaswami and a group of Dalits including P. Kakkan. The entry was supported by the Rajagopalachari government. The Madras Temple Entry Authorization and Indemnity Act of 1939 removed restrictions on Dalits and Nadars entering Hindu temples. The event was a milestone in the campaign against untouchability in Tamil Nadu.

Related events

  1. 1924

    1. 30 Mar 1924 to 23 Nov 1925VaikomSocial Reform

      Vaikom Satyagraha

      A satyagraha in Travancore demanded that people of oppressed castes be allowed to use the roads around the Vaikom temple; E. V. Ramasamy took part.

  2. 1936

    1. 12 Nov 1936ThiruvananthapuramSocial Reform

      Travancore Temple Entry Proclamation

      The Maharaja of Travancore opened state temples to all Hindus regardless of caste, including temples in present-day Kanyakumari district.

  3. 1938

    1. Mar 1938ChennaiLegislation

      Madras Agriculturists Relief Act eases peasant debt

      A law to reduce the debts of indebted farmers in the Madras Presidency was brought in by the Rajagopalachari ministry.

  4. 1939

    1. 1939ChennaiLegislation

      Madras Temple Entry Authorization and Indemnity Act

      A law passed by the Rajagopalachari ministry lifted the bars on Dalits and Shanars entering Hindu temples across the Presidency.

  5. 1989

    1. 1989 to May 2008UthapuramSocial Reform

      Uthapuram caste violence and the 'untouchability wall'

      After caste violence in Uthapuram near Madurai in 1989, caste Hindus built a wall separating the Dalit area of the village.

  6. 2021

    1. 14 Aug 2021ChennaiSocial Reform

      Priests of all castes appointed to state temples

      The government appointed trained archakas from many castes, including non-Brahmins, to temples under the HR and CE department.

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