Tamil Nadu's second female priest Suhanjana Gopinath takes charge at Chennai temple

MK Stalin has become the second Tamil Nadu Chief Minister to appoint a female priest. Suhanjana Gopinath, a 28-year-old woman, made headlines after Chief Minister MK Stalin appointed her as a female priest /Odhuvar on August 14. She is the second woman to become an Odhuvar. The Odhuvar is a priest who chants hymns and is placed higher on the hierarchy of priests. 

On behalf of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department, the CM issued appointment orders to 24 educated priests, totalling 208 people from all castes. According to media reports, Suhanjana, who became the Odhuvar at Dhenupureeswarar Temple at Madambakkam in Chennai, studied under Karur Saminathan, who insisted that Suhanjana spread the message of Thevaram and Thiruvasagam among the people. For more than 13 years, the trained archakas have been waiting for government jobs.  

Reports also cite Suhanjana Gopinath explaining that her husband and in-laws have been supportive of her decision. The educated female priest is also eager to take her child to the temple; thus, the family considers relocating their home near the shrine. The first woman Odhuvar was appointed in 2007 under the tenure of previous Chief Minister M Karunanidhi. 

It is important to note that the HR&CE department in Tamil Nadu now has only two non-Brahmin archakas. Marisamy, the first priest, was appointed in 2018 at Madurai's Ayyappan temple, while Thyagarajan, the second priest, was appointed in 2020 at Madurai's Ganesha temple.

‘Periyar’s dream has finally come true': HR & CE Minister

Earlier in the ceremony on August 14, HR&CE Minister PK Sekar Babu stated that Periyar's goal has come true. In 1970, EV Ramaswami, better known to Tamils as Periyar, advocated for all cast members to become temple priests, claiming that not allowing them to perform prayers was discriminatory. Discrimination was a "thorn in his heart" for Periyar.

After this, the DMK administration passed a law on the subject the same year. in 1972, the law was challenged in the Supreme Court, which decided against it. After taking over in 2006 and granting the decree for priests to be engaged at all temples, late Karunanidhi claimed that the "thorn in Periyar's heart" had been removed.

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