Bhujiya

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This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content.

Shiva temple

The Times of India, Aug 07 2016

Priyangi Agarwal

Bareilly Shiva temple's doors open for Dalits after 70 years 

A Shiva temple that had remained out of bounds for Dalits for more than 70 years in Bareilly opened its doors to them.

In 2016, Dalits had complained to the police and administration after a Dalit youth was not allowed to join a Kanwar group because villagers feared he might then offer prayers with them at the temple. Following the complaint, officials held a meeting with villagers of all communities and arrived at a mutual understanding, after which the temple was opened for Dalits as well.

The lone Shiva temple in Bhujiya, a village with a population of 2,500, has been out of bounds since decades for the 150 Dalits living here.

“Dalits were not allowed to enter this temple ever since it was built seven decades ago. A settlement was reached nearly 20 years ago but then the upper caste men here did not honour it. We did not bring it up since it would have further worsened our ties with them,“ Chhatrapal Gautam, a farmer who until now visited a temple in the neighbouring Khamariya village.

However, the issue came to a boil once again this week.“This time we put our foot down,“ said Dharamveer Sagar, another Dalit villager.

SP (rural areas) Yamuna Prasad said, “The Dalits had complained that the youth, Vinod Kumar, was not allowed to a join the Kanwar group because of his caste. Kanwars claimed that the youth did not follow the mandatory religious tradition and, therefore, was asked to leave this group. While dealing with the issue, we learned that local Dalits were not allowed to enter the Shiva temple here for decades. This was for the first time when the matter was brought to our knowledge.“

Dalit men and women entered the temple and offered water and flowers to the deity .“As it is our temple now, we will also participate in taking care of it. I cleaned the premises which had been dirtied after Friday's rain,“ said Chet Ram, a farmer.

Kanchan Lal, who has been worshipping at the temple since childhood, said, “Dalits entered this temple for the first time. We have no objection now, as police made us realise that doors of a temple should be open for all.“