Over three hundred held in bid to say devaram at Nataraja temple

Over three hundred held in bid to say devaram at Nataraja temple - Newindpress.com: "The move to recite Tamil devotional hymns, Devaram, at Lord Nataraja temple, was stopped with the arrest of 338 persons, including Perambur Legislator, and some Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) volunteers, at Chidambaram on Wednesday.

The group was attempting to defy a ban on reciting ‘Devaram’ and ‘Thiruvasagam’ at the world famous Saivite shrine.

Among others Perambur MLA and State president of DYFI SK Mahendran, Secretary Kannan, Vice-President S Velmurugan, Joint-Secretary S G Ramesh Babu and Arumugasamy Odhuvar addressed a protest meeting near EVR Periyar Statue at Melaveedhi.

Addressing the gathering Mahendran said the Tamil Nadu Government should take steps to lift the ban imposed by the court on reciting Tamil devotional hymns at the abode of the Cosmic dancer.

The government must enact legislation for taking over the temple and take steps to recite Tamil devotional hymns at the shrine. Diskhidars had been controlling the affairs of the temple illegally, he alleged.

It is said that they had been practising an inhuman act of untouchability for centuries. An ardent devotee of Lord Siva, Nandanar was prevented from entering the temple by the Dikshidars since he belonged to an SC community. This happened several decades ago.

Similarly, the priest had been objecting to offering of prayers in Tamil language. To protest this, the group took out a procession to the temple from Melaveedhi when police led by ASP Pradeep stopped it."