Dalit Working as a Temple Priest

KALAGAUDH, DIPAYA, March 9- A Dalit man, Jogidas, has been working as a priest in the famous Salamuni temple in the remote district of Doti. The priest, who belongs to the Badi community in the Mudegaon-3, leads religious ceremonies and sacrifices in the temple located 12 KM from the regional headquarters, Dipayal. Badis are considered to be in the lowest rung of the Dalit category.

“There are only five Badi families living in the village and we have been working as priests in the temple since the time of our ancestors,” Jogidas said.

There is no discrimination between Dalits and Non-dalits here, and the temple is thronged more by Non-dalits, he informed.

Worshippers from different parts of Nepal and even from India visit the temple mostly on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays to offer sacrifices of goats.

“Even when there is a dispute over letting Dalits in the Shaileshwori temple, it is a positive sign that Dalits are working as priests in this temple”, a Dalit leader, Kumar Singh Tailor, said.

The whole country should learn a lesson from this type of social practice.

Source: The Jagaran Media Centre