In an unprecedented indictment of the centuries-old Hindu caste system, India's Supreme Court has ruled for the first time that non-Brahmins are eligible to become temple priests.
The priesthood had always been the exclusive preserve of upper-caste Brahmins who systematically barred all other castes from the highly-paid and socially prestigious profession.
But in a landmark ruling the Supreme Court dealt a major blow to their monopoly and ruled that non-Brahmins are entitled to be employed as priests for conducting community prayers in temples and performing religious rituals on occasions like childbirth, marriage and death.
'Caste cannot be a criterion. Any Hindu who is well-versed in religious scriptures and has been properly trained to perform rituals is equally qualified to be appointed as a priest,' Justice S. Rajendra Babu and Justice Doraiswamy Raju said on Saturday.
'It is unconstitutional and punishable to exclude any Hindu who is not a Brahmin from becoming a priest,' they ruled.
The case started in 1995 when K. S. Rakesh, a non-Brahmin was appointed as the priest of the ancient Hindu temple of Neerikodesiva in Kerala's Ernakaulam town by a government-run board of trustees.