Inhuman to ask people to take off clothes while entering temples: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah
CM addresses Narayanaguru Jayanthi program in Bengaluru
Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister has criticized the system in certain temples asking devotees to take off their clothes before entering temples, calling it an act of injustice and also an inhuman practice, observed under the pretext of respecting God.
Siddaramaiah, who spoke after inaugurating the Brahmashri Narayanaguru Jayanthi program organized by the Department of Kannada and Culture at the Ravindra Kalakshetra in the city on Thursday, said, "We are all equal in the eyes of the Almighty. It is inhuman to ask a person to enter a temple only after taking off one's clothes. Such acts of inequality and discrimination, which are performed under the pretext of worshipping God but are giving rise to caste and religion conflicts, are insults to the Almighty."
Speaking about the social reforms undertaken by Narayanaguru, Siddaramaiah said that there was discrimination and conflict between religions and castes during the seer's time too, just as there are today, but Narayanaguru brought about a change in the society and its thinking style without leading to conflict. A perverse attitude that causes conflicts in the name of religion and caste by using worship of God as a pretext still exists, he opined.
"Narayanaguru found a way of worship that was free from any sort of discrimination. He told the people, do not attempt to visit a temple that denies you entry. Build temples in honour of your deities and worship them. As a result of the social revolution undertaken by Narayanaguru, as many as 60 new temples were built in Kerala. He also opened the temples he had built for people belonging to the lower castes, who were not permitted to enter other temples," pointed out Siddaramaiah, adding, "Narayanaguru also gave a lot of importance to education of the lower castes, stressing that it was a way to gain independence and strengthening the communities."
The Chief Minister opined that the social reformer cannot be said to belong to a particular caste or community, instead, he was a man of the world, who surpassed caste, creed and religion. "We therefore request the Union government to take the initiative of observing Narayanaguru Jayanti, the birth anniversary of the 'Vishwamanava'," he urged.
He assured that the requests of the people to the state government, to set up an 'Arya Eediga Development Corporation' and the construction of a hall, 'Narayanaguru Bhavana', will soon be fulfilled.
Pontiff of the Soloor Arya Adiga Mahasamsthana, Minister for Kannada and Culture Shivaraj Thangadagi, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa, MLA Gopalakrishna Belur and Arya Adiga Samaja president Dr. M Thimmegowda present on the occasion.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
