Bharatanatyam dancer Mansiya VP has been barred from performing at a festival to be held in Koodalmanikyam Temple in Kerala’s Thrissur district because she is a “non-Hindu”
In a Facebook post, the dancer said, “I have no religion and where should I go.” Image courtesy: Mansiya VP/Facebook
Bharatanatyam dancer Mansiya VP has been barred from performing at the Koodalmanikyam Temple at Irinjalakuda in Kerala’s Thrissur district. The reason? She is a non-Hindu.
Mansiya said on Monday that the temple, which is under the state government-controlled Devaswom Board, denied her permission to perform Bharatanatyam at the Koodalmanikyam temple festival. The performance was scheduled for 21 April.
The dancer wrote about her ordeal on Facebook. “One of the temple office-bearers informed me that I cannot perform at the temple as I am a non-Hindu. All stages are allotted based on religion, not considering whether you are a good dancer or not. In the meantime, I have also been facing queries about whether I got converted into a Hindu after marriage. (She had married musician Shyam Kalyan). I have no religion and where should I go,” she said in the post.
When Islamic clerics hit out at Mansiya
This is not the first time Mansiya is being targeted for her religion. Earlier, Islamic clerics had boycotted the PhD research scholar in Bharatanatyam for being a classical dance artiste despite being born and raised as a Muslim.
Mansiya said that a few years ago, she was stopped from performing at the Kerala’s Guruvayoor Sree Krishna Temple for not being a Hindu. “Art and artists continue to be knotted with religion and caste. When it is forbidden to one religion, it becomes the monopoly of another religion. This experience is not new to me. I am recording it here only to remind that nothing has changed in our secular Kerala,” she said in the Facebook post.
Old norms, say temple authorities
According to Koodal Manikyam Devaswom Programme Committee convenor advocate Manikandan, the performance will be held in “chuttambalam” of the temple and it’s a rule that non-Hindus cannot enter. He said that an exception would be made only if the devaswom and the tantrics decide otherwise.
Koodalmanikyam Devaswom (temple) Board chairman Pradeep Menon told The Indian Express that only Hindus can perform on the temple premises according to tradition. “As per our norms, we have to ask the artists whether they are Hindus or non- Hindu. Mansiya had given in writing that she has no religion. Hence, she was denied the venue. We have gone as per the existing tradition at the temple,” he told the newspaper.
The Koodalmanikyam Temple festival is held over a period of 10 days. It will see 800 artistes performing at various events during the festival.
A ban on Muslim vendors at Karnataka temple fairs
Meanwhile in Karnataka, the call for ban on Muslim traders near temple premises is growing. It started with the Shimoga temple, which decided that not to give tenders to Muslim shopkeepers during a five-day festival. Now temples in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi Tumkur, Hassan, Chikmagalur, and other districts are imposing similar restrictions.
Some of the famous temples going with the ban are Belur Channakeshava in Hassan, Siddhalingeshwara in Tumkur and the Bappanadu temple, reports The Telegraph. Ironically, the 800-old Bappanadu temple was built by Muslim merchant Bappa Beary of Kerala and is symbol of communal harmony.
Last week, the Karnataka government defended the decision by some temples banning Muslim traders during religious festivals in the Assembly, citing a law to argue that no people other than Hindus could be allowed inside temple premises during fairs and holy occasions.
With inputs from agencies
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