Five more women Odhuvars appointed in TN Temples

The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment department on Monday appointed five more women as Odhuvars.

Chennai, Sept 25 (BPNS)

The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment department on Monday appointed five more women as Odhuvars. Odhuvars are those who sing Tamil devotional hymns but they don’t enter the sanctum sanctorium.

With the appointment of five women on Monday, the total Odhuvars in temples of Tamil Nadu under HR&CE has touched ten.

HR&CE Minister, P.K. Sekar Babu in a statement on Monday said that all the ten Women Odhuvars were appointed after the DMK came to power in 2021.

The minister said that Odhuvars would be appointed only in Siva temples and not in Vaishnava temples.

It may be noted that the Tamil Nadu HR&CE department has recently appointed three women as assistant priests in different temples after the completion of archaka ( priest ) training.

Minister Sekar Babu said that the three women priests will work as assistant priests for a year and learn all the temple agama rules and other temple rituals and practices from the chief priest of the temple.

The women priests are paid an apprentice of Rs 8000 per month during their training period.