Uttarakhand temple defies age-old norms, appoints two women as priests

In a first, Manjula Awasthi, a resident of Pithoragarh, has been appointed the chief priest, whereas Suman Bisht has been given the responsibility of assistant priest of the Yogeshwar Shri Krishna temple in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh.

Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand): Defying age-old tradition and a step forward to empower women, two newly appointed women priests will be helming the affairs of the Yogeshwar Shri Krishna temple in the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand.

The office-bearers of the temple management committee have been deliberating upon the issue for a long time. The women were also vociferous and sought temple upkeep rights on a par with their male counterparts. The women priests were repeatedly urging the temple committee that they should be given the right to perform Puja and rituals.

A meeting was held in this regard and finally, the temple management committee took a major decision. The decision taken by the committee has set an example for other temples in the country to replicate this new rule. Manjula Awasthi, a resident of Pithoragarh, has been appointed the chief priest, whereas Suman Bisht has been given the responsibility of assistant priest.

Priests were claiming that this was the first experiment of its kind in Uttarakhand which is also popularly known as Deobhumi (god's abode). Chairman of the temple committee, Acharya Pitambar, said, "We wanted to come out of age-old traditions being practiced in several temples of Uttarakhand. We want to give larger responsibility to women. Hence, the decision was taken in this regard."

"Women play an important role in taking care of their family. This decision will be a milestone for others to follow. Men hardly can be a match for women in terms of the work they perform for their families. Women undertake fasting and perform Puja, whereas male counterparts hardly contribute to the household work and other religious rituals," the chairman added.