Dalit women stage dharna over denial of ritual at temple in Odisha

A group of women belonging to the Dalit community staged a dharna (sit-in protest) against alleged caste bias at the Siddheswari Ramachandi Shakthi in Garajanga village of Odisha on Saturday, November 9. The women alleged that they were barred from performing a traditional ritual of offering milk to the deity during the holy month of Kartik.

The tension



emerged when the priests of the temple and members of the upper caste community allegedly stopped the Dalit women from performing the puja and engaging in the ritual.

The protesters argued that this exclusion is not only discriminatory but also a violation of their rights to participate in religious practices that they have historically been part of in the past.