Poorakkali artist in Kerala banned from temple ritual over daughter-in-law’s religion

A Poorakkali artist has been banned from temple rituals over daughter-in-law’s religion. The temple authorities maintained that they cannot break the temple rituals.

A temple administration in Kerala’s North Malabar banned a Poorakkali artist from performing in temples allegedly over his son marrying a Muslim woman. The Kuniyan Bhagavathy Temple Committee took punitive action against Poorakkali dancer Vinod Panicker, a resident of Kannur, saying that a non-Hindu stayed in his house.

Poorakkali is a traditional dance ritual that is performed during the Pooram temple festival in Kerala. Vinod Panicker was removed from a scheduled event and was replaced with another artist.

Panicker said that even if he was banned, he would not reject his daughter-in-law. His son has now been married for over four years, he said. Panicker has been performing in various temples during this period.

READ | 4 questions that settled hijab debate in Karnataka High Court

Panicker said this was the first time, temples in Kannur's Karivellur denied him the opportunity to perform.

He said, “The temple committee members told me that I cannot perform the ritualistic dance while my daughter-in-law is at my house. They told to me either shift her to another house or move my daughter-in-law to a different place during the ritual. However, I cannot accept these proposals.”

The temple authorities maintained that they cannot break the temple rituals. “Rituals cannot be performed from a house where non-Hindus reside. No ban has been imposed on him. He refused to accept the proposal we put forward,” said a temple committee member.