Legendary music composer and Rajya Sabha member Ilayaraja was prevented from entering the ‘Artha Mandap’, the hall before the Garbagriha, of the famed Sri Andal temple at Srivilliputhur in Virudhunagar district, provoking an online storm over caste discrimination in religious spaces.

A video of Ilayaraja being prevented entry had gone viral with his ardent fans castigating the temple administration and even asking him not to visit such temples in the future.

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The incident happened on Saturday night when the iconic musician, the first Asian to score a symphony at the London Philharmonic orchestra and who had scored for over 1,000 feature films, was at the temple to present a rendition of his ‘Divya Pasuram’, a music album of selected songs of Alvars, the 12 Vaishnavite saint-poets, released by him in June this year. It was also followed by a ‘Natyanjali’, a dance performance.

After the programme, the maestro followed the Jeeyar, Vaishnavite mutt head, towards the garbhagriha but was stopped at the entrance of the Artha Mandap, where the processional deities are kept and worshipped, but restricted to a few.

With the Jeeyar asking him not to enter the Artha Mandap, Ilayaraja offered worship to Sri Andal and Rengamannar, the lord, from the entrance itself.

Earlier, he was accorded the full traditional honour by the priests and the temple authorities with the temple elephant welcoming him along with the Jeeyar. Interestingly, the Jeeyar, Thirithandi Sriman Narayana, had graced the release of the ‘Dhivya Pasuram’ album in Chennai.

The compositions of the 12 Alvars, ‘Nalayira Divya Prabandham’ (4,000 divine compositions), considered the pinnacle of Tamil aesthetics, are also known as the Tamil Vedas. It is customary to sing them at all Vaishnavite temples, including the famed Tirupati Venkateswara temple. Sri Andal, who was in love with Lord Ranganathar of SriRangam, had composed the ‘Thirupaavai’ and ‘Nachiyar Thirumozhi’.

Thirupaavai is sung in the Vaishnavite temples and at homes in the morning during the month of Margazhi (mid December – mid January).

Earlier, in 2005, Ilayaraja had composed ‘Thiruvasakam’ in symphony, the first Indian oratoria, performed by the Budapest Symphony Orchestra. ‘Thiruvasakam’, a collection of hymns composed by Saivite-poet Manickavasagar, is an acclaimed work blending devotion with emption.

Meanwhile, the temple administration had clarified that there was no discrimination against Ilayaraja at the Sri Andal temple, coming under the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department.

The HR&CE Joint-Commissioner, Madurai, had said that the ‘Artha Mandap’ located before the garbhagriha is a restricted place with entry permitted only to the Jeeyars, priests and temple trustees. It is where Sri Andal statue is installed and worshipped, he had clarified.