Breaking all shackles, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which administers over 1,200 temples including the renowned Sabarimala shrine appointed  22-year-old Dalit, Yadhu Krishnan as a priest at Manappuram Mahadeva temple in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala.

Yadhu Krishnan was among one of six Dalits and 36 non-Brahmins recently recruited by the TDB. In the exam conducted by Kerala Devaswom Recruitment Board, Yadhu who has trained for ten tears in Tantra Shastra stood fourth among the final 62 who made the cut.

TDP president Prayar Gopalakrishnan welcomed Yadhu’s appointment saying that it will foster unity among Hindus. He stated that Dalits will be made priests of big temples only if they prove their skill, devotion and knowledge.

Yadhu’s parents are daily wage labourers who worked hard to bring up their two sons. From his childhood, Yadhu was fascinated by temples and rituals. He worked as a helper at a temple near his house and soon started learning how to perform rituals. It was his dream to become a priest and he started learning Sanskrit from Class V. Currently, he is doing his second year in MA Sanskrit literature from the Vidyapeedam in Kodungallur.

Yadhu was elated at his appointment as a priest and the rousing reception given by the residents near the temple. Endorsing the reformist and forward-looking culture of Kerala, he said that the nation should follow this example.