Facilitating entry of Dalits into Meenakshi Amman temple

It all began in 1934, during his fourth visit to Madurai. He had taken Congress leader, Kakkan, along with him while on a visit to the temple. When they approached the temple though, Kakkan informed Gandhi that he would wait outside for his turn, as he was not permitted to enter the precincts. 

When Gandhi asked him the reason for the ban, Kakkan told him that Dalits were not allowed inside the temple. On hearing this, Gandhi was shocked and immediately said that he too would not enter the temple until such time that Dalits too enjoyed similar rights to enter the place of worship.  Speaking about the turn of events at the temple, P Thirumalai, in his book, Madurai Arasiyal, has recorded that Gandhi formed the ‘Harijana temple entry movement’ (Harijan was his term for Dalits, meaning, people of God Hari). 

He took steps through Vaidyanatha Iyer, NMR Subburaman and Kakkan to facilitate the entry of Dalits into the Meenakshi Amman temple. After repeated talks and discussions, Dalits were finally allowed to enter the temple on August 8, 1939. When Gandhi visited Madurai for the fifth time, he was pleased to know that the fight had been successful and that Dalits were allowed into the temple. On February 3, 1946, he visited the Meenakshi Amman temple. It is said that Gandhi left Madurai very pleased that his long term wish had been fulfilled.