Congress veteran Chinta Mohan announces Tiruchanur temple entry movement centenary celebrations from October 13

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Congress leader Chinta Mohan. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu

Former Union Minister and veteran Congress leader, Chinta Mohan on Thursday (October 1, 2026) announced that the year-long centenary celebrations of the Tiruchanur Dalit temple entry movement will begin on October 13, 2026 at Tiruchanur near Tirupati.

Addressing a press conference at the Press Club of India in New Delhi, Dr. Mohan, who was a Minister in the P.V. Narasimha Rao government, recalled the origins of the movement.

On October 13, 1925, Murugan, a Dalit, entered the sanctum sanctorum of the Tiruchanur temple near Tirupati and offered karpooram aarti (offering of camphor) to the Goddess, he said. Subsequently, he was arrested by the police and lodged in Tirupati jail.

The incident was reported in The Hindu under the headline ‘Panchama arrested’, Dr. Mohan said.

“The report was noticed by C. Rajagopalachari, who was then staying at the Gandhi Ashram near Salem. After seeing the clipping in The Hindu, Rajaji came to Tirupati and argued the case before the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Ramaswami Iyer, seeking acquittal,” he said.

The arguments and the judgment of the court were published prominently in The Hindu at the time, Dr. Mohan said.

Dr. Mohan, who has focused on Dalit representation in politics, said the centenary celebrations would commence on October 13 this year at Tiruchanur and Tirupati, and continue for one year.

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