Bharatnatyam dancer’s performance barred in Kerala temple citing she’s non-Hindu

In a notice issued by the temple authorities, Mansiya’s Bharatanatyam performance was scheduled between 4 – 5pm on April 21, which was the sixth day of the festival.  

A young Bharatanatyam artiste Mansiya VP has alleged that the Koodalmanikyam Temple at Irinjalakuda in Kerala’s Thrissur district, which is under the state government controlled Devaswom Board, has barred her from a scheduled dance programme on its premises citing that she was a non-Hindu.

In a notice issued by the temple authorities, Mansiya’s Bharatanatyam performance was scheduled between 4 – 5pm on April 21, which was the sixth day of the festival.

In her Facebook post, Mansiya said her dance programme was slated to be held at the temple premises on April 21. “One of the temple office-bearers informed me that I cannot perform at the temple as I am a non-Hindu. All stages are allotted based on religion, not considering whether you are a good dancer or not. In the meantime, I have also been facing queries about whether I got converted into a Hindu after marriage. (She had married musician Shyam Kalyan). I have no religion and where should I go,” she said.

She said this exclusion from a programme based on religion is not her first experience as, a few years ago, she was allegedly prohibited from performing at the Guruvayoor Sree Krishna temple at Guruvayoor for being a non-Hindu. “Art and artists continue to be knotted with religion and caste. When it is forbidden to one religion, it becomes the monopoly of another religion. This experience is not new to me. I am recording it here (on Facebook) only to remind that nothing has changed in our secular Kerala,” she said.

Mansiya, a PhD research scholar in Bharatanatyam, had earlier faced the ire and boycott of Islamic clerics for being a performing artiste of classical dance forms despite being born and brought up as a Muslim.

She recalled a similar incident from a few years ago when she was allegedly stopped from performing at the Guruvayoor Sree Krishna temple at Guruvayoor for being a non-Hindu. Mansiya pointed out that art and artists are being knotted with religion and caste. When one thing is prohibited in one religion, it becomes monopoly another religion. “This experience is not new to me. I am recording it here (on Facebook) only to remind that nothing has changed in our secular Kerala,” she wrote.