Thiruvananthapuram: A few days after popular Bharatanatyam dancer Mansiya VP was barred from performing at a temple in Kerala, another dancer Soumya Sukumaran on Wednesday claimed that she was asked not to perform at the same temple due to her religion.
Sukumaran, who belongs to Thiruvananthapuram, has claimed to have been banned from performing in the Koodalmanikyam Temple dance festival on religious grounds.
“I said I’m a Christian when they (authorities) asked… they replied ‘non-Hindus’ can’t perform there,” she said.
“I told them my father was a Hindu and converted to Christianity after marriage…they said had the venue been outside the temple, there would’ve been no problem, but since this program will be conducted inside, it’d be difficult; I stepped back then,” Sukumaran added.
The artist further expressed that she has complaints about her community as well as she was denied religious services from the church because she performed in temples on a Hindu devotional song.
“Art has no religion. Had artists belonged to a religion, all of us would perform only on devotional songs… I have complaints from my community also. I was denied religious services from the church as I performed in temples on a Hindu devotional song,” she said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor had expressed shock after popular Bharatanatyam artist Mansiya VP was barred from performing in a scheduled dance programme at the Koodalmanikyam temple in Kerala’s Thrissur district.
“I understand some restrictions in some temples about access to sanctum santorum. But this is a dance performance with other dancers inside the temple premises. Shocked that the temple is not allowing this,” Tharoor had told ANI.
“I believe that it serves our society ill and also damages the perception of our religion in the eyes of others,” he had added.
This article first appeared on timesnownews.com