Congress veteran Chinta Mohan announces Tiruchanur temple entry movement centenary celebrations from October 13
Congress leader Chinta Mohan has announced a year-long centenary celebration for the 1925 Tiruchanur Dalit temple entry movement. The movement began when a Dalit man entered the temple sanctum, leading to a historic legal case supported by C. Rajagopalachari.
Why it matters
It highlights a significant historical milestone in the struggle for social justice and Dalit rights in India.
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.
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