CHENNAI, INDIA, September 12, 2002: DMK party president M. Karunanidhi on Thursday condemned the criticisms for conducting the temple consecrations by chanting mantras in Tamil. “Those who criticized conducting the consecrations with mantras being chanted in Tamil have no place in Tamil Nadu,” he said while participating at a marriage function. At a recent temple consecration at Karur, mantras were chanted in Tamil, which was disapproved by Kanchi Sankaracharya Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, who had said it was against Agamas. Karunanidhi said if the Gods could not understand the mantras in Tamil, They also did not have any place in the state. He said it was a superstition that the Gods would not understand mantras, if they were not rendered in Sanskrit. “I am not against Gods. But why should we worship a God who does not understand Tamil?” he asked. The DMK party, originally atheistic and anti-religious, has in recent years softened its stance toward religion.
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