Madhya Pradesh govt to start diploma course for priesthood, caste no bar

india

Updated: Apr 06, 2017 07:29 IST

The Madhya Pradesh government will start a one-year diploma course on ‘Purohitgiri’ (Hindu priesthood). There will, however, be no specifications on caste as both Scheduled Caste and Brahmins can apply for the course.

Brahmins across MP had held protests in May last year against the state government’s proposal to train people from scheduled caste community as priests.

The course called “Purohityam” will be started from July. The candidates will be taught basics of priesthood, rituals, mantras in accordance with the Hindu tradition, said PR Tiwari, director, Maharishi Patanjali Sanskrit Sansthan, the nodal agency for promoting of yoga and Sanskrit in the state.

Tiwari said the aspirants will also be taught “sanskaar” literature (grihya sutras), theory of “sanskaar”, sixteen Hindu “sanskaars”.

“This is for the first time that the state government has initiated such a course. The basic qualification needed is Class 12,” he said.