Question

What did Ambedkar want to achieve through the temple entry movement?

Answer 1

Lower castes were usually not allowed anywhere near temple gateways. During the temple entry movement initiated by Ambedkar in 1927, the lower caste people not only entered the temple premises but also used water from the temple tank, thereby causing great outrage among the Brahmin priests. Through this movement, Ambedkar wished to make everyone see the power of caste prejudice in society. He wanted to prove that being of a low caste did not mean that one was not a human being, so the sense of outrage was unwarranted. He wanted to show that like the upper castes, the lower castes too had every right to equality. The ultimate aim of such movements was to reform Hindu society; to reorganise it on two main principles—equality and absence of casteism.