Next year's Thaipusam procession in Georgetown could be the last one to be organised by the Chettiar community, if the Penang Hindu Endowments Board (PHEB) were to have its way.

In a meeting last Sunday, organised by the Waterfall hilltop Balathandayuthabani Kovil management committee, with some 200 Thaipusam tanneer panthal (refreshment shed) operators, it was revealed that the statutory board's trustees have targeted the annual procession of a chariot bearing Lord Murugaperumal as its next domain of control.

A commissioner of the board, currently dominated by Pakatan Rakyat representatives, A Krishnan, slammed the Chettiars for organising the festival "according to their whims and fancies".

He even issued the economically-strong Chettiar community with a political threat to revoke the police permit issued for the procession.

thaipusam 210105 kavadi carrier The procession is annually held between the Chettiar community's spiritual home - Kovil Veedu in Lebuh Penang and the Nattukottai Chettiar Sri Balathandayuthabani temple in Waterfall, travelling through major roads in the city.

Meeting attendees applauded Krishnan's fiery speech attacking the Chettiar community for starting off the procession from Kovil Veedu, instead of the Queen Street Mariamman Kovil.

"If the Chettiar community cannot agree with the board's demand to kick start the festival from Mariamman Kovil, we will use our political strength to revoke the permit.

"The state government, through the board, will organise the procession and festival.

"This is a Pakatan government bent on making changes," declared Krishnan, who early this year called on the abolition of the board and a repeal of its governing Hindu Endowment Ordinance 1906.

The commissioner, a DAP member, also challenged detractors to initiate legal proceedings if they were unhappy with PHEB's desire to take complete control of the Thaipusam festival and tanneer panthals .

The Chettiar community started the three-day Thaipusam festival in Penang in 1852. It was the country's first Hindu religious procession.

The chariot was upgraded from a wooden one to its current silver one in 1894.

Next year's Thaipusam on Feb 8 will mark the 115th chapter of the silver chariot procession.

Currently, the police permit for the chariot procession is issued to the community's trust fund - the Registered Trustees Nattukottai Chettiar Temples Penang. A permit for the kavadi procession is not required during the festival.

Legal wrangling

During the meeting, Balathandayuthabani Kovil's management committee chairperson S Rajasingam alleged that the Thaipusam chariot procession began at the Queen Street temple until the 1950s, before the Chettiar community moved it to Kovil Veedu.

When contacted, trust fund president N Ramanathan however, rebuked Rajasingam, producing documented evidence that the procession has started from Kovil Veedu since colonial days.

Rajasingam and another commissioner VS Raveenthran believe the factor driving the PHEB to take control of the procession is the amount of money collected by the Chettiar community in the form of public donations, estimated to total around RM2 million annually.

"The Chettiars are not sharing the proceeds with the board, the co-organiser of this religious festival," said Batu Uban assemblyperson Raveenthran, who is also a lawyer.

thaipusam breaking coconuts 060106 However, according to Chettiar sources, the trust fund collects only RM70,000 to RM80,000 annually from donations.

Detractors have long despised the existence of the PHEB and its control over five Hindu endowments, saying it contravenes the spirit of Article 11 of the Federal Constitution, which guarantees the freedom of religion.

Critics have also accused the board of acting beyond its jurisdiction and becoming a political tool of the state administration, saying it has overstepped its legal boundaries and transformed into a religious authority to appoint, control and dictate the management committees of the temples, religious festivals and tanneer panthals.

United Hindu Religious Council (UHRC) deputy president AK Suppayah said it would be legally wrong and politically suicidal for the Pakatan state government, through the board, to be involved in Thaipusam chariot procession.

"Historically the Chettiar community organise the Thaipusam chariot procession. Religion is not the business of the board," said Suppayah, the board's former assistant-secretary.

The board may first have to negotiate a tricky legal passage initiated by its detractors before it can take total control over the procession and festival. And, that could be politically costly to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's Pakatan government.