Chennai, Sep 25 (IANS): Tamil Nadu's Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department on Monday appointed five more women as Odhuvars.

Odhuvars are people who sing Tamil devotional hymns but don’t enter the sanctum sanctorum.

With the appointment of five women on Monday, the total Odhuvars in the temples of Tamil Nadu under the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department (HR&CE) has touched ten.

HR&CE Minister, PK Sekar Babu said in a statement on Monday that all ten women Odhuvars were appointed after the DMK came to power in 2021.

The minister said that Odhuvars would be appointed only in Shiva temples and not in Vaishnava temples.

It may be noted that the Tamil Nadu HR&CE department has recently appointed three women as assistant priests in different temples after the completion of priesthood training.

Minister Sekar Babu said that the three women priests will work as assistant priests for a year and learn all the temple traditions rules and rituals from the chief priest of the temple.

The women priests are paid an apprenticeship of Rs 8,000 per month during their training period.