On the morning of October 13, 1925, C Murugesan walked through the stone gateway of the Sri Padmavathi Ammavari Temple in Chitoor district in Madras Presidency. The temple, in the town of Tiruchanoor, sits around 5 km from the foothills of Tirupati. Local tradition maintains that no journey to worship Lord Venkateswara in the temple on top of the hill is complete without the pilgrim first seeking the blessings of his consort at the base.
Murugesan belonged to a community then classified as untouchable. On that day, he carried no political banners nor did he march with a crowd. His only intention was to offer a simple karpura harathi, lighting camphor before the deity.
But his pious act was met by a swift response from the temple authorities. Within hours, the police arrested him under Section 295 of the Indian Penal Code, which related to the “defilement of a place of worship” carried out with the “intent to insult the religion of any class of persons”.
A lower court quickly convicted him. It imposed a fine of Rs 75 or a month of rigorous imprisonment. To orthodox Hindus, this conviction was a routine affirmation of their monopolistic custody over sacred spaces. But to members of the anti-caste movement,...