Sarangji has asked some very good questions.
The village described in the novel is real. The kailasanathar temple is real. The festival is real. The caste group referenced is real. Therefore it is not appropriate on PM's part to mix all these real things with a ritual which can be deemed derogatory and explain it away as a fiction.
I thought the compromise which he proposed , that is changing the village/temple name is not unreasonable and the issue could have been sorted out. But the whole situation got muddled because we have absolutists on both sides. This fight is not just between PM and the thiruchengode people anymore.
The village described in the novel is real. The kailasanathar temple is real. The festival is real. The caste group referenced is real. Therefore it is not appropriate on PM's part to mix all these real things with a ritual which can be deemed derogatory and explain it away as a fiction.
I thought the compromise which he proposed , that is changing the village/temple name is not unreasonable and the issue could have been sorted out. But the whole situation got muddled because we have absolutists on both sides. This fight is not just between PM and the thiruchengode people anymore.