Alluding to the purification rite conducted at the Guruvayur temple recently, Kerala [Images] Chief Minister V S Achuthandnan on Monday said this sort of practice showed that caste discrimination was still prevalent in Kerala in new forms.

Speaking after releasing the Sree Narayana Guru Directory brought out by leading newspaper house Kerala Kaumudi in Thiruvananthapuram, Achuthanandan regretted that several superstitious and obsolete practices were still followed by some sections of the people, despite the struggles spearedheaded by reformers like Sree Narayana Guru.

Achuthanandan handed over the first copy of the 5,000-page work to Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi.

At a time when the Kerala society was steeped in inhuman practices like untouchability, the guru set up temples where all believers could worship, cutting across the barriers of caste and creed. It was all the more regrettable that even the followers of the guru failed to fully shed outdated customs, he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Ravi said the discriminatory practices followed in the name of God were nothing but heresy.

The ideals of Sree Narayana Guru, who gave the message of 'one caste, one religion and one God for men", still remained to be fully fulfilled by the society, he said.

General secretary of Sree Naryana Dharma Paripalana Yogam, Vellapally Natesan, presided and Kerala Kaumudi managing director M S Sreenivasan and senior editors of the newspaper attended the function.