<P> On the Temple Entry issue Gandhi never advocated the opening of Garbha Griha to Harijans in consequence of his Hindu belief . These sources which can be labelled "pro-Periyar" with the exception of M. Mahar and D.S. Sharma, clearly show that Periyar and his followers emphasised that Periyar was the real fighter for the removal of Untouchability and the true uplift of Hairjans, whereas Gandhi was not . This did not prevent Periyar from having faith in Gandhi on certain matters . </P> <P> Periyar was generally regarded as a pragmatic propagandist who attacked the evils of religious influence on society, mainly what he regarded as Brahmin domination . At a young age, he felt that some people used religion only as a mask to deceive innocent people and considered it as his life's mission to warn people against superstitions and priests . Anita Diehl explains that Periyar cannot be called an atheist philosopher . Periyar, however, qualified for the definition of what the term' atheist' implies in his address on philosophy . He repudiated the term as without real sense: "...the talk of the atheist should be considered thoughtless and erroneous . The thing I call god...that makes all people equal and free, the god that does not stop free thinking and research, the god that does not ask for money, flattery and temples can certainly be an object of worship . For saying this much I have been called an atheist, a term that has no meaning". EVR Periyar, a born Hindu, was vehemently opposed to Hinduism and Christianity . He did not criticize Islam . </P> <P> Anita Diehl explains that Periyar was against incompatibility of faith with social equality and not religion itself . In a book on revolution published in 1961, Periyar stated, "be of help to people . Do not use treachery or deceit . Speak the truth and do not cheat . That indeed is service to God". </P> <P> On Hinduism, Periyar believed that it was a religion with no distinctive sacred book (bhagawad gita), or origins, but to be an imaginary faith preaching the "superiority" of the Brahmins, the inferiority of the Shudras, and the untouchability of the Dalits (Panchamas). Maria Misra, a lecturer at Oxford University, compares him to the philosophes, by stating, "his contemptuous attitude to the baleful influence of Hinduism in Indian public life is strikingly akin to the anti-Catholic diatribes of the enlightenment philosophes". In 1955, Periyar was arrested for his public agitation of burning the pictures of Rama at public places, as a symbolic protest against the Indo - Aryan domination and degradation of the Dravidian leadership according to the Ramayana epic . Periyar also shoed the images of Krishna and Rama, stating that they were Aryan gods that considered the Dravidian Shudras to be "sons of prostitutes". </P>

Who started temple entry movement and self respect movement