A bench comprising Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Rajesh Bindal also interrogated the temple’s ‘thantri’ (chief priest) for agreeing to alter the ritual. The court highlighted a 1996 news article where the thantri acknowledged that Adi Shankaracharya himself had streamlined the temple’s rituals, prohibiting any deviation from established practices.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday, December 11, criticized the Guruvayur Devaswom administration for canceling the age-old ‘Udayasthamana Pooja’ on Guruvayur Ekadashi (observed today), citing crowd control concerns, and questioned the rationale behind the decision.
A bench comprising Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Rajesh Bindal also interrogated the temple’s ‘thantri’ (chief priest) for agreeing to alter the ritual. The court highlighted a 1996 news article where the thantri acknowledged that Adi Shankaracharya himself had streamlined the temple’s rituals, prohibiting any deviation from established practices.
Justice Maheshwari remarked, “The pooja has been stayed under the pretext of causing inconvenience to the public. However, pooja is conducted for the deity, to enhance the deity’s divinity. It cannot be dictated by public opinion. The management must find a way to address the situation. We need to assess how valid this reasoning is.”
The bench, while issuing a notice to the Guruvayur Devaswom administration, expressed regret that no action could be taken as the hearing occurred on Ekadashi itself, after the pooja had already commenced on Tuesday evening. The court underscored the temple website’s emphasis on the pooja’s importance and directed strict adherence to it in the future.
The matter reached the Supreme Court after the Kerala High Court dismissed a petition by members of the family with priestly rights at the temple.
Senior advocates C.S. Vaidyanathan, Guru Krishna Kumar, and K. Parameshwar argued before the bench that the temple administration had violated ancient traditions and that the chief priest alone could not unilaterally decide to cancel the pooja.
Justice Maheshwari referred to the Kerala High Court’s acknowledgment that the Udayasthamana Pooja on Vrishchikam Ekadashi has been an integral religious practice “since time immemorial” and noted the right of the deity to be worshipped on this day.
He expressed astonishment at the administration’s decision to alter the ritual due to anticipated crowds, remarking, “How can a ritual be changed on that ground? You have to do what has to be done to the deity.”
The court further questioned why the customary astrological consultation, ‘Ashtamangalya Prashnam,’ was not conducted to address doubts about the ritual. The administration contended that no deviation had occurred and claimed that the litigation stemmed from a family dispute among those with priestly rights at the temple.
Case Title: PC Hary v. Guruvayoor Devaswom Managing Committee
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