‘Udayasthamana Pooja’: Supreme Court seeks response from Guruvayoor devaswom panel

Supreme Court challenges decision to halt Udayasthamana Pooja at Guruvayur temple, emphasizing deity's divinity over public convenience.

The Supreme Court has sought a response from the Guruvayoor devaswom management committee on a plea challenging a decision to stop the ‘Udayasthamana Pooja’ on Vrishchikam Ekadasi day for the sake of public convenience.

“The pooja has been stopped on the pretext of causing inconvenience to the public? The pooja is for the deity, for increasing the divinity of the deity. Management will have to find other ways to increase public convenience,” a Bench headed by Justice J.K. Maheshwari said.

The Bench also issued notice to the head priest or the temple thanthri and the State of Kerala, posting the case after four weeks. Meanwhile, the apex court directed the schedule of the temple to remain unchanged.

The petitioners led by P.C. Hary, represented by senior advocate C.S. Vaidyanathan and advocate Karthik Ashok, are members of the Puzhakkara Chennas Mana, the thantri family of the Guruvayur temple. The thantri rights of the temple vest with the Puzhakkara Chennas Mana. The present thanthri is the senior-most male member of the family.

The petitioner contended that the decision taken by the Guruvayur devasawom management committee to not perform the Udayasthamana pooja in the Guruvayur temple on the day of Guruvayur Vrishchikam Ekadasi observed on the Shuklapaksham day in Vrishchikam M.E. (that falls on 11.12.2024) was encroachment into the age-old custom and tradition of the temple.

“Age-old customs, which speak to the religious sanctity, cannot be altered to facilitate crowd management of the devotees and to increase the time for darshan… any custom or usage cannot be changed or deviated if the same does not violate human rights, dignity, social equality and the specific mandate of the Constitution and the law made by Parliament,” the petitioners argued.

Section 10 of the Guruvayoor Devaswom Act, 1978 mandates the committee to exercise its duties subject to the custom and usage followed by the temple. The Act bars the committee from interfering with religious and spiritual matters. Under Rule 6 of the Guruvayoor Devaswom Rules, the committee must not alter the performance of customary rites and ceremonies in the temple, the petitioners argued.