Treat all devotees equally in temples, HC directs HR&CE

Let there not be any difference between the poor and rich, say judges

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday issued a series of 22 directions to Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department for proper upkeep of over 36,000 temples under its control. The first of those directions was to ensure that all Pujas in the temples were performed only by “legally appointed” priests.

A Division Bench of Justices M.V. Muralidaran and T. Krishnavalli issued the directions after hearing a public interest litigation petition through video conferencing facility from Chennai. The judges appreciated all principal district judges in the State for having filed detailed reports with respect to the upkeep of temples within their jurisdictions.

After perusing those reports, the Bench directed the HR&CE Commissioner to ensure that all devotees were treated equally by the temple authorities without any differences between the poor and the rich because “all are equal before the Lord almighty.” The executive officers of individual temples must be instructed to ensure such equality, it added.

Free darshan queues should not be curtailed or restricted in order to promote paid darshan which could be utilised only for the purpose of augmenting the income of the temples, the judges said.

The other directions issued by the judges include installation of biometric devices to record attendance of temple staff including the priests, a prohibition on demand for more money by the priests from the devotees for performing special pujas, providing toilet facilities around all temples within three months and maintaining a hygienic atmosphere.

The court also ordered for installation of sign boards in Tamil and English inside the temples to help devotees reach the sanctum sanctorum of different deities, providing drinking water in all temples within three months and retrieving temple properties as well as shops from encroachments and illegal occupation within six months.

Taking note of the complaints of theft of ancient idols from temples, the judges wanted the HR and CE commissioner to file a detailed report by January 22 on the number of closed circuit television cameras that would be required to keep a vigil over the temple properties. A centralised control room could also be established in Chennai, they said.

Authoring the order, Mr. Justice Muralidaran insisted upon the need to ban plastic carrybags and water packets inside temples and planting of large number of saplings around every temple premises. It was ordered that temple structures should be renovated periodically and price charts should be displayed prominently near Prasadam stalls.