The debate on the powers of the Sabarimala tantri (head priest) to close the temple took a new turn with Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala joining issue with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over his statement rejecting any role for the head priest in the management of temple affairs.
At a press conference here on Wednesday, Mr. Chennithala used court verdicts, including a Supreme Court verdict of 1999, to substantiate his claim that the head priest had powers on matters related to pujas, custom, practices and rituals, including closure of the temple. The Pandalam palace too had certain ritualistic duties and powers. The Chief Minister was questioning these practices, he said.
The Chief Minister, in his Cabinet briefing and at a public meeting on Tuesday, had lambasted the tantri of Sabarimala for his threat to close the temple. The various court verdicts had conclusively established the role of these temple functionaries, Mr. Chennithala said.
Mr. Chennithala accused Mr. Vijayan of increasing tension in Sabarimala hand in glove with the Sangh Parivar to trigger communal polarisation. Terming the Chief Minister’s remarks as unfortunate as it had heightened the apprehensions of the devotees, Mr. Chennithala said Mr. Vijayan had virtually “declared war on devotees. The Chief Minister’s stubbornness on the issue was complicating matters,” he said.
The government had usurped the powers of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), stripping it off its autonomy, he said and connected it with the Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s [CPI(M)] attempts to capture the administration of the Vadakkumnathan temple in Thrissur.
