The State government on Tuesday submitted before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court that Tamil mantras were also recited during ceremonies at Brihadeeswarar Temple (Big Temple) in Thanjavur. However, recital of mantras in Tamil alone was not possible.
The submission was made during the hearing of a public interest litigation petition that sought a direction to use Tamil mantras alone and not Sanskrit ones during the consecration ceremony of the Big Temple scheduled to take place on February 5.
In his petition, advocate G. Thirumurugan of Ramanathapuram said that the temple pujas and rituals must be conducted in Tamil alone.
As the petitioner failed to add the temple management as one of the respondents, a Division Bench of Justices M. Duraiswamy and T. Ravindran directed him to do so and adjourned the hearing till January 27.