The Supreme Court on Wednesday permitted Moolam Tirunal Rama Varma, the oldest male member of the royal family of erstwhile Travancore, to be the trustee of the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, following the death of Uthradom Tirunal Marthanda Varma, the head of the family.
A Bench of Justices R.M. Lodha and A.K. Patnaik allowed an application to this effect filed on behalf of the temple.
Earlier amicus curiae and senior counsel Gopal Subramanium submitted that he had spent 34 days in the temple and had interactions with the tantris, staff, and devotees.
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He said he would submit his suggestions and report by April 12 and based on that the court could issue certain urgent directions.
He criticised the temple and the State government for not cleaning Padmatheertham and Mitranandapuram, the two tanks.
He said that when he wanted to take bath in the holy tank, he was told that since it had not been cleaned, the water could cause problems to the skin.
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He said had entrusted the work to the person who cleaned the Pushkarani in Tirumala in Tirupati.
He took exception to temple officials’ action of tearing up the Supreme Court order displayed in the temple. K.K. Venugopal, appearing for the temple, intervened and said if a report was given to this effect the temple would conduct an inquiry and take appropriate action. The Bench posted the matter for further hearing on April 23.