Kerala’s Guruvayur Temple Administration Under Supreme Court Scrutiny For Altering Age-Old ‘Udayasthamana Pooja’ Tradition

The Supreme Court on Wednesday (11 December) slammed the Devaswom administration of Guruvayur Sri Krishna temple for cancelling the age-old ‘Udayasthamana Pooja’ on Guruvayur Ekadashi (today), citing crowd control as a reason, and questioned the basis of the decision.

The bench, comprising Justices J K Maheshwari and Rajesh Bindal, also questioned the ‘thantri’ (chief priest) for agreeing to change the ritual when he himself, in a news article published in 1996, had admitted that the rituals of the Guruvayur temple were streamlined by none other than Vedic philosopher Adi Shankaracharya himself and no deviation is permissible in that procedure.

The court also issued a notice to the Guruvayur Devaswom administration.

However, the bench expressed regret over its inability to do anything, as the hearing was happening on the Ekadashi day itself and the pooja had to start on Tuesday evening.

The bench highlighted that the temple’s website underscores the significance of the pooja and directed the management to follow it scrupulously.

Senior advocate C S Vaidyanathan, along with advocate A Karthik, had requested an urgent hearing from Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna on Tuesday morning, citing the ritual’s evening commencement.

However, the CJI expressed his inability to take it up the same day but assured that he would list it for hearing on Wednesday.

The appellants, members of the family holding priestly rights in the temple, approached the Supreme Court after their petition was dismissed by the Kerala High Court.

On Wednesday, senior advocates C S Vaidyanathan, Guru Krishna Kumar, and K Parameshar argued before Justice Maheshwari’s bench that the temple’s ancient traditions had been violated.

Vaidyanathan argued that the temple administration has a duty to protect the tradition and that the chief priest alone could not have decided against conducting the pooja.

Justice Maheshwari cited the Kerala High Court’s order, wherein it is recorded that “during the course of arguments, the learned counsel for the petitioners and the respective counsel for party respondents contended that Udayasthamana Pooja on the Ekadasi day of Vrishchikam is conducted to increase the divinity of the deity, which is a religious practice followed in the temple for time immemorial. It is the right of the deity that he should be worshipped on Vrishchikam Ekadasi by the performance of Udayasthamana Pooja by the Othikans.”

Justice Maheshwari expressed surprise as to how the Guruvayur Devaswom, with the consent of the thantri, could then have changed the age-old tradition on the ground that huge crowd of devotees is expected.

“How can a ritual be changed on that ground. You have to do what has to be done to the deity,” he said, Indian Express reported.

The court took note of submissions that in case of doubts with any religious practice in the temple, it is decided after astrological condition known as ‘ashtamangalya prashnam’ and wondered any the same was not conducted before deciding against performing the ‘udayasthamana pooja’.

The temple administration maintained that “there is no deviation from any ritual… as alleged”, and said that the “litigation is the result of a family feud between the members of” family having priestly rights in the temple.

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