Dharmastabhanam to contest Court ruling

Seatami

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posted on 54 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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Society awaits copy of Fridays HC order, plans to go on appeal

The Jalakanteswarar Dharmastabhanam, a registered society that has been performing the rituals at the Sri Jalakanteswarar Temple in the historical Vellore Fort, would be contesting the High court ruling issued on Friday, which upheld the claim of HR and CE department to take over the temple.

Secretary of the society M Sureshkumar said that an appeal would be made as soon as the High Court verdict copy was received. According to him, the society had been taking care of performing the rituals of the temple for the past 31 years ever since the main deity was installed in 1981. While the Archeological Society of India, which maintained the entire fort, was the custodian of the temple, the society had been organising rituals as per Hindu norms. Five major festivals attributed to Lord Shiva were performed in a year on par with Chidambaram Temple, in addition to Brahmotsavam conducted twice a year, he added. “The work done by the society was appreciated by the locals and we must be allowed to continue with the good work,” he pointed out.

The tug-of-war between the society and the HR and CE had been on since 2003, when the department tried to take over the temple. The society had objected the move of HR and CE as arbitrary citing legal norms violation. It took five years for the HR and CE to re-enter the temple with a proper notification of takeover under Section 46 of the HR and CE Act, which was contested by the society through a writ petition in the High Court. After nearly five years, the HC had dismissed the claim of the society that the temple was a monument and did not come under the purview of the HR and CE.

History showed that worship in this temple had stopped for nearly four centuries. The Linga of the presiding deity was shifted to Sathuvachari. After several futile attempts of reinstalling the idol in the temple between 1930 and 1980, a group of Hindu devotees brought back the Linga on March 16, 1981, and re-installed it, despite stiff opposition from the ASI, which was maintaining the temple without a deity.