Expressing displeasure over the display of political symbols and music during the Kadakkal Devi temple festival on 10th March, the Kerala High Court on Tuesday (18th March) reprimanded the Travancore Devaswom Board for allowing such activities inside the temple premises.
A plea was filed before the High Court by Advocate Vishnu Sunil after political flags of the ruling CPI(M) and its youth wing the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) were displayed and revolutionary songs associated with the political groups were played at the Kadakkal Devi Temple festival in Kollam, Kerala.
According to Bar and Bench, the petitioner argued that the music performance at the temple festival given by singer Aloshi Adam was deeply unlawful and it hurt the sentiments of the devotees. He contended that the performance which was not part of the temple festivities violated the principle of secularism which forms part of the basic structure of the Constitution. The petition alleged that the Travancore Devaswom Board, which manages the temple, failed to ensure that the temple premises were not used for political purposes.
The court sought replies from the temple board and the advisory committee regarding the music performance
A division bench of Justices Anil K Naarendran and Muralee Krishna criticised the organisation of political performance inside the temple premises. “What kind of decorations have you done on stage? Is this a college festival? You took money from devotees to do this! … This is a temple festival. Shouldn’t it be for devotional song performances, not film songs?” the court said. “This is a temple festival. Shouldn’t it be for devotional song performances, not film songs?” the court asked.
The court admitted the petition and sought a reply from the Kadakkal Devi Temple Advisory Committee and other respondents. After watching the videos from the festival, the court passed an interim order which said, “After seeing the video clip, we find that the activities at the annual festival on March 10 cannot be accepted in a temple … We make it explicitly clear that programmes such as the one seen in the video clip cannot be permitted during the annual festival of any temple”.
Court calls the music performance a misuse of temple funds
Directing the temple board, the court asked them to ensure that such incidents do not take place in any temple managed by them. “The Travancore Devaswom Board shall ensure that such activities are not taking place in temple festivals in any temple under its management,” the court directed. The court was not convinced by the temple board’s submission that the music programme was organised by the temple advisory committee without informing it. “We are prima facie not impressed by the stand taken by the board. As seen in the video, large amounts have been spent to make various arrangements on the stage which is fitted with LED screens and flashlights,” the court noted.
“No organisation or group of devotees shall be permitted to collect money from devotees or the public for conducting temple festivals. Any money collection has to be with the permission of the Board as normally done in case of construction activities and all funds collected shall be subjected to audits by the State,” the Court asserted. The court said that the
During today’s hearing, the counsel representing the Travancore Devaswom Board informed that the Chief Vigilance and Security Officer (a Sub-Inspector of police) has been directed to look into the incident and file a report. A show cause notice has been issued to the temple advisory committee as well, the Court was told. The court highlighted that in previous judgments it has issued guidelines to protect temple funds collected by temple committees. It directed the temple board to file a counter affidavit explaining the facts and circumstances prevailing now in the light of precedents on this aspect.
