{"id":37494,"date":"2023-09-30T01:43:14","date_gmt":"2023-09-29T20:13:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=37494"},"modified":"2025-04-22T22:52:19","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T17:22:19","slug":"appointment-of-temple-priests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/appointment-of-temple-priests\/","title":{"rendered":"The Debate over the Appointment of Temple Priests in Tamil Nadu"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>What\u2019s in Today\u2019s Article?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What do you Mean by Agamas?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Why did the\u00a0<\/strong><strong>Priests\u00a0<\/strong><strong>of Agamic Temples Approach SC?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Government and Judiciary\u2019s Attempts to Ensure Non-discrimination in the Appointment of Priests<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The Debate over the Appointment of Temple Priests in Tamil Nadu<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Recently, the Supreme Court ordered status quo on the appointment of archakas (priests) in Agamic temples in Tamil Nadu.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is meant by Agamas?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Agamas are a collection of <strong>Tantric literature<\/strong> (in Tamil and Sanskrit) and scriptures of <strong>Hindu schools<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>The three main branches of Agama texts are <strong>Shaiva, Vaishnava, and Shakta<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>The term \u2018Agamas\u2019 literally means tradition<\/strong> or that which has come down, and the Agama texts<strong> describe yoga, mantras, temple construction, deity worship<\/strong>, etc.<\/li>\n<li>Temple worship according to Agamic rules can be said to have started during the<strong> Pallava dynasty<\/strong> (551-901 AD) in South India, but they were fully under establishment during the <strong>Chola dynasty<\/strong> (848-1279 AD).<\/li>\n<li>The niches of following Agamic rules for building Shiva temples in Tamil Nadu continues even in the modern era.<\/li>\n<li>Almost all the temples follow the same custom during festivals and worship methods with minor exceptions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why did the Priests of Agamic temples Approach SC?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>An association of archakas had <strong>challenged reforms introduced by the present govt of Tamil Nadu<\/strong>, which are seen as attempting to change the <strong>hereditary system of appointing archakas<\/strong> in Agama temples.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The petitioners<\/strong> asked for the quashing of the state government\u2019s order, <strong>which paved the way for individuals trained in Agama Sastra<\/strong>, irrespective of caste and gender, to assume priesthood.<\/li>\n<li>The petitioners alleged t<strong>he state government was unlawfully attempting to appoint non-believers as archakas<\/strong>, infringing upon religious rights protected under the Constitution of India.<\/li>\n<li>They contended that knowledge of the Agamas required years of rigorous training under learned Gurus and a one-year certificate course run by the government is not sufficient to assume priesthood.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Government and Judiciary\u2019s Attempts to Ensure Non-discrimination in the Appointment of Priests:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>In 1971<\/strong>, the DMK government amended the TN Hindu Religious &amp; Charitable Endowment (HR &amp; CE) Act to <strong>abolish the hereditary appointment of priests<\/strong>, and to allow individuals from all castes to be priests.<\/li>\n<li><strong>In 2006<\/strong>, the government declared all qualified persons eligible to be priests. The SC struck down this in <strong>2015<\/strong>, emphasising the importance of adhering to Agama Sastras while ensuring that constitutional rights were not compromised.<\/li>\n<li><strong>In the N Adithayan (2002) case<\/strong>, the SC ruled that no custom pre-existing the Constitution could exclude non-Brahmins from performing puja in temples if they were otherwise trained and qualified.<\/li>\n<li><strong>In the Guruvayoor Devaswom case (2004)<\/strong>, the SC upheld the appointment of non-believers to the temple trust board.<\/li>\n<li><strong>In 2009<\/strong>, Madras HC ruled in favour of a woman priest, who was facing opposition from male priests regarding her inherited right to conduct puja at the Arulmigu Durgai Amman temple. <strong>The court &#8211;<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Underlined the irony of objecting to puja by a woman<\/strong> in a temple with a female deity,<\/li>\n<li>Emphasised historical precedents of women conducting rituals,<\/li>\n<li>Rejected the unwarranted application of Agama Sastras and norms in this context, and<\/li>\n<li>Stressed on the need to <strong>eliminate gender bias<\/strong> from temples to realise the constitutional mandates under &#8211;\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Article 15<\/strong> (prohibition of discrimination on grounds \u2018only\u2019 of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth\u201d) and<\/li>\n<li><strong>Article 51A (e)<\/strong> (fundamental duty to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The above efforts (of the govt and judiciary) asserted that <strong>neither caste nor family succession should dictate eligibility<\/strong> for performing temple rituals and the appointment of pujaris (archakas).\n<ul>\n<li>Thus, <strong>ensuring equality and non-discrimination<\/strong> in the appointment of priests.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure class=\"media\">\n<div data-oembed-url=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=FN6ViWwQSHQ\">\n<div><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FN6ViWwQSHQ\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h2><strong>The Debate over the Appointment of Temple Priests in Tamil Nadu:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Despite Constitutional provisions and the abolition of hereditary priest appointments in TN, <strong>the Agama tradition persists in temple administrations<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>TN also saw a campaign for \u201creclamation\u201d of temples ahead of the 2021 Assembly elections.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Arguments of the Hindutva groups:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Why only Hindu temples are under government control, and not churches or mosques?<\/li>\n<li>The introduction of the HR &amp; CE Act 1951 <strong>restricted the role of the government to administration and finance.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Rituals in temples are not just ceremonial displays but involve extensive unseen preparations.<\/li>\n<li>Thousands of priests maintain these traditions with no expectation of financial gain, reflecting the <strong>enduring importance of these customs<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Priesthood should not be merely an option for a candidate who has failed to get a bank or a government job.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Debates over the hereditary rights of priests or the pushback against the SC\u2019s decision to allow the entry of women into the <strong>Sabarimala temple <\/strong>reflect the <strong>persistent friction <\/strong>between modernity and tradition, which <strong>defies straightforward solutions<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1) What happened in the Sabarimala case?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The Supreme Court declared in 2018 that the Sabarimala Temple&#8217;s custom of prohibiting women in their &#8216;menstruating years&#8217; from entering was unconstitutional, as the practice infringed the fundamental rights to equality, liberty, and religious freedom.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2) What is the essential religious practice doctrine?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>In the Shirur Mutt case (1954), the Supreme Court ruled that the term &#8220;religion&#8221; encompassed all rituals and practices integral to a religion. The test to determine what is integral is termed the \u201cessential religious practices\u201d test.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-culture\/in-sc-case-on-agama-the-contested-history-of-temple-priesthood-8962227\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>In SC case on Agama, the contested history of temple priesthood<\/u><\/a><u> | <\/u><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/agamic-tamil-nadu-temples-sc-orders-status-quo-for-appointment-of-priests-8956145\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>IE<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite Constitutional provisions and the abolition of hereditary priest appointments in TN, the Agama tradition persists in temple administrations<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":37495,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-37494","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}