High Court to explore possibility of mediation for conducting Brahmotsavam for Thillai Govindarajaswamy temple inside Chidambaram Natarajar temple

Madras High Court explores mediation for Brahmotsavam between Podhu Dikshitars and Thillai Govindarajaswamy temple trustees.

The Madras High Court has decided to explore the possibility of conducting a mediation between the Podhu Dikshitars in Chidambaram town and the trustees of Thillai Govindarajaswamy temple over conducting a Brahmotsavam for the latter situated within the precincts of the famous Sri Sabanayagar (Lord Natarajar) temple.

After holding a special sitting on Friday to hear a case filed against the Brahmotsavam, a Division Bench of Justices R. Mahadevan and P.D. Audikesavalu said, a further decision on the issue would be taken only on June 24 and till then, the plan to conduct the Brahmotsavam between May 20 and 29 would have to be put on hold.

The judges said, there was a legal impediment in ordering the conduct of the Brahmotsavam for Lord Govindarajaswamy immediately since there was no mention about the festival, despite it being an important event, in a civil suit filed by the trustees in 1918 and a decree passed by a District Munsif court in Chidambaram in 1920.

T.R. Ramesh, president of Temple Worshippers’ Society, had filed the writ petition contending that Lord Govindarajaswamy had only a sub-shrine inside the Sabanayagar temple and that the sub-shrine could not be considered as a separate temple by itself in order to stake a claim for conduct of Brahmotsavam.

On the other hand, T. Thiruvenkatavan, Executive Trustee of Thillai Govindarajaswamy temple, stated that the Thillai Govindarajaswamy Devasthanam consisted of not only this temple, but also the Kodandaramaswamy temple on West Car Street and other sub temples and that they were under the control of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department.

It was also brought to the notice of the court that way back in 1932, the Board of Commissioners of HR&CE department had framed a separate scheme for administration of the Thillai Govindarajaswamy Temple. Thereafter, multiple efforts were taken to conduct Brahmotsavam but they could not fructify due to opposition, the trustee added.