Caste has no role in appointment of temple archagars: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court Monday ruled that one's caste must not play any role in one's appointment as a temple priest. [Muthu Subramania Gurukkal v. The Commissioner, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department and ors].Justice N Anand Venkatesh said that the only requirement for one to be appointed as archagars (priests) of temples in Tamil Nadu should be that one is well versed in the Agamic (temple traditions) principles of the concerned temple and that one was adequately trained to perform temple rituals. ."At the risk of repetition, it is made abundantly clear that the pedigree based on caste will have no role to play in the appointment of Archaka if the person so selected otherwise satisfies the requirements," the High Court said..The High Court made the observation while disposing of a writ petition filed in 2018. The plea challenged a notification issued by the Executive Officer (EO) of the Sri Sugavaneswarar Swamy Temple in Salem district of Tamil Nadu, calling for applications to fill up the post of Archagar or Sthanigar (temple priests).The petitioner had insisted that priests should inherit the position. He had told the Court that the notification infringed upon his hereditary rights to hold the position of a priest as he had been serving in the temple as per customs and usages in the line of succession for years..The High Court, however, noted that the Supreme Court had held that the appointment of a temple priest was a secular function and, hence, there was no question of one claiming a hereditary right over such appointment. “The Apex Court has also made it very clear that performance of a religious service is an integral part of the religion whereas the Priest or the Archaka performing such service is not so. It differentiated between the religious portion and the secular portion and held that the religious service by an Archaka is the secular part of the religion and the performance of the religious service is an integral part of the religion. Therefore, the prescription provided by the Agamas gains significance only when it comes to the performance of the religious service. Any person belonging to any caste or creed can be appointed as an Archaka provided he is a well-versed and accomplished person in the particular Agamas and rituals of the temple,” the High Court said..The Court, accordingly, directed the EO to issue a fresh advertisement for appointing the archagar by following due procedure. The Court added that the petitioner is also permitted to participate in the selection process..Senior Advocate R Singaravelan and advocate M Muruganantham appeared for the petitioner.Special Government Pleader N RR Arun Natarajan appeared for the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department Department..[Read Order]