Chennai: The Madras High Court on Tuesday said non-Hindus cannot enter Agamic temples in Tamil Nadu without affirming their reverence for the deity and giving an undertaking agreeing to follow the customs of the temples. The High Court also praised Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Joseph Vijay for following the customs.
The Madras HC said Vijay worshipped Goddess Meenakshi after signing the undertaking. "The petitioner herein is a Hindu. He is entitled to insist that the trustees of the various Agamic temples in Tamil Nadu uphold the Agamic injunctions by not permitting non-Hindus who do not sign the undertaking from crossing the flag-pole. If such entry is permitted, it would defile the sanctity of the temple. We intend to go a step further. Even entry into the temple premises cannot be permitted for non-Hindus who sport their religious markers and who do not subscribe their reverence for the deity concerned," the court said in its order.
"This subscription must be in the format prescribed by the institution concerned. We say so by deriving inspiration from Kalyan Dass, wherein it was observed that the entire temple precincts have to be held sacrosanct, as also fro
m the statutory definition found in the 1947 Act," the Madras High Court added.
The Madras High Court, while emphasising religious inclusivity and mutual respect among faiths, cited the example of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister worshipping Goddess Meenakshi after signing an undertaking, noting that he was not asked to convert to Hinduism. The court also recalled instances from the life of Kanchi Maha Periyava to illustrate how religious beliefs and individual sentiments can be respected without insisting on conversion.
"We have the illustrious instance of the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Shri Joseph Vijay who worshipped Goddess Meenakshi after signing the undertaking. The Hon'ble Chief Minister, who is a Christian by faith, was not asked to convert to Hinduism. He was only requested to affirm his reverence for the deity. This is what we call an inclusive approach. We recall instances from the holy life of Kanchi Maha Periyava," the court said.
"When some foreigners and persons belonging to other faiths would express their desire to embrace Hinduism, he not only discouraged them but called upon them to show greater fidelity to their faith. When Justice Ismail of the Madras High Court used to visit him, Periyava respected the great judge's sentiments by giving him sandalwood paste instead of 'Viboothi'," it added.