Come up with SOP for weddings inside temples, says HC
The Madras High Court on Thursday wanted to know whether the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department will come up with a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for performing weddings on the temple premises under its control.
The First Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy directed counsel for the HR&CE Department to get instructions by April 15 since tying the nuptial knot was a common phenomenon at almost all temples in the State.
The judges say the wedding ceremony can be conducted inside the temple, but dining should be arranged elsewhere
Petition
The direction was issued at the hearing of a public interest litigation petition filed by S. Mohanaraman to forbear the trustees of the Balasaarthuleeswarar Temple at Nellore Pet in Gudiyatham from granting permission for conducting weddings or similar ceremonies on the temple premises.
P. Valliappan, counsel for the petitioner, told the court that though the petitioner had no objection to tying of the nuptial knot before deity, he was aggrieved by the conversion of the temple premises into a dining hall by renting of chairs and tables by families which perform the weddings.
‘Contrary to customs’
He said such practices were contrary to the customs and were not in consonance with the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Temple Entry Authorisation Act, 1947.
The court was also told that the petitioner had made a representation in this regard on July 29, 2022.
Guidelines
The judges said that the HR&CE Department could come up with guidelines for conducting weddings in all the temples under its control.
They said the ceremony could be conducted inside the temple but dining should be arranged elsewhere.