The Madras High Court has directed that an upcoming temple consecration ceremony in Madurai district must be conducted without any discrimination among communities. The court ordered that the Kumbabishekam festival at a group of temples in Melapanankadi village be organised by a committee consisting of one representative from each community living in the village, and ruled out granting any “first honour” to any individual or group.

The case concerned the Arulmighu Ayyanar, Muniyandi Swamy, Karupasamy and Muthumariamman temples, where differences had emerged among village communities over who should organise the consecration scheduled for February 8.

The petition was filed by Rathinam, who sought directions to local officials, including the Tahsildar and police, to form a committee with members from the Mutharayar, Maravar and Adi Dravidar (Dalit) communities to oversee the festival. The plea arose amid rival claims by individuals in the village over organising rights and concerns about fair representation.

During the hearing, the court noted that in an earlier related case, the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department had already appointed a ‘fit person’ to manage the temples. The dispute before the court was whether one individual, Rajeshkannan, could conduct the Kumbabishekam alone or whether the event should be organised collectively.

Justice S. Srimathy held that the festival could not be conducted by any single person in a village comprising multiple communities. The judge directed the appointed fit person to form a committee with representatives from all communities to jointly organise the ceremony.

The court also made it clear that no “first honour” should be given during the festival and stressed that religious events must be conducted in a non-discriminatory manner. Rajeshkannan was further directed to hand over all relevant records to the fit person and the committee.

With these directions, the High Court disposed of the petition, mandating an inclusive and collective approach to the conduct of the temple festival.