Neither Sabarimala Tantri Kandararu Maheswararu nor his son Kandararu Mohanararu were able to prove undoubtedly that the latter acquired knowledge in tantric rites, Travancore Devaswom Board on Monday submitted before the Kerala High Court.
Therefore, the TDB is not in a position to allow the plea of Sabarimala Tantri to permit him to take the assistance of his son Mohanararu in performing religious rites at the Sabarimala temple, the submission said. Earlier, Justice Paripoornan Commission had found that Mohanararu was not well versed in tantric rites.
The panel had made it clear that Mohanararu, who was the Tantri for a short period and acted as a subject expert, was not aware of ‘Vedas’. Mohanararu has not studied Sanskrit and had observed that he had no knowledge in ‘pooja vidhies’. A proper practice of pooja and ‘pooja vidhies’ requires at least a minimum knowledge or understanding of sanskrit, the TDB submission said. It also said that the findings of the commission has become final and neither the petitioner nor his son has been able to prove without any doubt that subsequent to the findings in the reports, Mohanararu has acquired knowledge in the tantric rites and performance.
“It would not be in the interest of the temple considering the religious sentiments of large number of devotees who come for darsan and seek the blessings of the Melsanthi and Tantri. The presence of senior Tantri is not at all necessary on all days,” the TDB submitted.
The document says that the Board has to maintain the glory and splendour of the lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala to which devotees throng from far and wide. “Hence it would not be in the best interest of everybody that the petitioner be permitted to seek the assistance of his son. If Tantri making a request for permitting him to seek the assistance of his grandson, who, it is understood has completed his graduation, the same should be considered and suitable orders passed thereon,” the submission said. The court had earlier accepted the views of the TDB that it could not permit Mohanararu to act as Tantri, owing to the controversies in connection with the blackmailing case which involved him. However,the petitioner submitted that the prohibition was for one year, which is over, and the controversy had come to an end.
The Board submitted that the case cannot be said to have been settled despite the judgement by the Ernakulam Additional Sessions Court. The judgment had pointed out that Mohanararu has gone to the Link Lakshman flat for picking up the care taker. The very fact that Mohanararu had gone to the house of Shobha John, whose character was suspect, would cause suspicions in the mind of one and all regarding the intention behind the visit. The submission that the public would have forgotten the episode was not correct, the Board said.