KOCHI: An emergency meeting of temple thantris expressed their displeasure over the derogatory remarks made by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan against the Sabarimala thantri, and decided to convene an Acharya Sabha - a meeting of thantris belonging to all communities and devotees - at Padupuzha temple near Angamali before November 5.
The Sabha will discuss the steps to be taken to address the confusion prevailing among devotees regarding the Supreme Court order that removed restrictions on the entry of young women at Sabarimala. The thantris’ meeting held at Puliyannoor Mana near Tripunithura on Thursday also decided to explore legal options for the protection of age-old customs followed by temples.
“The deity and devotees are equal at Sabarimala, which is the unique feature of the temple. The violence unleashed on the devotees has pained Lord Ayyappa. The government has shown undue haste in implementing the SC verdict, which has upset devotees,” said Akkeeramon Kalidasa Bhattathiripad.
Thantri Samajam president Vezhaparamb Krishnan Namboothiripad said Sabarimala thantri Kandararu Rajeevaru was within his rights when he said he will close the temple if young women entered the premises. “If the temple customs are violated, the thantri has to close the temple and perform purification rituals. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s comments do not fit his stature. The thantris are not attached to any political party and the CM’s comments have pained us,” he said.
Each temple and each deity has a different identity and the rituals and customs will be different for each temple, said Pambumekkad Jathavedan Namboothiripad. “People who administer the temple should be devotees. The people who took the oath of office assuring to protect the customs and rituals have broken their vow. We honour the SC verdict. But we have to follow the customs and ensure that the devotees are not hurt. The Chief Minister is trying to intimidate us. People had issued derogatory statements against us in the past also. We ignored those statements assuming that it was their culture. Now, we have been forced to react,” he said.
The CM’s statement that the thantri is a staff of the Devaswom Board reveals his ignorance about temple administration. The thantri’s word is considered final regarding the customs and rituals followed by a temple. Each temple will have different customs and rituals. The thantri leads the temple rituals and accepts dakshina from the owner. The dakshina cannot be considered as salary. If the thantri is an employee of the Devaswom Board, he should sign the attendance register. But no thantri signs the register, said Puliyannoor Sasi Namboothiripad.
Chennas Vishnu Namboothiripad, Bhadrakali Mattappalli Narayanan Namboothiripad, Kozhikkatt Vasudevan Bhattathiripad, Suryakalady Suryan Parameswaran Bhattathiripad, Suryakalady Suryan Jayasuryan Bhattathiripad, Puliyannur Vasydevan Namboothiripad, Plakkudy Unnikrishnan Namboothiri, Chennas Narayanan Namboothiripad and other thantris attended the meeting.