MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Wednesday directed Thoothukudi Collector and Superintendents of Police of Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli districts, among others, not to permit any obscene or vulgar dance performances in the name of 'aadal paadal' programmes (cultural programmes) during the upcoming Dussehra festival celebrations at Mutharamman temple in Kulasekarapattinam and take stringent action against those violating the restriction.
Passing orders on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by advocate B Ramkumar Adityan of Thoothukudi, a Bench comprising Justices R Mahadevan and J Sathya Narayana Prasad further directed the authorities to ensure strict compliance of an earlier order passed by a division bench of the court in a similar petition filed by the litigant in 2017, and also the circular issued by the Director General of Police on April 9, 2019, instructing police officials on procedures to be followed while granting permission for cultural programmes and other events.
According to the litigant, the 12-day Dussehra festival is celebrated at Mutharamman temple in September or October every year. As per tradition of this temple, devotees, including men and women of all ages, dress up in diverse range of costumes and seek alms on the streets. They then donate the collected amount as an offering to the temple deity, Goddess Mutharamman, Adityan said.
Initially, these devotees formed groups and performed folk dance and music programmes, but later they started hiring dancers and actors to perform for movie songs in an obscene manner, he alleged. He requested the Court to direct the authorities concerned to obtain a declaration from organisers of such Dussehra groups that they would not play or perform any songs other than devotional songs and avoid obscene performances during the festival.