MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court has ordered interim stay on a circular issued by the commissioner of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE) department, prohibiting the use of caste names in temple festival invitations across the state.
A bench of justices J Nisha Banu and S Srimathy passed the interim order on a petition filed by state general secretary of Hindu Temple Protection Committee S Arumuga Nainar seeking to quash the HR&CE dept circular and to allow mentioning names of ‘mandagapadi’ members (donors) in the invitation of the ongoing Panguni festival at the Kasinathaswamy and Papanasaswamy temples in Ambasamudram, Tirunelveli.
The petitioner stated that the circular was issued on March 5, based on an order passed by the court on February 17, not to print caste names of donors in the invitation of Pattukkottai Nadiamman temple festival.
The HR&CE commissioner misinterpreted it as a blanket order and issued the circular, he added.
Hearing the plea, the judges observed that the HC order was only limited to the temple concerned and ordered interim stay on the circular for a month.