CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has directed the commissioner of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department to constitute a committee to hold inspection and find out how the arrangements, made by the Podhu Dikshidars, for allowing devotees to offer worship from the Kanagasabai in the Natarajar Temple in Chidambaram, are working.
A division bench of justices R Suresh Kumar and S Sounthar issued the orders recently when the petitions against a 2022 HR&CE order to allow worship from Kanagasabai came up for hearing recently. The bench said the inspection shall be held for three days and a report shall be filed on or before August 20.
The order was passed after senior counsel CS Vaidyanathan, appearing for the Podhu Dikshidars, submitted that a scheme for allowing devotees into Kanagasabai through its western entry has been evolved and this arrangement has been followed since March this year.
However, special government pleader for HR&CE NRR Arun Natarajan contended that the current arrangement, as submitted, is not a complete answer to the issue and it cannot be treated as an alternative to the government order. He further stated it may not be practically possible to permit more number of devotees through just one entry. The bench adjourned the matters to August 21.