THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: While the state government and the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) are keen to stick to tradition, that allows only 'Malayala Brahmins' to be appointed as melsanthis or archakas (chief priests) at Sabarimala, there are at least three Supreme Court verdicts making clear that appointment of temple priests should be carried out in a non-discriminatory manner. The top court has repeatedly held that priority should not be accorded on the basis of caste.
These verdicts were pronounced between 1972 and 2016. In Seshammal and others Vs State of Tamil Nadu, the SC on March 14, 1972, held that the state government had the right to regulate secular functions like management and administration, which included the appointment of archakas.
The court even clarified that the appointment of archakas was a secular function. In N Adithyan Vs TDB, the SC in 2002 held there is no jurisdiction for insisting that persons or a particular caste alone can conduct poojas in temples. The case originated in 1992 after K S Rakesh, who was from Ezhava community,
was appointed priest in a temple under the control of TDB. The petitioner wanted to replace a priest from a backward community with a Brahmin. Furthermore, in 2016, in Adi Saiva Sivachariyargal Nala Sangam Vs Government of Tamil Nadu, the SC held that the appointment of archakas should be fair.
In 1979, an individual from the Ezhava community -- the late Mathanam Vijayan -- had attended the interview for the post of Sabarimala melsanthi. But he was not selected. Soumitran, a resident of Kottayam who accompanied Vijayan to the interview, told The New Indian Express the interview lasted about 20 minutes. "He was 19th in line for the interview. Now I have submitted an affidavit in the HC, which is
hearing the case related to the appointment of the melsanthi, about Vijayan's participation in the interview. It was big news at the time. I have also submitted the relevant newspaper cuttings," he said.
C V Vishnu Narayanan, one of the applicants for the Sabarimala melsanthi post, who also belongs to the backward caste told The New Indian Express, "All the people who had studied the tantra vidya should be allowed to perform pooja as archakas."
He said, "I had approached the court in 2017 when my application was dismissed. Five others had joined me. I want the TDB to act justly in the appointments of archakas in Sabarimala. There are certain temples that follow the 'karanma' (the rights given to a family or villages). This is different," he said.
The petitioner in the ongoing case before the Kerala High Court, Vishnu Narayanan was also a disciple of Mathanam Vijayan.
Vishnu who has a postgraduation in Sanskrit studied the tantra vidya from 1995 to 2000 and now works as a teacher. The other petitioners, T L Sijith and P R Vijeesh, are Sanskrit graduates. Sijith has worked as melsanthi of Thrissur Karamukku Chidambara temple, where Sree Narayana Guru had performed
deepapratishta.