Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay was only asked to affirm his faith in the presiding deity, not convert to Hinduism, before entering the Meenakshi Amman temple in Madurai, the Madras High Court has said.
This is what we call an inclusive approach,” a bench of Justices GR Swaminathan and P Murugan said in an order dated October 30. “The Hon’ble chief minister who is a Christian by faith was not asked to convert to Hinduism. He was only requested to affirm his reverence for the deity. The bench cited the chief minister’s visits while underscoring that non-Hindus who do not furnish the required undertaking cannot enter the premises of an Agamic temple. The petitioner alleged that non-Hindus had entered temples displaying religious markers associated with other faiths without complying with the prescribed requirements. The plea referred to an allegation by the Tamil Nadu BJP that a non-Hindu wearing a skullcap had entered the Arunachaleswarar temple in Tiruvannamalai, prompting objections from devotees.
“If any Non-Hindu claims to visit particular deity in the temple, then the respondents shall obtain undertaking from the said Non-Hindu that he is having faith in the deity and he would follow the customs and practices of Hindu religion and also abide by the Temple customs and on such undertaking the said Non-Hindu may be allowed to visit the temple,” the court said. The format of the undertaking will be prescribed by the temple concerned, it said. Taking exception to what it described as “Chamchagiri” and “optics” surrounding temple entry, the High Court said established temple customs could not be set aside for such considerations. “That is why, we deem it necessary to render an authoritative pronouncement,” the bench said.
