Priests regain Nataraja temple

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said the famous Nataraja Temple in Tamil Nadu will be managed by priests and not the government. 

In 2009, the Madras high court had transferred the administration of the 1,000-year-old temple dedicated to Lord Shiva to the government headed by M. Karunanidhi.

The verdict was based on the allegation that the temple’s considerable wealth was being mismanaged. A bench of justices B. S. Chauhan and S. Bobde said the Tamil Nadu government’s July 1987 order appointing an executive officer to manage the temple is “arbitrary, illegal and unjust”.

The bench pronounced the verdict while setting aside the Madras high court’s 2009 order upholding the decision of the state to takeover the management of the temple by appointing an executive officer. “...it was not permissible for  authorities to pass any order divesting the said respondent from administration of the temple and thus, all orders passed  are liable to be held inconsequential and unenforceable,” the apex court said.

Setting aside the high court’s order, the apex court has held that the Dikshithars constitute a ‘religious denomination’ and their rights “are to be preserved and protected from any invasion by the state.”

The bench also said that the government can takeover management of a temple to remove any “maladministration”, but such an arrangement cannot be for an “indefinite period”.