Travancore Devaswam Board order on priest is contempt of apex court

Alappuzha: K.S. Rakesh, the first non-Brahmin thantri of Travancore Devaswam Board and son of late Paravur Sreedharan thantri, a famous non-Brahmin priest, sees contempt of court in shelving the appointment of a non-Brahmin priest at Chettikulangara temple.

He said it questioned the wisdom of the apex court that pronounced a favour judgement on October 3, 2002. He was appointed the ‘santhikaran’ or priest at Kongorpilly Neerikode Siva Temple of Alangad Village in Ernakulam in 1993, which prompted a devotee, N. Adhithiyan, to challenge it in Supreme Court saying it was against the temple's traditions.

“I will not say the TDB is regressive or casteist because it was the same Board that appointed me. But external forces influence them. I won’t blame Brahmins in the matter either," he told DC. 

"I am a member of selection committee for priests at the TDB. I think TDB has succumbed to the pressure of external elements."In his case, upholding fundamental rights, the apex court had dismissed the argument that only the Malayala-Brahmins could perform pujas. 

It said, "custom or usage irrespective of proof of their existence in pre-constitutional days cannot be countenanced as a source of law to claim any rights when it is found to violate human rights, dignity, social equality and the specific mandate of the Constitution and law made by Parliament."

It quoted the observation of Monier Williams, an expert in Indian sacred literature saying "Hinduism is far more than a mere form of theism resting on Brahminism" and that "it has ever aimed at accommodating itself to circumstances, and has carried on the process of adaptation through more than three thousand years."

It stressed the message of social equality and justice proclaimed by the Constitution and the promise made in Article 17 to abolish "untouchability".  Hence, the TDB has overstepped this order. "He has ten-year service as a priest at TDB. So I think it’s contempt of court," he said.