HC Seeks Temple Register to Verify Nomenclature of Bhadrachalam

Hyderabad: Justice N.V. Shravan Kumar of the Telangana High Court on Wednesday asked the state government to produce the original endowments register to verify the nomenclature of Bhadrachalam Sri Rama Swamy temple.

The judge was dealing with a batch of writ pleas filed by G.T.V. Manindhar and others, complaining that there were many irregularities due to changes made in the last 10 years vis-à-vis the celestial wedding.

The court had on April 8 asked the senior counsels D.V. Sitaram Murthy, L. Ravichander, and Hariharan, who represented the petitioners, to suggest the name of a scholar or a mutt to resolve the Ram Navami celestial wedding issue at the Sri Rama Swamy temple in Bhadrachalam.

The counsels on Wednesday proposed the name of Kurtalam Mutt Peetadhipathi, which was opposed by the other party. Sitaram Murthy reiterated his arguments that the god could only be referred to as Lord Rama and not Lord Maha Vishnu. Ravichander pointed out that there was no interim order pending the writ plea in the last two years and there was no affidavit on records justifying any changed circumstance. To the summoning of the register, Ravichander pointed out that the name of the temple in the endowments register would not determine its customs. The counsel said that religious customs often go beyond the faith and knowledge of the believer. It would be impermissible, he said, for the court to determine the central issue on the gotras. He also pointed out that there were no pleadings in any of the writ petitions that the reference to gotras is of recent origin.

Raghava Charulu, counsel appearing for the head pujari, referred to various Hindu texts to support the plea that Rama and Sita are prayed to in the form of Vishnu and Mahalaxmi at Bhadrachalam. He was countered with examples about temple practices, their denominations, and nuanced differences.

The judge also wanted the state government to enlist the other Ram temples in Telangana and the customs followed therein. The matter will be heard again on April 15.