Madras High Court Orders Temples Not to Mention Caste on Invitation Cards

Chennai. The Madras High Court has ordered that caste should not be mentioned when sending invitations for temple functions. The court ruled that temple festivals operated by the state through the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department should not perpetuate the caste system. Justice Bharath Chakravarthy of the Madras High Court mentioned in the verdict that the main objective of India being a Republic is to treat everyone equally.

The court emphasized that the effort of every body in the country should be the abolition of the caste system and not to promote it. The court concluded that caste cannot be allowed to be perpetuated by using caste in invitation cards for temple festivals.

The court issued this order while hearing a petition filed by N. Samaran. The petitioner had sought a ban on using caste in temple festival invitation cards in the future and demanded that only those persons authorized by the Executive Officer as Sri Padamthangi carrying the idol be allowed to participate.

During the hearing, the state government informed that the temple itself does not use any caste name, but the caste name of individuals is printed along with their names on the invitation cards. The temple management argued that since the invitation cards have already been printed, no new directive could be issued for this year. However, the court ordered that from the upcoming festivals, if anyone has appended their caste after their name, the caste part should be removed and only the name should be printed.

The court held a different view regarding the appointment of persons to carry the idol in the procession. The court noted that generally, volunteers and capable devotees carry the idol and its management happens on-site. The court left this matter to the local authorities managing the temple, stating that trying to micromanage such a process could create further complications and disputes. The court refused to create a separate standard operating procedure for this.