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Madras High Court today dismissed a plea that challenged the validity of the Annai Thamizhil Archanai scheme, recently introduced in several Temples across the State of Tamil Nadu. The petitioner had contended that the state's action to force the priests inside the sanctum sanctorum of temples to perform Archana (pooja) in Tamil instead of Sanskrit is an act of blasphemy and goes against the grain of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.

The Annai Thamizhil Archanai scheme allows pujas, chanting of Matras inside the temples in Tamil instead of only Sanskrit. The plea claimed that the State has allowed such practice due to linguistic chauvinism. 

Declining to entertain the plea, Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee & Justice PD Audikesavalu said that the issue has already been dealt with by the High Court in the year 2008. 

Court said that another Division Bench of Justices Elipe Dharma Rao and K. Chandru (both retired) had, in March 2008 in VS Sivakumar v. M Pitchai Battar (1988) held that there was nothing in the Agamas or in other religious scripts that prohibits the chanting of mantras in Tamil during pooja inside the temples.

In his petition, Rangarajan Narasimhan, the petitioner,  had argued that a secular state has no right to interfere in matters of religion. He had contended that the State cannot prescribe new procedures regarding the religious practices of the temples including chanting hymns in Tamil instead of the age-old practice of chanting them in Sanskrit.

In his affidavit filed before the court, he had stated that as per the Indian Constitution India is a secular country, which fundamentally means that the State will not interfere or control any religion, religious affairs, and religious institutions unless they are against public morality, order or health. 

He has further stated that with the introduction of "Annai Thamizhil Archanai" scheme the HR & CE department have forced, albeit indirectly, Archakas of several temples under the supervisory control of the department, to perform Archana in Tamil language, by providing them with a set of sentences in the Tamil language to be read during the performance of Archana.

He had argued that department's this act was a brazen encroachment on the religious freedom of the religious denomination ans was ultra vires of the provisions of the Constitution of India.

He had contended that Mantras are not just mere words but there is science behind these, and their formation is a matter of religious faith and not that for rational reasoning. He had added that the Temples have been following the practice of archana in Sanskrit for atleast 1000 years and the onslaught of several hundred years of invasion is a standing proof that these mantras are supernatural and thus cannot be meddled with especially by an elected Government in India.

Earlier, Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) P.K. Sekarbabu on August 5 inaugurated the ‘Annai Thamizhil Archanai’ scheme at 47 major temples in the State of Tamil Nadu. According to the scheme at the request of devotees, priests were allowed to chant the ‘potri’ (archanai) in Tamil though it had been the usual practice to chant them in Sanskrit.

While introducing the plea, the Minister had said that the facility was not new for the State. He added that it was in 1971 that former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi had mooted the idea, and the then Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments, Kannappan, had made an announcement.

Thereafter, in 1974, a circular was sent to the temples of Tamil Nadu. In 1998, when a discussion pertaining to the performing of archanai in Tamil arose, CM Karunanidhi had said that ‘potri’ would be performed in Tamil, too, for devotees who wanted it, as per media reports. 

(Case Title: Rangarajan Narasimhan Vs. The Principal Secretary And Another.)