The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court recently directed the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) to devise a scheme to ensure quick and hassle-free darshan for pregnant women and differently-abled people in Tamil Nadu’s five major temples.
The Bench passed the directive while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Tiruchandur-based advocate B Ramkumar Adityan.
According to the petition, “In Tamil Nadu, the HR&CE has control over over 40,000 temples. Most devotees must wait 3 to 4 hours for darshan in Tamil Nadu’s five major temples: Palani Murugan Temple, Tiruchendur Murugan Temple, Thiruvarangam Aranganathar Temple, Rameswaram Ramanatha Swamy Temple, and Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple. These temples provide free darshan, darshan for Rs 100 or Rs 200, and special route quick darshan. So, in these five major temples, set aside separate darshan slots for VVIPs and VIPs, senior citizens, people with disabilities, pregnant women, mothers with infants, and sick people.”
The bench noted that such relief could not be granted because more than half of the devotees would seek time slots under the ‘sick persons’ category, which the temple authorities could not provide.
The judges did agree, however, that instead of assigning time slots, the HR and CE departments should consider ensuring quick and hassle-free darshan in major temples across the state for two of the above categories, people with disabilities and pregnant women.
