Temple Festivals Conducted By State Can't Perpetuate Caste Names, Effort Must Be To Annihilate Caste : Madras High Court

The Madras High Court recently observed that the temple festivals conducted by the State through the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department could not perpetuate caste. 

Justice Bharata Chakravarthy noted that the very purpose of India becoming a republic was to treat everyone equally. The court added that the endeavour of every authority in the country should be to annihilate caste and not to perpetuate the same. The court thus submitted that a temple festival, being conducted by the State, could not be allowed to perpetuate caste by using caste names in the invitations.

"Caste is a thing, that exists only in the minds of the people. Article 14 of the Constitution of India, enshrines the principle of equality. The very purpose of India becoming a Republic is to treat everyone equally and the concept of caste is based only on birth and birth alone divides people. The endeavour of every authority in the country, should only be to annihilate caste and not to perpetuate the same. If the festival in which the Government Department namely, the HR and CE Department, is also involved, is conducted in a manner so as to propagate caste and prominently to advertise or take pride in one's caste, the same cannot be permitted," the court observed.

The court was hearing a plea filed by N Samaran seeking directions to the Commissioner, HR & CE, the Joint Commissioner of HR & CE, and the Executive Officer of the Arulmigu Kandhasamy Thirukovil to prohibit the use of caste names in the invitation for the upcoming temple festival. The petitioner had also sought to permit only persons authorised by the Executive Officer to participate as "Sri Padhamthangis" to carry the idol during the procession.

When the matter was taken up, the State informed the court that the temple as such was not using any caste name. However, the State informed that the caste names of persons had been printed in the festival invitation. The State submitted that since the invitations had already been printed, no further directions could be issued for the present year. 

The court said that from the ensuing festival, if any person adds their caste name along with their name, the caste suffix alone should be dropped, and only the name shall be printed. The court also rejected the prayer of the State, saying that the matter should be left open to the temple. 

With respect to the prayer regarding appointing persons from the procession, the court noted that volunteers usually carry the idol and it is usually managed on the spot by able-bodied devotees. The court opined that framing rules for the procession or to micromanage the same would open Pandora's box and it should be left to the persons managing the temple on the ground.

Thus, the court was not inclined to frame any Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for temple procession.

Counsel for Petitioner: Mr. S.Abhijeet Krishna

Counsel for Respondent: Mr.J.Ravindran, AAG Asst.by Mr.K.Karthikeyan, GA (Hr & CE), Mr.A.M.Ayyadurai, GA, Mr.J.Subbiah, GA (Crl.Side)

Case Title: N Samaran v. The Commissioner and Others

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 78

Case No: Writ Petition No.6606 of 2026