The Kerala High Court on Wednesday asked the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) to clarify the exact nature of the upcoming event, the ‘Global Ayyappa Sangamam’, particularly the manner in which its conduct will be funded.
Hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a direction restraining the state government and the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) from conducting the event titled ‘Global Ayyappa Sangamam’ at Pampa in Sabarimala from 16-20 September, a Division Bench of Justice Devan Ramachandran and Justice Syam Kumar V M orally questioned the TDB over the lack of clarity on the financial arrangements for the event.
“TDB does not mean Ayyappa alone. If it is done by the TDB, why do you call it a Global Ayyappa Sangamam? Hinduism cannot be confined to a small, narrow jacket thing. Hinduism is not a religion. Hinduism is a way of life. We believe in everything. We respect everybody. We don’t disrespect anything in the world. We understand that we are only part of the cosmos. So, why do you call it a Global Ayyappa Sangamam? Is it a congregation of people? You want to celebrate your platinum jubilee,” the court remarked orally.
The standing counsel for the Travancore Devaswom Board submitted that the proposed event is being conducted by the TDB to showcase “Sabarimala as a global pilgrimage centre and to propagate the universal message of ‘thattvamasi’ promoting religious harmony and global unity”. The event also coincides with the platinum jubilee of the establishment of the Board.
The petitioner argued that the state and the TDB were attempting to conduct a political event in the guise of devotion, tourism, and cultural promotion.
In response, the TDB’s counsel argued that no funds from the state’s exchequer or the TDB’s corpus would be utilised, and the entire event would be supported by corporate sponsorships. To this, Justice Ramachandran asked, “You say it’s sponsorship money from corporate, but how does TDB get money like that?” It cannot go out from the corpus fund, he added.
You cannot use the devotee’s resources. You are saying that you are going to celebrate the platinum jubilee of the TDB. It is an institution that is being celebrated. They can’t use this. What is meant by sponsorship? We do not know. It’s a dangerous thing to say sponsorship. Who will make the guidelines for sponsorships,” the Court orally inquired.
Since there was no clarity as to who the sponsors are, the court gave time to the standing counsel of the TDB to get written instructions regarding the same. The court also recorded the state’s submission that its only role in the upcoming event has to do with crowd management support.
The court also questioned the need to conduct the event on a large scale. It orally remarked, “Is this something that the TDB should be doing? Where is your power under the Act to do all this? Why only Sabarimala? Because Sabarimala is a showcasing one?”
It also said that the duties and obligations of a body exercising powers under the Devaswom Act are only to the religious institutions governed by the statute and the trust and conscience of the people vested in them. Therefore, anything that they do must fall within the ambit of this and not beyond, the court said.
The petitioner, advocate Ajeesh Kalathil Gopi claimed that the event involves commercialization of a sacred religious institution and the misuse of Lord Ayyappa’s name for political purposes. He said the proposed event is a facade for political propaganda ahead of elections, and he further pointed out that the Sabarimala temple generates one of the highest revenues in the state.
“Being a secular state, the government cannot, in any manner, appropriate or use the term ‘Ayyappa’, which is sacred and specifically denotes devoted practitioners, particularly when the proposed event is organized under the aegis of the ruling party. The very naming and organization of this event thus amounts to a distortion of religious observances and disrespect to the Ayyappa bhaktas. The event is purely for financial and political gain, similar to other events conducted by the present government,” the plea stated.