Madras High Court rules non-Hindus must sign an undertaking of reverence for the deity before entering Agamic temples in Tamil Nadu
The Bench held up Chief Minister Joseph Vijay, a Christian who signed the register at Madurai's Meenakshi temple, as the model of what it called an inclusive approach.
- Bar and Bench
- Hindustan Times
A Division Bench of the Madras High Court, Justices G.R. Swaminathan and P. Murugan, has ruled that non-Hindus cannot enter Agamic temples in Tamil Nadu unless they give an undertaking affirming reverence for the presiding deity and agreeing to follow the temple's customs, Bar and Bench reported from the October 23 judgment. The court said even entry into temple premises cannot be allowed for non-Hindus who "sport their religious markers" and do not subscribe their reverence for the deity, with the format of the undertaking to be prescribed by each institution.
The ruling came on a petition by Madurai resident Thangam Venkatesh, who sought enforcement of the Tamil Nadu Temple Entry Authorisation Act, 1947, and the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959. The Bench said the petitioner, as a Hindu, was entitled to insist that trustees stop non-Hindus who have not signed the undertaking from crossing the flagstaff (koḍimaram), since such entry would defile the temple's sanctity.
It noted that Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, a Christian, signed the undertaking before worshipping Goddess Mīnākṣī in September and did the same at the Tiruchendur Murugan temple in April, according to Hindustan Times. "He was only requested to affirm his reverence for the deity.
This is what we call as an inclusive approach," the court said. The judges referred to Madurai Central MLA Badrudeen Mustafa entering the Meenakshi temple and climbing its towers during the Kumbhābhiṣekam, and took judicial notice of a social media video of men in skull caps pushing into Tiruvannamalai's Arunachaleswarar temple while HR&CE staff "stood as mute spectators".
The court said temple usages "cannot kneel down before such display of Chamchagiri and optics" by politicians. It limited the ruling to Agamic temples, contrasting them with Ayyappa shrines and the Shirdi Sai Baba temple, which draw devotees across faiths.
The Bench also said old Agamic bars on certain Hindu castes cannot survive constitutional scrutiny, and held that processions of any community cannot be stopped merely because they pass a mosque, church or temple. Additional Advocate General P.V. Balasubramanian appeared for the State.
Key data
Judgment dated 23 Oct 2026; petition under the Tamil Nadu Temple Entry Authorisation Act, 1947 and the TN HR&CE Act, 1959; builds on a January 2024 single-judge order by Justice S. Srimathy requiring a faith undertaking recorded in a temple register.
Why it matters
The ruling turns a register already kept at temples like Palani and Madurai into a statewide rule for Agamic temples, backed by a Division Bench, while making clear that sincere non-Hindu devotees are welcome if they affirm faith in the deity. Temple trustees and HR&CE officials now carry a clear duty to enforce it.
GK: did you know?
Article 25(2)(b) of the Constitution lets the State throw open Hindu religious institutions of a public character to all classes and sections of Hindus, the basis for temple entry laws such as Tamil Nadu's 1947 Act.
