Supreme Court stays the Madras High Court order that set up a board to run the Chidambaram Naṭarāja temple
The hereditary Podhu Dīkṣitars keep charge of the Sabhānāyakar temple while the court hears their appeal.
- LiveLaw
- The Hindu
The Supreme Court on Wednesday, 4 November, stayed a Madras High Court order of 30 October on the Chidambaram Naṭarāja temple. That order had set up a five-member Board of Management to take over the temple's administration from the Podhu Dīkṣitars.
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Vipul M. Pancholi passed the interim order and issued notice to the State of Tamil Nadu. The Dīkṣitars argued that the High Court's direction interfered with their right to manage the temple under Article 26 of the Constitution.
The High Court board was to be chaired by retired judge V. Bharathidasan, with retired judge R. Suresh Kumar as co-chair. Retired IAS officer C. Rajendran was to be a member, with the Dīkṣitars' secretary and the HR&CE secretary as ex-officio members.
Under the High Court order, daily rituals and festivals would have stayed with the Dīkṣitars. The board was to handle properties, accounts, heritage conservation and recovery of encroached land.
For the State, senior advocate Shekhar Naphade said the Dīkṣitars had not shared full accounts for 12 years, a charge the court has not ruled on. Senior advocate Sai Deepak, appearing for the other side, asked why the parens patriae doctrine was applied to temples alone.
Justice Kumar asked the State whether that guardian jurisdiction covered only temples or other places of worship as well, The Hindu reported.
Key data
High Court order dated 30 Oct 2026; proposed board of 5 members; State alleged accounts not shared for 12 years; stay granted 4 Nov 2026.
Why it matters
The case is a key test of how far courts and the State can step into the running of a temple managed by a religious denomination. For now, the Dīkṣitars' hereditary role continues unchanged.
GK: did you know?
In January 2014, in Subramanian Swamy v. State of Tamil Nadu, the Supreme Court set aside the HR&CE takeover of this temple. Chidambaram is revered as the ākāśa (space) sthala among the five Pañca Bhūta sthalas of Śiva.
