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The ‘tantri’ (the head priest) is the final authority in deciding the rituals and traditions of the Lord Ayyappa temple and any remarks against him are “unbecoming” of the position of a chief minister, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Ramesh Chennithala told reporters here.
He also alleged the chief minister was threatening the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which manages the shrine, because it was not acting as per his orders.
The anger over the non-implementation of his order to bring women to the hill shrine was reflected in his words against the head priest and the TDB, Chennithala said.
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“His attack against the head priest was an onslaught on devotees of Lord Ayyappa across the world,” he added. Vijayan is trying to create fear and anxiety among devotees through his statements, the Congress leader alleged.
Referring to several judgements of the Supreme Court regarding the custody of temples, Chennithala said: “in Sabarimala, tantri holds a paternal position in relation to the principal deity Lord Ayyappa.” Showing the hereditary tantri family in a bad light was unbecoming of a chief minister, he alleged.
At a public meeting held at Pathanamthitta district Tuesday, Vijayan had criticised Sabarimala head priest, Kandararu Rajeevaru for his stand that he would close the temple and go if young women were allowed inside the temple complex. He had also said that it was improper for the tantri and the ‘parikarmies’, temple employees assisting priests in pujas, to oppose the government decision to implement the Supreme Court verdict permitting women of all age groups into the hill shrine.
The Sabarimala tantri had extended support to the series of agitation staged by Ayyappa devotees across the state against the government’s decision to implement the top court order.
Besides Rajeevaru, other members of the tantri family had also participated in some of the prayer meetings, organised in protest against the implementation of the verdict.