{"id":336939,"date":"2025-05-16T15:07:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T09:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=336939"},"modified":"2025-05-19T12:16:23","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T06:46:23","slug":"agamic-temples-and-supreme-courts-direction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/agamic-temples-and-supreme-courts-direction\/","title":{"rendered":"Agamic Temples and Supreme Court\u2019s Direction"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>News<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: On May 14, 2025, the Supreme Court asked a committee formed by the Madras High Court to identify Agamic temples in Tamil Nadu within three months. It ordered that no priest appointments be made in these temples until the process is complete. The next hearing is in September 2025.<strong> Agamic Temples and Supreme Court\u2019s Direction<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-337312 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Agamic-Temples-and-Supreme-Courts-Direction.png?resize=508%2C337&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Agamic Temples and Supreme Court\u2019s Direction\" width=\"508\" height=\"337\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Agamic-Temples-and-Supreme-Courts-Direction.png?resize=300%2C199&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Agamic-Temples-and-Supreme-Courts-Direction.png?resize=1024%2C680&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Agamic-Temples-and-Supreme-Courts-Direction.png?resize=768%2C510&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Agamic-Temples-and-Supreme-Courts-Direction.png?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 508px) 100vw, 508px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>About Agamas and Agamic Temples<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Agamic temples follow the <\/span><b>Agamas<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, ancient Hindu scriptures in Tamil and Sanskrit.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These texts prescribe temple design, rituals, deity worship, and priest conduct.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They are the <\/span><b>spiritual and operational base<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for many temples in South India.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Features of the Agamas<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Agamas are <\/span><b>post-Vedic scriptures<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> passed down over generations.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They cover topics like <\/span><b>yoga, mantras, temple architecture, and daily worship<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Three key categories: 28 Shaiva Agamas, 64 Shakta Tantras, 108 Vaishnava Agamas<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Temples must have: ,<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sthala<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (location), <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tirtha<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (water source), <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Murti<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (deity image)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They include <\/span><b>detailed rules<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for sculpture, materials, dimensions, lighting, and ventilation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These texts gained prominence during the <\/span><b>Pallava and Chola dynasties<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and remain influential today.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Supreme Court\u2019s Directions<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No archakar appointments in Agamic temples until identification is complete.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The committee is headed by <\/span><b>Justice M. Chockalingam<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">; <\/span><b>M.P. Sathyavel Murugan<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was removed.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Appointments in <\/span><b>non-Agamic temples<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> can proceed afterward.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Court also directed <\/span><b>vacant posts at Rameswaram temple<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> be filled per customs.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Cause of Legal Dispute<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Petitioners opposed the state&#8217;s decision to <\/span><b>open priesthood to all castes and genders<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They argued that Agamic priesthood needs <\/span><b>years of training<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, not short-term courses.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They also alleged the appointment of <\/span><b>non-believers<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, violating religious rights.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Reform and Equality Measures<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>1971<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: TN government ended <\/span><b>hereditary priesthood<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>2006<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Allowed all qualified individuals to become priests.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>2015<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: SC upheld Agamic traditions while ensuring <\/span><b>constitutional protections<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Past judgments upheld <\/span><b>non-Brahmin and women priests<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, supporting <\/span><b>Articles 15 and 51A(e)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on non-discrimination and dignity.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News: On May 14, 2025, the Supreme Court asked a committee formed by the Madras High Court to identify Agamic temples in Tamil Nadu within three months. It ordered that no priest appointments be made in these temples until the process is complete. The next hearing is in September 2025. Agamic Temples and Supreme Court\u2019s&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/agamic-temples-and-supreme-courts-direction\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Agamic Temples and Supreme Court\u2019s Direction<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10367,"featured_media":337312,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,1760,11212,12039],"tags":[11872],"class_list":["post-336939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-polity-and-nation","category-history-and-art-culture-in-news","category-knolls","tag-9pm-daily-factly","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Agamic-Temples-and-Supreme-Courts-Direction.png?fit=1280%2C850&ssl=1","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10367"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/337312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}