Kanchi Mutt is a place of worship, no doubt

Sunday, 30 January , 2005, 22:55

Kalavai: Discounting Tamil Nadu government’s stand that the Sankara Mutt premises at Kancheepuram was not a place of worship, the mutt on Sunday night asserted that it housed several idols, including that of the second Sankaracharya Sureshwara Acharya, and pujas were being performed.

Describing the government’s latest stand taken in the Madras High Court as "contradictory" to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s January 12 reply to the Prime Minister on his apprehension about a possible break in the traditional pujas, mutt sources told reporters that the Chief Minister had stated that the pujas were being performed at the mutt even in the absence of the seers.

In a counter in the High Court on January 27, while seeking a stay on the National Human Rights Commissions notice questioning the manner of the recent arrest of junior seer Vijayendra Saraswathi from the mutt premises, the government said the mutt was not a place for either private or public worship.

The High Court stayed further proceedings pursuant to the NHRC notice issued on January 13.

Mutt sources said pujas were being performed on the mutt premises to the idols of Sri Adi Sankara and his "sishyas". It also housed a idol of lord Ganapathi dating back to over 1,500 years. Inscriptions left by various kings had stated that ghee lamps should continue to be lit without any break. This practice was being followed even now in the mutt, they said.