The Madras High Court has held that non-Hindus cannot enter Agamic temples in Tamil Nadu unless they affirm their reverence for the presiding deity in an undertaking prescribed by the temple, according to reports on the judgment.
A Division Bench of Justices G.R. Swaminathan and P. Murugan delivered the ruling on October 23, Bar and Bench reported. Verdictum reported that it came from the court's Madurai Bench.
An Agamic temple is a Hindu shrine built, consecrated and maintained according to the Agama shastras, Mint reported.
What the court held
The Bench said trustees of Agamic temples should not allow non-Hindus who do not sign the undertaking to cross the flag-pole.
It then went further. "Even entry into the temple premises, cannot be permitted for non-Hindus who sport their religious markers and who do not subscribe their reverence for the deity concerned," the judgment said, according to LiveLaw. The court said such entry "would defile the sanctity of the temple".
The Bench said the ruling is strictly confined to Agamic temples. It contrasted these with shrines associated with Lord Ayyappa and Shirdi Sai Baba, which it said draw devotees across religions, Bar and Bench reported.
The limit on caste bars
The judgment also addressed restrictions that once applied to some Hindus. "Constitution ranks paramount and such regressive theological injunctions have to necessarily give way," the court said. It added that those injunctions "will hold good in respect of non-Hindus who do not sign the undertaking".
Why the case came up
The ruling came on a petition by Thangam Venkatesh seeking enforcement of the Tamil Nadu Temple Entry Authorisation Act, 1947, and action against alleged violations, according to the reports.
LiveLaw reported that the court noted two earlier High Court decisions: Kalyan Dass in 1972, which struck down a rule on admitting non-Hindus to temple premises, and D. Senthilkumar in 2024, which allowed entry on an undertaking to abide by a temple's customs. Bar and Bench reported that the Bench felt an authoritative ruling was needed because of recent incidents.
The court criticised what it called "chamchagiri" and political optics, and held that temple usages and customs "cannot kneel down" before them, LiveLaw reported. It also cited Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, a Christian, who it said signed the undertaking at the Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple. "This is what we call as an inclusive approach," the Bench said, Mint reported.
What next
The reports reviewed do not say whether the State government or anyone else plans to appeal.