Chennai, Mar 20:
The Madras High Court has ordered the conduct of daily pujas at the Dharmaraja Droupadi Amman temple in Melpathi village in Villupuram district on the condition that no one but the priest would be allowed to enter the temple that has remained shut since last year due to disputes along caste lines.
Justice N. Anand Venkatesh passed the interim order on two writ petitions filed by local residents G. Gandhi and Raji in 2023, challenging the Revenue Divisional Officer’s (RDO) June 7, 2023 decision to close the temple due to a clash between Vanniyars and Dalits over the latter’s entry into the temple.
The Villupuram Collector as well as the Superintendent of Police too, appeared through video conference before the court, and said, it might not be advisable to open the temple especially during the Lok Sabha polls since most of the State machinery, including the police, would be busy with election work.
