Big Temple consecration will be conducted in Sanskrit, Tamil,

The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday informed the Madras High Court that the consecration ceremony of the Brihadeeswara temple in Thanjavur would be conducted in both Sanskrit and Tamil languages.

The shrine, popularly known as the Big Temple, was being consecrated after 23 years and the ceremony is being held on February 5.

The preliminary poojas commenced on January 27.

Petitions seeking to perform the consecration in Tamil and Sanskrit had been filed before the Madurai bench of the Madras High court.

Besides, a plea seeking stay on the consecration on the ground that the Archaeological department's clearance had not been obtained, had also been filed.

A PIL filed by Naam Tamizhar Katchi co-ordinator Senthil Nathan submitted that the shrine was a symbol of Tamils and hence the consecration ceremony should be held in Tamil.

He recalled that the high court had earlier ordered the consecration of Sri Sundarar temple at Villupuram in Tamil.

When the case came up on Tuesday, the ASI informed the court that they had given sanction for the consecration with some conditions.

The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department informed a division bench of the court's Madurai bench, comprising Justices M Duraiswamy and T Ravindran, that the consecration ceremony would be held in both Tamil and Sanskrit and equal importance would be given to both the languages.

The bench closed all the pleas after directing the HR and CE officials to file an affidavit on the languages to be used in the consecration.