A PIL was filed in the Madras High Court seeking a direction to the Tamil Nadu government to return idols taken from various temples in the state and kept at the Icon Centres for security reasons.
When the PIL by Periyanambi Narasimha Gopalan came up, Justices C T Selvam and A M Basheer Ahamed adjourned the case for further hearing without mentioning the date.
The petitioner charged the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments with handling the idols at the centres like toys, without performing poojas and rituals.
This was hurting the religious sentiments of devotees, besides denying them the right to worship the idols, he said.
The idols were removed from the temples without performing poojas as per the Agamas (collection of Hindu scriptures), and were handled by those at the Icon Centres, who did not know the Agamas, he alleged.
The petitioner further submitted that the Icon centres were also not safe from theft like the one that occurred at the Pasupatheeswarar temple near Pandanallur.
The petitioner sought a stay on the removal of idols from local temples without performing poojas/rituals as per the 'Agamas.'
Even if they were moved to the Icon Centres, poojas and rituals should be performed as per the Agamas, he said, adding that it was the duty of the temple authorities to increase the revenue of the temples and ensure that they were protected.
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