The Kerala High Court has directed the Travancore, Cochin, Malabar and Guruvayoor Devaswom Boards to prepare temple-specific guidelines within a four-month period to ensure reasonable accommodation and full access for disabled devotees. This order emerged from a suo motu petition initiated by a complaint from T. Suganthi, a woman with poliomyelitis, who was denied entry in her wheelchair into the Nalambalam of Thrissur Vadakkumnathan Temple. The court, presided by Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and K. V. Jayakumar, emphasised that devotees with disabilities are entitled to worship with dignity, underpinned by constitutional and statutory protections.
Suganthi’s petition highlighted the practical difficulties faced by devotees using wheelchairs, particularly when access to inner sanctums of temples is denied. She argued for modifications that would allow her proper darshan—visual communion with the deity—inside temple premises using her wheelchair. In reviewing her case, the court invoked Article 25 of the Constitution, which protects religious freedom, and Section 3 of the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Act, 1965, which mandates that temples remain open to all classes and sections of Hindus. The court also drew on Section 3 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, which mandates “reasonable accommodation” and prohibits discrimination based on disability while requiring priority access to services for persons with disabilities.
The High Court held that ensuring access for disabled devotees is not a matter of charity but a legal mandate meant to secure substantive equality. To that end, the court issued a series of specific directions. The Devaswom Boards are to consult the respective Thanthris (temple priests) and other stakeholders for each temple to decide on measures to accommodate differently-abled devotees for darshan. They must evaluate the physical layout of each temple to determine whether wheelchair access to inner precincts is feasible, and establish priority access segments. The boards were also instructed to consider setting aside specific time slots or days for differently-abled devotees, along with advance booking or virtual queue systems to reduce waiting times. Other recommendations included creating barrier-free access routes, providing assistance personnel, and implementing any other facilities required to ensure a dignified worship experience for devotees with limited mobility.
The court made clear that the guidelines should be published in the public domain and be transparent. The Devaswom Boards have a window of four months to deliberate and issue these temple-specific guidelines. In court, the respective boards were represented: the Travancore Devaswom Board by standing counsel G. Biju, the Cochin Board by KP Sudheer, the Malabar Board by R. Ranjanie. Advocate V. Ramkumar Nambiar was appointed amicus curiae in the matter.
Through its ruling, the court reaffirmed that constitutional rights and statutory obligations cannot be set aside in temple administration, and that disability rights law and temple law intersect where access to worship is concerned. The order underscores that temples, while preserving their functions, must ensure worshipers with disabilities are not excluded due to structural, administrative, or attitudinal barriers.
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