Kerala HC disposes of suo moto case on 'washing Brahmins feet' at Kochi temple

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The Kerala High Court has disposed of a sou motu proceeding based on a news report which claimed that the devotees are made to wash the feet of 12 Brahmins as part of 'Panthrandu Namaskaram' in Sree Poornathrayeesa Temple of Kochi.

A division bench of Justice Anil K Narendran and Justice PG Ajithkumar found the media report to be incorrect.

The media report in 'Kerala Kaumudi' Daily on February 4, 2022, claimed that the devotees were made to wash the feet of 12 brahmins for the atonement of their sins.

"Religious practices are required to be performed in accordance with the ancient norms, and neither the devaswom Board nor the state can interfere with such practices. It is the devaswom board's duty to see that traditional rituals, according to the practice prevalent in the temple, are performed promptly. No interference with the religious rite, namely panthrandu namaskaram, was legally permissible either by the Cochin Devaswom Board or by the state government," held the court.

The council for the Cochin Devaswom Board denied the claims and clarified that it was the Tantri and not the devotees who washed the feet of 12 priests as part of the rituals.

The court further issued a direction to the media to factually check the information before publishing.

"It is the duty and responsibility of the media, be it electronic or print, to ensure that they are not providing the public with information that is factually wrong based on unverified information," the court said.