SC asks Guruvayur Devaswom to conduct Udayasthamana puja on Vrishchikam Ekadasi as per tradition

I

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed that Udayasthamana puja at the Guruvayur Sree Krishna temple in Kerala must be conducted on the auspicious day of Vrishchikam Ekadasi in accordance with the temple’s age-old customs and traditions.

A Bench headed by Justice J.K. Maheshwari said the primary obligation of the Tantri was to safeguard and increase the vitality of the deity by adhering to the traditions and not alter the date of the puja to suit the convenience of the worshippers. Referring to the Sri Venkateswara Swami temple at Tirupati, the Bench said traditions were followed without fail despite the huge rush of worshippers there.

The apex court was hearing a special leave petition filed against a Kerala High Court decision of December 7 last year dismissing a plea seeking directives to the respondents, including the Guruvayur Devaswom Managing Committee, represented by senior advocate C.A. Sundaram and M.L. Jishnu, to perform the Udayasthamana puja on Vrishchikam Ekadasi.

The petitioner, P.C. Hary, represented by senior advocate C.S. Vaidyanathan, K. Parameshwar and advocate A. Karthik, said the puja was a sacred and integral part of the temple’s ritualistic tradition. The petitioner argued that as per the Panchangam for the year 2025, the Guruvayur Vrishchikam Ekadasi falls on December 1, 2025, a Monday.

“Petitioners have now reliably learnt that, once again, the respondents have taken a decision not to perform the Udayasthamana puja on Vrishchikam Ekadasi, but on some other date, namely November 2, 2025 in complete disregard of established religious customs,” the petitioners submitted.

They submitted that the alteration in the date was made despite the apex court having specifically observed on December 11 last year that “the chart of the daily puja, as available on the website of Shri Guruvayurappan Temple, shall not be changed or deleted until the next date of listing.”

“Until 2023, the Udayasthamana puja was invariably performed on Vrishchikam Ekadasi day, and it is only during the last two years, 2024 and 2025, that the respondents have attempted to alter this well-established religious practice. Such arbitrary decisions by the respondents strike at the very root of the traditional practices of the temple, which have been observed for several centuries. The Udayasthamana puja on Vrishchikam Ekadasi is not merely symbolic but a series of nearly 15-18 pujas that are conducted from sunrise to sunset,” the petitioners submitted.