SC orders traditional archaka's service at Anjenya temple

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the Karnataka government to forthwith restore services of the traditional archaka at Anjaneya temple, believed to be Lord Hanuman’s birthplace situated at Anjanadri Hills Koppal district, and warned the state of consequences if its orders are disobeyed.

In July 2018 when H D Kumaraswamy was heading the state govt, the Koppal district collector under Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act, 1997, passed an order to acquire the Anjaneya Temple and assumed power to appoint an administrator to manage the temple.

The archaka, Shri Vidyadas Babaji, challenged the takeover of the temple by govt. But the HC only allowed him to perform his duties as archaka of the temple till final adjudication of his appeal. It also allowed him to continue with the Sanskrit Pathshala.

However, on March 15 this year, the deputy commissioner of Koppal and other officials visited the temple with the Election Commissioner and forcibly appointed another person to perform the temple rituals and harassed him to force the traditional archaka to leave the place. When he accused the officials of contempt of HC’s 2018 order, the HC did not give any relief.

Appearing for the archaka, advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, informed a partial working day bench of Justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta about the way the state govt was attempting to evict the archaka and take full control of the temple and oust the hereditary priest, belonging to Ramanandi community.

The bench took a serious view and directed the state officials to scrupulously adhere to the HC’s interim orders, failing which contempt proceedings would be drawn against them.

The HC in its interim order on Feb 14, 2023, had directed the officials “not to create any hindrance or obstruction to the petitioner in performing poojas, Archak duties in the said subject temple and also permit him to continue to do so without any interruption, impediment or hindrance from the respondents, its officials or anyone else.”