According to Karnataka High Court, the line of succession for a temple priest must be on the father’s side
Recently, the Karnataka High Court made the observation that the line of succession for the position of heraditary archak (temple priest) should be on the paternal side and not the maternal side.
When addressing arguments made by two sons of a previous archak of the Sri Mahabaleshwara Swamy Temple in KR Puram, Bangalore East Taluk, the single-judge bench of Justice NS Sanjay Gowda made this observation.
The petitioners argued that since the temple’s archakship was hereditary, they should be permitted to be nominated as such.
In essence, the petitioners were contesting a decision made in 2016 by the Commissioner for Religious and Endowment Department that denied one of the petitioners’ requests to be appointed as the temple’s archak.
The commissioner had then made the determination that the petitioner’s father-in-law had held the position of temple archak before his father, and that since the petitioners’ claim to hereditary archakship could only be traced to their maternal side.
The petitioners’ attorney challenged this, arguing before the high court that not only were the petitioners qualified to serve as the temple’s archak, but also that they were not given enough time to prove their right to the position when their representation was chosen.
The single judge bench did observe that the assailed ruling demonstrated that the petitioners were given due consideration in the case.
The court emphasized that it was undisputed in the current case that, in order for the applicant to be eligible for hereditary archakship at the Sri Mahabaleshwaraswamy Temple, not only the applicant’s father but also the applicant’s grandfather and great-grandfather had to have served in that capacity.
The court remarked that it was known that the applicants’ maternal grandfather had served as the temple’s archak before their father.
The court so rejected the petitioners’ arguments while pointing out that they were claiming the archakship as a result of their maternal grandfather holding the position of temple archak.
