SC directs Guruvayoor temple to hold 'Udayasthamana Pooja' on Ekadashi

The Supreme Court has ordered for the 'Udayasthamana Pooja' in the Guruvayur Sri Krishna temple in Kerala on the occasion of 'ekadashi' to be conducted on December 1 as per tradition.

A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi noted that the day-long ritual was being conducted since 1972.

Last year, the Supreme Court had slammed the Devaswom Board of Guruvayur Sri Krishna temple for deciding not to conduct the age-old Udayasthamana Pooja on Guruvayur Ekadasi citing crowd management and wondered how it could have decided so.

The bench noted that the Udayasthamana Pooja is one of the most important pooja performed on Vrishchikam Ekadasi. "The performance of the said pooja on Vrishchikam Ekadasi was altered/discontinued with the consent of Thantri in consultation with Committee after ascertaining Devahitham, on the ground of public inconvenience caused due to high inflow of devotees on the said auspicious day", the bench further noted.

".... any ritual which is being performed at any place or site of worship as part of long-standing tradition, and has assumed religious significance, ought not be unsettled on the apprehension that there would be potential public inconvenience. The faith of the worshippers at large ought not to be put aside on the anvil of managerial and administrative concerns and must be given precedence and respect as far as possible. The Guruvayur temple has a rich religious historical background and a large number of devotees depose their faith in the deity. The temple has long run customs, practices and rituals, which if affected, might run scramble through the sentiments of the devotees/people.", court further noted.

The bench found that the performance of the pooja by Acharyas is conducted for enhancing the divinity of deity. On special occasions such as Vrishchikam Ekadasi, inconvenience to public cannot be a ground to discontinue/alter the rituals/pooja to be performed on the said day for deity, it said, noting that the purposes of interim relief, it was not convinced by the reasons stated.

"In this view of the matter, subject to final outcome of the appeal, by way of interim measure, we direct that Udayasthamana Pooja shall be continued in the manner as it was being performed as per the tradition of the temple on Vrishchikam Ekadasi without any change. In case the Thantri is of the view that Udayasthamana Pooja has also to be performed on 02.11.2025 as stated in the counter affidavit, he may do so.", the court ordered.

Court has given the parties liberty to complete their pleadings within a period of eight weeks and listed the case for hearing in the month of March, 2026.

The Kerala High Court had while declining interference last year, held that under the Guruvayur Devaswom Act, 1978, the Tantri has the final authority in matters of religious and ceremonial practices, unless such decisions contravene any law.

Case Title: P.C. HARY & ORS. vs. GURUVAYOOR DEVASWOM MANAGING COMMITTEE & ORS.  

Order Date: October 30, 2025

Bench: Justices Maheshwari and Bishnoi