Bengaluru
The High Court has refused to interfere in a Public Interest Litigation filed seeking the constitution of a committee regarding the formulation of guidelines or bylaws for paryaya celebrations in Udupi’s Ashta Maths.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Prasanna Balachandra Varale and Justice Krishna S Dixit, which heard a public interest petition filed by Gururaj Jeevan Rao, a devotee of Udupi Mutt, dismissed the petition.
During the hearing, the counsel for the petitioner argued that the people traveling by sea should not be allowed to participate in the paryaya festival. In this case, the Court intervened, what is wrong if a foreigner enters for the acquisition of knowledge. Emperor Ashoka sent his sons Mahendra and Sanghamitra to Sri Lanka to propagate Buddhism. Shankaracharya crossed the ocean and roamed the entire country. What is wrong with seeking spiritual knowledge abroad with an open mind. It asked if we are allowed to impose restrictions on it.
People who have traveled overseas are not allowed to become the prefects of Ashta Maths. Such people are not allowed to touch the idol of Lord Krishna. Also, Sri Suganendra Theertha of Puttige Math, who is the fourth respondent, crossed the ocean to travel to America in 1997. Therefore he is not eligible to touch and worship Sri Krishna idol. There is no opportunity to participate in paryaya celebrations. Hence, they requested in the petition that a notice should be given that a bylaw should be framed.
