The purpose of a temple is to enable the devotees to worship God for peace and happiness. However, unfortunately, temple festivals are perpetuating violence and they are increasingly becoming a medium for the local groups to exhibit their power in the locality, the Madras High Court lamented on Friday.
Refusing to order police protection for a temple festival in Mayiladuthurai, Justice N. Anand Venkatesh wrote: “There is no devotion involved in conducting these festivals and rather it has become a show of strength by one group or the other. This completely defeats the very purpose of conducting temple festivals.”
The judge went on to state: “If temples are going to perpetuate violence, the existence of temples will have no meaning and in all such cases, it would be better to close down those temples so that the violence can be averted. Till the man drops his ego and goes to the temple seeking for the blessings of the God, the whole purpose of having a temple is of no use.”
