The Madras High Court has ordered the conduct of daily pujas at the Dharmaraja Droupadi Amman temple in Melpathi village in Villupuram district on the condition that no one but the priest would be allowed to enter the temple that has remained shut since last year due to disputes along caste lines.
Justice N. Anand Venkatesh passed the interim order on two writ petitions filed by local residents G. Gandhi and Raji in 2023, challenging the Revenue Divisional Officer’s (RDO) June 7, 2023 decision to close the temple due to a clash between Vanniyars and Dalits over the latter’s entry into the temple.
Though senior counsel G. Karthikeyan, representing one of the writ petitioners, stated that the temple could not be abandoned without even conducting daily puja, Advocate General P.S. Raman feared that a law and order situation may arise due to the volatile situation prevailing in the area.
