Judgement

SUBBA RAO, J. : These two appeals are directed against the judgment of the High Court of Madras dated February 19, 1953, setting aside that of the District Judge, Tirunelveli, and restoring that of the Subordinate Judge, Tuticorin, in O. S. Nos. 45 and 46 of 1945 on his file, and they raise the question of maintainability of a suit in regard to honours and perquisites in the temple of Athinathalwar in Alwar Tirunagari.

2. At Alwar Tirunagari in Tirunelveli District there is a famous temple called Athinathalwar temple. The presiding deity in the temple is Lord Vishnu. Its orgin is lost in antiquity. In the 10th and 11th centuries Vaishnavite Saints, called Alwars and Acharyas, who were ardent devotees of Lord Vishnu, worshipped at the temple and sang in praise of the Lord. As time passed by, 20 smaller temples were erected to commemorate the lives of Alwars and Acharyas. Within the compound of the main shrine, there are three minor shrines of Nachiar, Nammalwar and Garuda; the rest of the smaller shrines are outside the premises of the main temple. Each of the said temples has its own manager, archakas and separate endowments; but, presumably because of the fact that the Alwars and Acharyas, whose idols are installed in the smaller temples, were originally devotees of Sri Athinathalwar, an interesting and novel practice of mutual and regular exchange of visits between the idols in the smaller shrines and the idol of Athinathalwar has grown over the years. During certain specified occasions in the year, the idols in the minor temples are brought to the main temple for worship; so too, on specific occasions the idol of Athinathalwar is also taken to the minor shrines; such visits being reminiscent of the days when the Alwars and Acharyas worshipped in the temple of Athinathalwar.

3. Sri Ramanujacharyar was one of the greatest of the devotees of Lord Vishnu and is well known throughout this vast country as the progenitor of an important school of Indian philosophy. He died in the year 1127 A. D. In the 13th century a shrine was built in his honour and his idol was installed therein. Sri Ramanujacharya is also known as Udayavar or Emberumanar and the shrine built in his dedication is known as Emberumanar temple. The manager and archaka of the said temple is known as Emberumanar Jeer. Emberumanar temple also is outside the precincts of the temple of Athinathalwar. There are also mutual visits between the idol of Emberumanuar and the idol of Athinathalwar to each other s temple. The present Emberumanar Jeer is the plaintiff in the suits out of which the appeals have arisen.

4. There is a mutt called the Vanamamalai Mutt in the said District and the head of the mutt is known as Vanamamalai Jeer. He is a sanyasi held is reverence by Vaishnavites of South India. He is the first defendant.

5. The heads of the Ahobilam Mutt and the Tirukkurungudi Mutt are the second and third defendants respectively. The fourth defendant is the Executive Officer of the temple of Sri Athinathalwar and he was appointed by the Hindu Religious Endowments Board, Madras.

6. The records disclose that, at any rate from the middle of the last century, there have been disputes between the various Jeers and others as regards the order of priority in which certain honours have to be distributed among the said Jeers when they attend the temple of Sri Athinathalwar for worship. In the ghoshties (group of worshippers in front of the deity) both on ordinary and special day the said Jeers are shown honours befitting their rank. The honours consist of distribution of theertham, thulasi, satari and viniyogam, and a few more similar items. Each of the said Jeers is allotted a particular place in the ghoshti and a certain order of precedence is observed inter se between them. This order of precedence in the matter of receiving honours has become an unending source of bickering between the religious heads; with the result, the Madras Hindu Religious Endowments Board, const