Only the Temple Advisory Committee constituted under Section 31A of the Act can conduct activities and collect funds in the temple; unauthorized committees are prohibited from interfering.

Anil K. Narendran, J.

The petitioner, who is a devotee of Peruvaram Sree Mahadeva Temple, North Paravur, which is a temple under the management of the 2^nd respondent Travancore Devaswom Board, has filed this writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, seeking a writ of mandamus commanding the 2^nd respondent Board to promptly take action to prevent the 7^th respondent Padinjare Nada Vilakku Committee and its associates from conducting parallel Vilakku festival within the premises of Peruvaram Sree Mahadeva Temple; and a writ of mandamus commanding the 2^nd respondent Board to implement appropriate measures to prohibit parking of vehicles in the temple property so as to ensure that the parking of vehicles of the devotees of Peruvaram Sree Mahadeva Temple is not obstructed. The document marked as Ext.P1 is a copy of the cash receipt dated 03.05.2024 issued by the 7^th respondent Padinjare Nada Vilakku Committee, after collecting Rs.1,000/- from M/s.Krishna Steels as donation for Thiruvulsavam-2024 (Annual Festival) of Peruvaram Sree Mahadeva Temple. Ext.P1 receipt dated 03.05.2024 issued by the 7^th respondent Vilakku Committee is extracted hereunder;

2. The documents marked as Ext.P2 series are a few photographs of the lamps put up by the 7^th respondent Vilakku Committee in Padinjare Nada (Western Nada) of Peruvaram Sree Mahadeva Temple, during the annual festival of the year 2024.

The said photographs are extracted hereunder;

In the writ petition, it is alleged that the persons associated with the 7^th respondent Vilakku Committee collected money from the devotees and general public for arranging lamps, without any authorisation from the 2^nd respondent Travancore Devaswom Board. The said lamps were put up at the Padinjare Nada of Peruvaram Sree Mahadeva Temple. In addition to that, the 7^th respondent Vilakku Committee made arrangements for ‘Para Nirakkal’ in the Padinjare Nada of the temple and collected money from the devotees. The document marked as Ext.P3 is a copy of the photograph taken on 05.05.2024, showing the arrangements made by the 7^th respondent Vilakku Committee for ‘Para Nirakkal’ in the Padinjare Nada of Peruvaram Sree Mahadeva Temple. The said photograph is extracted hereunder;

3. The document marked as Ext.P4 is a complaint dated 26.12.2024 made by the petitioner before the Secretary of the 2^nd respondent Travancore Devaswom Board against the parallel Vilakku festival conducted in the Padinjare Nada of Peruvaram Sree Mahadeva Temple by the 7^th respondent Vilakku Committee and also against illegal parking of vehicles in the Devaswom land. Ext.P5 is a copy of similarly worded complaint dated 26.12.2024 made by the petitioner before the 3^rd respondent Devaswom Commissioner. The document marked as Ext.P6 is a photograph showing the condition of the road in front of the Padinjare Nada of Peruvaram Sree Mahadeva Temple, with broken interlock tiles, etc. causing difficulty to the devotees.

4. On 28.03.2025, when this writ petition came up for admission, the learned Senior Government Pleader took notice on admission for 1^st respondent and also for additional respondents 8 and 9 and the learned Standing Counsel for Travancore Devaswom Board for respondents 2 to 5 and also for the additional 10^th respondent. Urgent notice on admission by special messenger was ordered to respondents 6 and 7, returnable by 01.04.2025. On a query made by this Court, the learned Standing Counsel for Travancore Devaswom Board submitted that in Peruvaram Sree Mahadeva Temple there is a Temple Advisory Committee