.1. The plaintiffs 1 to 9 who were successful before the trial court and lost before the first appellate court are the appellants in this second appeal. The parties to this appeal will

.be referred for convenience as arrayed before the trial Court.

.2. At the time of admission, the following substantial question of law was framed by this Court:

.“Was not the lower appellate court in error in holding that in view of the decision in Ex.B.2, the jurisdiction of the civil court is barred under section 108 of Act 22 of 1959 and more particularly in view of the decision of this Court in Sri Thulukka Choodamanai Mariammam Temple etc., v. Subramania Pandaram , 1986 (99) L.W. 606 ?”

3. The plaintiffs pleaded that they are the hereditary Poojaries and sthanikars of Arulmighu Sri Prasanna Venkataramanaswami Temple, Chinna Thirupathi, that their hereditary rights has been declared in O.S. No. 779 of 1930 as well as in O.S. No. 153 of 1973 on the file of the District Munsif Court, Sankari, that the plaintiffs and their predecessors are and were performing pooja for the last two centuries and more, the plaintiffs not only do the service of Archaka but also the service of Paricharakam as there is no separate Paricharaka, that the defendants 1 to 5 are the Trustees, that the 6th defendant is the Executive Officer and the 7th defendant is the newly appointed Paricharaka, that the remuneration paid to the Archaka is Rs. 2.50 per mensem and Rs. 7.50 padi tharam, that the plaintiffs performing pooja by rotation, that during the Tamil month of Purattasi Saturdays all the plaintiffs perform pooja and appropriate the income collected from the devotees on such days, that as per the earlier decrees, the plaintiffs are entitled to appropriate the salary emoluments and offerings attached to their office and divide among themselves, that in addition, the plaintiffs are entitled to receive Thattu Kasu and Padhakanikka offered by the devotees gratuitously, that the temple is a Vaishnavite Shrine professing Thenkalai cult, that in all such Thenkalai Temples Prasadams in the shape of Pongal and Tamarind Bath (......) are distributed to the devotees who come to the temple for worship, that the devotees offer Padi arisi to the Deity for being converted into Pongal and Tamarind Bath, for being offered to the Deity and for the distribution thereafter to the devotees, the the Poojaries are entitled to padi arisi so received, that never in the history of the suit temple padi arisi had been collected by the temple authorities, that it is the duty of the Archakas to receive paid arisi and prepare prasadam in the Madapalli, that the defendants have installed a grain hundial on 8. 1981 and insisting the devotees to drop the padi arisi in the separate hundi kept for that purpose and not to hand over the same to the Archakas, that the said direction of the defendant is contrary to the customary rights as well as honour enjoyed by the Archakas, that the padi arisi is at the range of 1 to 2 kilograms of rice by the devotees, that the defendants have no right to appoint a new Paricharaka to cook the padi arisi for the Madapalli as the plaintiffs are performing the said service also for generations together, that the 7th defendant has no right to enter into the sanctum and perform archana which is being performed exclusively by the plaintiffs are hereditarily in terms of the earlier Civil Court decrees, that there is no justification to install a new Hundi for collection of padi arisi which would be against the custom and usage, that there is an attempt to appoint a Vadakalai Pattachariar for car festival during Brhamautshovam which is impermissible, that the defendants are trying to interfere with the established rights, privileges, honours and service and hence the suit praying for the relief of declaration and for permanent injunction to restrain the defendants from interfering with the plaintiffs right to receive padi arisi and for other consequential r