Alfred Henry Lionel Leach, C.J.

1. This is an application for a certificate permitting an appeal to His Majesty in Council. The petitioner is the legal representative of the plaintiff who died during the pendency of the appeal. The plaintiff was the head of an important mutt and as such had the right of conducting public worship at the Tirupathi temple in the Chittoor District. Both sides are agreed that the Tirupathi temple is the most important Vaishnavite temple in the whole of India and pilgrims in large numbers visit it every year in order to worship there. The Vaishnavite community is divided into two sects, the Thengalais (Southerners) and Vadagalais (Northerners). It is also common ground that the adherents of each sect are counted by millions. The suit was filed by the plaintiff in order to establish his right to conduct public worship at the temple according to the Thengalai ritual. Before the recitation of the Tamil scriptures (Prabandam), mantras are sung. The mantras sung by the Thengalais are different from those sung by the Vadagalais. After the recitation of the scriptures, mantras are again sung. Here also the mantras sung by the Thengalais differ from the m