Court emphasizes the Board's duty to provide humane care for temple animals and addresses systemic failures in their responsibility.

K. V. Jayakumar, J.

This Devaswom Board Petition is registered on the basis of a complaint submitted by one M. Muraleedharan concerning the lack of proper maintenance of the Gosala in the Vaikom Mahadeva Temple. The complaint was forwarded to the learned Ombudsman. The Ombudsman submitted Report No. 48 of 2025 before this Court on 19.08.2025. 2. In the complaint, it is stated that two Nandis and six Gopamatas are being nursed in Vaikom Temple premises without proper care in a pathetic condition. The space available for the bulls and bovines is very limited. It is alleged in the complaint that the officers of the Board are not taking any interest in the affairs of the animals which are donated by the devotees with utmost faith. Therefore, the complainant seeks to appoint an experienced cowherd (Gopalakan) urgently at the Vaikom Mahadeva Temple on a full-time basis. The complainant also urged that the Board shall make necessary arrangements for the supply of food, shelter and other facilities for the cows and the bulls.

3. We have heard the submissions of Sri. M. K. Dileepan, learned counsel for the petitioner, Sri. S. Rajmohan, the learned Senior Government Pleader, Sri. Santhosh Kumar G., learned Standing Counsel for the Travancore Devaswom Board, Sri. P. Ramachandran, the learned Amicus Curiae for the Ombudsman and Sri. P. Rajeev, learned Advocate Commissioner.

4. The learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Advocate Commissioner submitted that there is a systemic lapse on the side of the Travancore Devaswom Board for the protection of the bulls and bovines. According to them, the Board is given the least priority for the maintenance of Gosala and for the welfare of the cows and bulls therein. The cowshed is in a precarious and dilapidated condition, wholly inadequate for the housing of the animals. The space in which those animals were kept is very limited and the funds earmarked for the procurement of fodder and essential substances are meager.

5. The learned Advocate Commissioner submitted that during the COVID-19 pandemic period, two cows had died due to starvation and the present condition of the remaining animals is deplorable. The learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Advocate Commissioner further submitted that immediate orders are necessary from this Court to alleviate the sufferings and the sad plight of the animals.

6. Per contra, the learned Standing Counsel for the Travancore Devaswom Board would submit that there was a proposal from the Board to shift the animals housed at Vaikom Mahadeva Temple to Kalikavu, where the Travancore Devaswom Board is maintaining a cowshed with better facilities.

7. The learned Advocate Commissioner has invited the attention of this Court to the report submitted in DBP No. 57/2022. In that report, it is stated that the existing Gosala is situated behind Prathal Pura in close proximity to an area being used for waste disposal. It is further noted that there is no proper drainage system, resulting in accumulation of waste, foul odour and insect infestation, affecting the health and well-being of the animals.

8. We have gone through the photographs produced by the petitioner. Those photographs depict the sad plight of the poor animals who were donated by the devotees to the Temple with utmost respect to the deity by a ritual called ‘nadayiruthal’.

9. On a careful consideration of the materials placed on record and the submissions advanced, we are of the view that the Travancore Devaswom Board is giving little priority to the welfare of these animals. It is shocking and disturbing to us that some of the cows died due to starvation and there is nobody in the Devaswom to look af