Supreme Court appoints Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul as mediator in Thengalai–Vadagalai temple dispute

The Supreme Court on Wednesday appointed its former judge, retired Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, as a mediator to resolve a long-standing dispute between the Thengalai (southern sect) and Vadagalai (northern sect) Vaishnavite sects over the recitation of mantram and prabandham during ceremonial worship at Sri Devaraja Swamy Temple in Kancheepuram [Narayanan Vs State of Tamil Nadu]..A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi further permitted Justice Kaul to engage two more persons conversant with the language and temple traditions to enable an amicable settlement of the dispute. .The dispute relates to whether members of the Vadagalai sect can introduce their own invocations during the official ritual segment of temple worship, which has historically been performed by Thengalai office holders under the Adhiapaka Mirasi system..The Supreme Court’s order today comes against the backdrop of a December 2025 judgment of the Madras High Court in Rajahamsam v. Narayanan, where a Division Bench of Justice R Suresh Kumar and Justice S Sounthar upheld the exclusive rights of the Thengalai community to perform the Adhiapaka Mirasi (official ceremonial worship) at the Sri Devaraja Swamy Temple, Kancheepuram.The High Court dismissed challenges raised by Vadagalai members seeking to recite their own mantram and prabandham during ceremonial worship, holding that such attempts would violate settled judicial decrees and disturb public order.“The individual members of Northern Cult (Vadagalai sect) or any other worshippers can very well participate in the ceremonial worship of God by repeating what is recited by office holders doing Adhiapaka Service,” the Court held.It ruled that the recitation of mantram, prabandham and Thiruvaimozhi during ceremonial worship falls within the exclusive domain of Adhiapaka (temple staff members responsible for recitation, chanting, and teaching of sacred scriptures) office holders..When the matter reached the Supreme Court, it repeatedly emphasised that the dispute should not be allowed to escalate into sectarian confrontation between followers of Ramanujacharya, noting that the issue called for fraternity and coexistence rather than adversarial adjudication.Counsel for both sides agreed that the matter was appropriate for mediation and submitted that the mediator should be a former judge familiar with temple rituals, Tamil religious customs, and the historical judgments governing the dispute. It was in this context that Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul's name was proposed, with submissions highlighting his prior experience as Chief Justice of the Madras High Court and his familiarity with the State and its institutional traditions.The Court recorded the consensus between parties that the mediation should be handled by someone capable of appreciating the nuances of temple worship, denominational rights, and historical injunctions, rather than reopening settled questions of law.Pending mediation, the Supreme Court directed that the status quo as on date be strictly maintained. The Court also observed that there should be no police presence inside the temple, noting that such intervention would be “very unpleasant” and could worsen the situation rather than preserve peace.The Bench made it clear that neither sect should take steps that could create a law-and-order situation during the mediation process.Liberty was granted to the parties to mention the matter if a settlement is reached or if any intervention by the State becomes necessary..The petitioners were represented by Senior Advocates CS Vaidyanathan, Aravind Datar, Dama Seshadri Naidu, Raghavachari, Satish Parasaran S Parthasarathy and SR Rajagopalan with Advocates G. Balaji, Aarthi Rajan, Madhan Babu, Prahalad Bhat, Abhinav Parthasarathy, TE Krishna, R Shricharan, Shubhang Nair, Sivagnanam Karthikeyan, MG Aravind Raj, Subhag Nair, V Shyamohan, Navin Balaji, Anshika Bajpai and Vrinda Goel..The respondents were represented by Senior Advocates Aryama Sundaram, Guru Krishna Kumar, Srinivas Raghavan and Sounder Rajan, with Advocates MV Mukunda, Nishanth Patil, Ayshwarya Chandar, Pritha Srikumar Iyer,Sudarshan Rajan, Bharpur Singh, Varuni Mohan, Priyanka Kannan, Harsh Gupta, Palaniandavan, Abhishek Gupta, Atharv Gupta, Rohini Musa, Mahesh Kumar, Srishti Sharma, Ramesh Rawat, Hitain Bajaj, Sambhav Sharma, Ria Setiya and Kashish..[Read Order].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.