Why Kerala HC warned against using temple entry to sow religious divide
- Team TOI Plus
- Feb 17, 2026, 10:32 IST IST
As disputes over who may enter religious spaces surface across states, courts are increasingly being asked to look at religious customs and constitutional values, especially concerning temples and shrines that are administered or regulated by the state. Last month, the Kerala High Court stated that the law cannot be allowed to become an instrument for “fomenting discord or disharmony between different religions, castes, sub-castes or communities”, but must function as a unifying framework that advances social cohesion and mutual respect.
It was against this backdrop that the court, in an order delivered on January 30, ruled on a challenge arising from a religious event at the Sree Parthasarathy Temple in Adoor, Pathanamthitta district, where the presence of two Christian priests at a Sreekrishna Jayanthi programme became the subject of legal scrutiny. The case has acquired wider resonance because it touches on a question now surfacing in multiple states: when temples are statutorily managed and publicly promoted as part of pilgrimage and tourism circuits, can faith-based exclusions be enforced in the same manner as in privately governed religious institutions?
It was against this backdrop that the court, in an order delivered on January 30, ruled on a challenge arising from a religious event at the Sree Parthasarathy Temple in Adoor, Pathanamthitta district, where the presence of two Christian priests at a Sreekrishna Jayanthi programme became the subject of legal scrutiny. The case has acquired wider resonance because it touches on a question now surfacing in multiple states: when temples are statutorily managed and publicly promoted as part of pilgrimage and tourism circuits, can faith-based exclusions be enforced in the same manner as in privately governed religious institutions?
