The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court Friday stayed the two-day event of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living at Brihadisvara temple in Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur district. The event was proposed to begin from today as the temple is a UNESCO World Heritage site where private functions are prohibited it cited.
The event had triggered a row over the initial permission granted by the Archeological Survey of India to hold it in the temple premises. The HC order came on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Venkatesan of Kumbakonam on Friday, stating that the event organised by AOL affects the sanctity of the temple and should be banned.
Permission to the Bengaluru-based Art of Living Foundation to conduct a two-day meditation programme on the premises of Sri Brihadeeswara Temple, a UNESCO world heritage site, has triggered a controversy. A temporary structure has been put up at the prakara of the temple. The programme, ‘Unveiling Infinity’, is expected to attract 2,000 followers from different parts of the country. To accommodate 2,000 persons, the organisers built a big makeshift pandal made of iron sheets on the temple lawns, which are maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). According to the foundation’s website, founded by spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravishankar, there will be three sessions starting Friday. He is expected to be present during the sessions.
Activists also allege that the pandal blocked a panoramic view of the temple, a major attraction to tourists from across the world. The activists have said that they have never seen such a big pandal built at the temple and that such should not be allowed in heritage sites as it sends a bad precedent, reported The Hindu. They expressed their concern that the structures and sculptures might get damaged by workers as they would not know the importance of them.
It was learnt that the foundation had obtained permission from the Commissioner of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) and the ASI. But he ASI officials claimed that there have been many similar programmes held in the temple earlier and said that the temporary pandal would have been removed immediately after the event as always.
According to The News Minute, after hearing the petition on Friday afternoon, the judges said the Archaeological Survey of India shouldn’t give permission to organise such events at temples that come under its jurisdiction. “The temporary structures erected inside the temple premises should be removed with immediate effect. The District Collector and Superintendent of Police should confirm the same,” the judges added.
The Judgment has taken the reference of another of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s three-day event called the ‘World Cultural Festival’ held in March 2016 invited the wrath of environmentalists and the National Green Tribunal which ruled the festival was “responsible” for “causing damage and environmental degradation” to the Yamuna floodplains.The judgment then noted that the WCF had caused “serious pollution on the floodplain of the river” as nearly 35 lakh people had gathered at the site.
In 2016, the National Green Tribunal slapped a fine of Rs 5 crore on the foundation over damages to the environment caused by the controversial World Culture Festival which was held on the banks of Yamuna in New Delhi. An expert committee set up by the government in 2017 stated that the event had completely destroyed the floodplain and that it would take 10 years to restore it. Despite the backlash from environmentalists, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had attended the event and heaped praised on the spiritual leader.
The AOL Foundation, however, alleges that the opposition to the event could be politically motivated. They are further ready to begin the event at 6pm. “Sri Sri Ravishankar is apolitical but he is linked to the BJP for no reason. These protests seem to be a targeted campaign with political viewpoints in mind. This is just a perception issue,” says Raji Swaminathan, Media coordinator, Tamil Nadu. “We have got all the necessary permissions and even now, the ASI has said we can go ahead conduct the event. The temple land has been used for private events before. As far as the National Green Tribunal case is concerned, this event has no connection whatsoever with that one,” she adds.
Pradeep Kumar, one of the organisers of the two-day event said: “We organised the event for spiritual reasons. The authorities issued us a set of 15 rules which we followed. We have been working on the event for the past 15 days and everyone knew about it. Suddenly today we were informed that certain people with good intentions have asked for a ban on our event. Despite the hurdles, we will still go ahead and organize the two-day event somewhere in our private land.”
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