The Festival Idol Must Be Placed at the Customary Thinnai Before Being Taken to the Temple.

The petitioner sought a direction permitting the conduct of the annual festival’s initial puja (Mudhal Poojai) at Arulmigu Periya Muthaalamman Temple in accordance with previous practice.

He contended that the idols of five villages were placed at the Sadaiyandi Kovil Thinnai in Devarappanpatti, where there was insufficient space for a joint puja.

Ganesan was impleaded, asserting that his family had traditionally made the festival idols and that the orders would affect him.

The respondents stated that the idols were required to be made at Devarappanpatti under an agreement, while Ganesan’s counsel maintained that they had been made there and were then located in that village.

The Court noted that the customary-practices document entrusted the idol-making task to Ganesan’s ancestors, and that the idol made by Mani had not been placed at the Sadaiyandi Kovil Thinnai.

Whether the petitioner was entitled to a direction permitting the Mudhal Poojai to be conducted in the manner and at the place sought, having regard to the customary arrangements for the festival.

Whether directions were required concerning placement of the festival idol and maintenance of law and order.

The petition was brought under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, which empowers the High Court to issue writs and directions.

The Court also considered the customary practices recorded in a document concerning the festival and the associated arrangement for making the idols.

No specific statutory provision, precedent, or further legal test was cited in the order.

The Court considered the competing accounts about where the idols were made, but treated the recorded customary practice—under which Ganesan’s ancestors were entrusted with making the idols—as material to resolving the immediate festival arrangements.

In light of that practice and the fact that the relevant idol had not been placed at the Sadaiyandi Kovil Thinnai, the Court directed that the idol made by Ganesan be placed there before being taken to the temple.

It did not separately order that the Mudhal Poojai be conducted at a different location.

No order as to costs was made.