Supreme Court Directs Udayasthamana Pooja To Be Held As Per Guruvayur Temple Practices
The Supreme Court on Thursday directed that the Udayasthamana Pooja at the Guruvayur Sree Krishna Temple in Kerala should be conducted in accordance with the temple’s traditional practice on Vrishchikam Ekadasi.
The interim order was passed by a Bench comprising Justices Aravind Kumar and Vipul M. Pancholi while hearing an application concerning the scheduling of the important temple ritual.
The court directed that the pooja be continued in the manner in which it had traditionally been performed, pending the final outcome of the appeal before it.
This year, Vrishchikam Ekadasi falls on November 21. The Supreme Court’s direction means that the Udayasthamana Pooja is to be conducted on that day in accordance with the established practice of the temple.
The dispute arose after the Guruvayur Devaswom authorities and temple administration sought to alter or reschedule the ritual, citing practical difficulties caused by the large number of devotees visiting the temple on Ekadasi.
The petitioners challenged the alteration, arguing that the Udayasthamana Pooja is an important and longstanding part of the temple’s religious tradition and should not be shifted from the customary day.
The matter has been before the Supreme Court since an earlier round of litigation concerning the same ritual. In October 2025, the court had similarly directed that the pooja be performed on Vrishchikam Ekadasi in accordance with the temple’s established customs.
At that time, the temple administration had cited crowd-management difficulties and the heavy influx of devotees as reasons for changing the schedule. The Supreme Court had observed that long-standing religious rituals should not ordinarily be altered merely because of concerns about public inconvenience.
The court had emphasised that the faith and sentiments of worshippers should receive due consideration and should not be subordinated entirely to administrative concerns.
The present order follows the same interim approach while the larger legal dispute remains pending. The Supreme Court has not finally determined all questions raised in the appeal concerning the temple’s practices and the authority of its management to alter the ritual schedule.
The court has also granted liberty to the Devaswom authorities and the Thantri, or chief priest, to conduct the Udayasthamana Pooja on October 22 as well, if considered appropriate.
The Udayasthamana Pooja is a special, day-long ritual associated with Guruvayur Temple. It involves a series of religious ceremonies performed from sunrise to sunset and holds particular significance for devotees.
The petitioners have maintained that the ritual traditionally performed on Vrishchikam Ekadasi is not merely symbolic but forms an integral part of the temple’s established religious practices.
The temple administration, meanwhile, has raised concerns about the extraordinary crowd during Ekadasi and the logistical difficulties involved in conducting the ritual while accommodating the large number of devotees seeking darshan.
The Supreme Court has expedited the hearing of the main appeal and is expected to take up the matter in December.
For now, the court’s order preserves the traditional schedule for the Udayasthamana Pooja on Vrishchikam Ekadasi. The final determination on the wider dispute over the temple’s religious practices and administrative powers will be made when the pending appeal is heard.
