Supreme Court stays the Madras High Court's five-member board for the Chidambaram Nataraja temple

4 November 2026

The Supreme Court has stayed a Madras High Court order that would have taken the administration of a major Tamil Nadu temple out of the hands of its traditional trustees. On 30 October the High Court, disposing of a batch of writ petitions, directed a five-member Board of Management for the Sri Sabanayagar Temple at Chidambaram, better known as the Chidambaram Nataraja temple. The board was to be chaired by retired judge V Bharathidasan, co-chaired by retired judge R Suresh Kumar, and include retired IAS officer C Rajendran, with the Secretary of the Podhu Dikshitars and the Secretary of the endowments department as ex officio members. It was to oversee finances and properties, recover encroached land and rent arrears and ensure equal darshan, while daily rituals stayed with the Podhu Dikshitars. A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Vipul Pancholi passed the interim stay on the Podhu Dikshitars' plea, which rests on their right to administer under Article 26.