HC allows Kashi Math supporters to aid police in locating Raghavendra Thirtha Swami

KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday allowed supporters of Kashi Math head Sudhindra Thirtha Swami to aid police in locating former deputy pontiff Raghavendra Thirtha Swami, who is alleged to have decamped with ‘Salagramams’ and other relics from the math in Varanasi.
Justice V Chitambaresh issued the order while considering a petition filed by Gurupur Ganapathy Prabhu, the power of attorney holder of Sudhindra Thirtha Swami.
Director general of prosecution T Asaf Ali had earlier told the court that a special team has been constituted to nab the swami who was deputy pontiff at the math.
The court was also informed that a case was registered at central police station in Kochi in October under section 57 of Kerala Police Act.
Following a dispute with the senior pontiff over the right to be pontiff, the swami, who was the deputy pontiff, had decamped with the ‘Salagramams’ that were being worshipped at the math for centuries. ‘Salagramam’ is a fossil obtained from Gandaki River in Nepal and is believed to be the abode of Vishnu. They are believed to give divine powers to its possessor, like the Holy Grail in Christianity.
The math’s followers, a Brahminical sect called Gouda Saraswat Brahmins (GSB), have been engaged in a fierce legal battle with the deputy pontiff for over a decade to recover the ‘Salagramams’ and other relics that were being used for the daily rites at the math.
A suit filed by the deputy pontiff to establish his right as pontiff was turned down by a district court in Tirupati in January 2009 and the deputy pontiff was asked to return all of the mutt’s assets in his possession. The decision was later upheld by the Andhra Pradesh high court and the Supreme Court.
In 2011, the deputy pontiff was arrested in October 2011 from Kadappa in Andhra Pradesh but ‘Salagramams’ could not be recovered. As the deputy pontiff was originally from Elamakkara in Kochi, GSB approached additional district court of Ernakulam in 2011 itself to execute the order in their favour and to recover the ‘Salagramams’. When police failed to take any steps to capture the deputy pontiff and seize the ‘Salagramams’ even after three years, a petition was filed to the high court through advocate R Lakshmi Narayanan.