Source: The Times of India
TIRUCHIRAPALLI, INDIA, December 4, 2002: A writ petition has been filed in the Chennai High Court seeking to revive the age-old practice of reciting Vedic hymns at the Srirangam Ranganthaswamy Temple during annual festivals. The petitioner, Vaishnava Sri A. Krishnamachari, editor of Paanjchanyam, a religious monthly, has requested that the court issue directions to the Hindu religious and charitable endowments commissioner and joint commissioner-cum-executive officer of the temple to revive the traditional practice of Vedic pundits chanting seven chapters of Krishna Yajur Veda and hymns of Achitram, a Sanskrit scripture, on the occasion of the Vaikunda Ekadasi festival in the temple. The petitioner stated that the traditional recitation of Vedic hymns had been in vogue for years and that it had been withdrawn by the department “for reasons best known to them.”