Based on a complaint filed by Islamist group All India Thowheed Jamaat (AITJ) that he attempted to incite communal hate, Tamil Nadu police has issued a summon to pontiff of the Sri Manavala Mamunigal Jeeyar Mutt of Srivilliputhur Sri Satagopa Ramanuja Jeeyar Swami, Puthiya Thalaimurai reported.

On 22 July, Srivilliputhur Sadagoparamanuja Jeeyar had opined that idol of Athi Varadar should not be immersed in the temple tank again.

The seer had remarked that in the past the idol needed to be hidden from Islamic invaders which necessitated its immersion, but this is not the case now. So, he reasoned, there was no provocation to immerse it back in the Sri Varadaraja Perumal Temple tank at the end of darshan after 48 days.

The Jeeyar also had said that all mutt chiefs planned to meet Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami to persuade the authorities not to return the idol to the temple tank.

Currently, Tamil Nadu is witnessing an event that occurs just once in 40 years. The event - a very important one for Vaishnavites - called Athi Varadar darshan is taking place at the Sri Varadaraja Perumal Temple in Kanchipuram, about 90 km from Tamil Nadu’s capital of Chennai.

Over 1 crore people have taken darshan of Athi Varadar in the last 47 days, with the crowd swelling to over three lakh in the last few days. People from every nook and corner of the country, even from abroad, have taken darshan so far, with weekends drawing huge crowds. Sometimes, devotees had to wait in the queue for over 10 to 12 hours to have darshan.

Athi Varadar is a huge nine feet murti (idol) of Perumal or Lord Vishnu made from the wood of the fig tree (athi in Tamil means fig and the murti derives its name from that). This murti was previously worshipped in the garba gudi (sanctum sanctorum) of the temple until the 16th century.

As Muslim rulers invaded the region, the temple priests and authorities decided to hide the Athi Varadar murti. They built a silver casket in which Athi Varadar was placed before it was hidden inside the temple’s tank. For years, no one knew the murti’s whereabouts as the two key Dattareyas who had placed the murti secretly in the temple tank had died without revealing the secret.

Another murti of Devaraja Perumal was commissioned and used as the alternative to Athi Varadar. In 1709, the temple tank was emptied and the Athi Varadar murti was discovered in its silver casket. The temple authorities then decided that the murti would, from then onward, be brought out only once in 40 years and kept for public darshan for 48 days.

Sri Satagopa Ramanuja Jeeyar Swami has been summoned to appear before the Srivilliputhur police station based on a compliant filed by secretary of Kanchipuram district unit of All India Thowheed Jamaat (AITJ) Saeed Ali. Ali filed the complaint through the online portal operating under the Chief Minister Special Cell.

Also Read: Athi Varadar: How The Tamil Nadu Government Has Mismanaged A Once-In-40-Year Event