Kerala High Court slams CPM-controlled Kochi Devaswom Board for deploying bouncers at Sree Poornathrayeesha Temple. A Division Bench of Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and KV Jayakumar directed the Board on December 3 to refrain from engaging personnel wearing inappropriate attire, including T-shirts bearing the word bouncer, for security during temple festivals or within temple precincts. The Court observed that such deployment should not be repeated under any circumstances.
The intervention came after petitioner N Prakash challenged the deployment of bouncers clad in black T-shirts with BOUNCER inscribed on them during the Vrushchikolsav festival from November 22 to 25. The bouncers were brought in through a private security agency to control crowds during the Valiya Vilakku ritual. Prakash argued that using strong-arm security personnel to manage devotees inside sacred precincts was wholly inappropriate and fundamentally incompatible with the sanctity, decorum, and cultural ethos that temple environment demands.
The Court noted that in Kerala, bouncers are usually associated with bars, employed to handle drunk individuals who misbehave after excessive alcohol consumption. Their presence inside a temple, a sacred space of worship, caused bad taste in every mouth. The Devaswom Board admitted it was unfortunate that such personnel were deployed and assured the court that the incident would not recur. The Board’s counsel stated that ex-servicemen were initially appointed, but due to an unprecedented rush, a security agency was engaged.
When Communist leaders treat temples as private property, sacred spaces lose their dignity. Bouncers belong in bars, not temples. Security and crowd management are duties of police and Devaswom guards, not hired thugs.
