OOTY: Twenty five years after remaining locked over a dispute on who should perform poojas at a temple nearby Nanjandu, officials on Wednesday acted on a Supreme Court order and allowed one group to enter and perform rituals, but arrested 180 persons of Nanjanadu, a Badaga village, in the wee hours of Wednesday to prevent any untoward incident over the issue of performing pooja at the Sri Nanjundeswara Temple. They were later released. Tension prevailed in the village throughout the night. There has been a long-standing dispute between two groups - belonging to the same community - over pooja at the temple. One group, which now conducts pooja at the temple, approached the Supreme Court against a High Court order of June 2011. On Tuesday, members of the other group, claiming that the appeal had been rejected, thronged the collectorate seeking permission to perform pooja as per the High Court’s order. They waited till late at night on Tuesday, but the police denied them permission for pooja, saying they were yet to receive details of the Supreme Court order. Later they returned to the village.The other party was allowed to perform pooja at 6 am on Wednesday as per standing court orders. Those taken into custody by the police were released after the rituals were conducted. Meanwhile, the group now performing pooja said that though its appeal had been rejected, it was not the end of the case, which would go on in the Supreme Court. No solution is in sight though the Police held peace talks with the two groups.The temple was constructed using donations from the public on government poromboke land in 1987. As rival groups emerged on running the temple, officials assigned them different puja timings. In 1988, the temple was brought under the HR and CE Department and the executive officer of Ooty Mariamman Temple put in charge. In June 2011, the High Court gave both parties equal rights to the poojas.
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