26th constitutional amendment

  • July 14, 2020
  • Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
  • Category: DPN Topics
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Subject: Polity

Context:

The Supreme Court has ruled that the Travancore royal family has rights to maintain and manage the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple in Kerala.

Concept:

Rulings:

  • A two-judge bench held that the royal family’s Shebaitship — the right to maintain and manage the temple and the deitydoes not come to an end with the death of the ruler, who signed the instrument of accession with the Indian government in 1949 by which the erstwhile princely state of Travancore merged with the Indian union.
  • And also Shebait rights of the royal family will continue and abolition of the rights and privileges of the royal family by the 26th amendment of the Constitution will not impact it.

26th amendment of 1971

  • It abolished the privy purses and privileges of the former rulers of princely states in India in order to establish egalitarian society.
  • In return for surrendering their powers, Articles 291 and 362 guaranteed royal families a tax-free privy purse which was approximately one-fourth of what they had earlier earned.
  • Most Congressmen were opposed to payment of privy purses. But Sardar Patel made a stirring speech in the Constituent Assembly on October 12, 1949. He asked members to realise that this was a small price to pay for the integration of India.

Shree Padmanabhaswamy Temple

  • Dedicated to Lord Padmanabhaya, an avatar of Lord Vishnu, the famous Shree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram is one of the most popular shrines in India.
  • It has been described in several Hindu scriptures like the Brahma Purana, MatsyaPurana, VarahaPurana, SkandaPurana, Padma Purana, Vayu Purana and BhagavataPurana.
  • The Shree Padmanabhaswamy Temple dates back to 8th century CE, say historians.
  • The temple, built in the Chera style of architecture, is unique to Kerala and the neighbouring states, as the construction was done keeping the local weather and wind direction in mind.
  • Temples made in the Chera style are usually square, rectangular, octagonal or star-shaped.
  • Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple is one of 108 DivyaDesams (holy abodes of Vishnu) – principal centres of worship of the deity in Vaishnavism.
  • The main deity in the Shree Padmanabhaswamy Temple is of Lord Vishnu in the ‘AnanthaShayana’ posture (reclined posture of eternal yoga) on AdiShesha or king of all serpents.
26th constitutional amendment Polity