Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Monday directed the Travancore Devaswom Board and its officials to exercise due diligence when publishing content that may hurt devotees' religious sentiments.

The bench comprising Justice K V Jayakumar and Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V issued the order while hearing a petition against the TDB and the Advisory Committee of the Kollam Rameswaram Mahadeva Temple for publishing a notice featuring pictures of non-vegetarian food.

Earlier, the temple's advisory committee, in connection with the Thiruvathira Aarattu Maholsavam, had issued a notice featuring an advertisement for the sponsor in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Devaswom Board. 

The complaint stated that the advertisement, which featured images of non-vegetarian food, violates the temple's customs and the guidelines set by the temple's advisory committee.

After hearing the submissions of the TDB kerala-high-court-religious-content-order's counsel, the court directed the Devaswom Board and its officials to exercise due diligence while approving notices and brochures issued in connection with temple festivals.

The court observed that the Temple Advisory Committee and the Board must ensure that such notices and brochures do not contain any objectionable content that may affect the religious sentiments of the devotees.