A revered Hindu cleric facing murder charges in southern India must wait until Friday for a ruling on whether he will be handed over to police custody.
Jayendra Saraswathi, who is still in judicial custody and cannot be questioned, is accused of killing a worker at the temple he heads.
He told the court in Tamil Nadu state he was innocent and did not want to be handed to police.
His arrest has sparked outrage among his Hindu followers.
The BBC's Sunil Raman, at the trial, says Mr Saraswathi said he wanted the timing of Friday's hearing - 0500GMT - changed because it was inauspicious.
The magistrate in the lower court in the town of Kanchipuram refused.
'Falsely implicated'
Mr Saraswathi is the Shankaracharya of Kanchi and heads one of the five seats of Hinduism in India.
He also leads the Kanchi Shankara Mutt, an influential religious establishment.
On Thursday, his defence team argued that police could use unfair methods during questioning and that the Hindu leader should remain in judicial custody.
Mr Saraswathi said he had been falsely implicated in the case and was innocent.
A large number of police officers were present inside and outside the court building.
About 20 members of India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party came to express their support for Mr Saraswathi.
'Pressure'
Rani Jethmalani, part of the seer's defence team, said he was being denied basic rights.
She said the team was only allowed to meet him for five minutes after protesting about being denied access.
Ms Jethamalani said a lot of "pressure" was being put on the courts in the case.
Mr Saraswathi is accused of killing a former accountant at his temple in Kanchipuram on 3 September.
The dead former employee, Sankararaman, was a strong critic of the religious leader.