Coimbatore: From July, devotees wouldn’t find stalls selling prasadam or trinkets inside the temple premises as the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department has decided not to lease them out henceforth as part of its measures to ensure the safety and convenience of devotees.
The auction to lease out the shops inside the temple premises is held every July, said HR&CE officials in the district. “Every year, we would complete the procedures by June and conduct the auction in July. But from this year, we have decided not to lease out the shops inside the temple premises,” said a senior HR&CE official, who didn’t want to be named.
Presently, shops are seen inside the big temples in the city such as Koniamman Temple on Big Bazaar Street, Thandu Mariamman Temple on Avinashi Road and Subramaniyaswami Temple at Maruthamalai. From July, they wouldn’t be there anymore. “The plan is to essentially shift the shops outside the temples to ensure the safety and convenience of devotees,” the official said, adding, “If there is space near these temples, the shops would be shifted to there.”
The state had recently decided to remove the shops inside the temple premises following the fire incident in Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai.
People, who run the shops at temples in the city, said while they face an uncertain future, the move was taken for the safety of temples. P Vijayakumar, 39, who runs a flower stall at Koniamman Temple in the city, said his lease would get over this month. “There are four shops in the temple. While officials have decided not to lease them out from this year, we are yet to decide on what to do in future. We feel the move is for good as it will ensure temples’ safety,” he said.
HR&CE officials said they have sent notices to the people, who run shops at temples in neighbouring districts, asking them to vacate. Officials had already removed two eateries at Soleeswarar Temple at Perunurai a couple of months ago.
“We have also asked shops in Erode temples to vacate,” the official said, adding, “Notices have been sent to the shops inside the premises of Nageswara Swami Temple at Vijayamangalam, Sellandiamman Temple at Perundurai, Ponkaliamman Temple at Thalayanallur and Venugopalaswamy Temple at Sathyamangalam.”