Devotees have urged the government to take steps to appoint trustees for temple boards in the State.
The ‘Arankavalar kuzhu’ or board of trustees is a must in temples to govern them in a democratic manner, said a former Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) Department official.
Kalidas, a priest of the Kalikambal temple, said that election for trustees of the temple was yet to be ratified by the Department.
“Five trustees need to be appointed. It has been six months since the election was held based on court orders but the Department is yet to pass orders on that,” he said.
A.K. Ramajayam, Sri Jagathguru Sevas, an organisation that does service in temples, said only persons connected to temples including ‘bhattachariars’, ‘bhajana ghoshtis’, ‘odhuvars’, ‘pujaris’ and those performing ‘uzhavaarapani’ (service) must be made members of trust boards.
No political appointees
R. Subramanian, Loka Dharma Seva Foundation Trust, said only those who know the customs and traditions of the temples and are closely involved with the place of worship should be appointed. These should not be political appointees, he said.
Trustees are yet to be appointed in several temples, including Kapaleeswarar temple and Kandakottam Murugan temple.
Some temples have ‘fit persons’ or ‘thakkars’, sources said.
HR and CE officials said that trustees have been appointed in several temples, and the appointment was an ongoing process.