State president of Hindu Munnani Kadeswara C. Subramaniam on Wednesday urged the State government not to interfere with the agama rules regarding appointment of temple priests.
Speaking to mediapersons in Tiruppur, he responded to the recent remarks made by Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR &CE) P.K. Sekar Babu that women can be appointed as priests in temples after being trained.
Mr. Subramaniam said that each temple in the State had its own agama rules which must be adhered to. However, the Hindu Munnani was not opposed to appointing archakas (temple priests) from all communities in temples after completion of due training.
Mr. Subramaniam also commended the State government for its COVID-19 preventive measures and the recent retrieval of land worth ₹ 250 crore belonging to Vadapalani Subramaniaswami temple in Chennai.
Noting that the Madras High Court has flagged that 47,000 acres of temple land was missing as per government records, Mr. Subramaniam alleged that politicians were involved in encroaching these lands and demanded that the list of encroachers must be made public.
