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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin (File) The takeover of Ayodhya Mandapam by the Tamil Nadu government’s Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) department has sparked a controversy in the state. Situated in Chennai’s T Nagar, the temple was run by the Sri Ram Samaj, and an order to bring it under the government’s fold was issued in December 2013 by the then J Jayalalithaa establishment.
However, recently, when the HR&CE department officials executed the order and completed the takeover of the 64-year-old temple, they faced strong opposition, including from the BJP.
The Samaj, which is backed by a section of residents and Hindu outfits, has argued that the Ayodhya Mandapam is “neither a temple nor built with public money” and that the “public didn’t worship the temple”. They also say that they “do not do pujas as per Agama Sastra”,
there is “no idol consecration or worshipping”, and that the functions conducted on special days only include “homam and Veda Parayanams”.
The 2013 government order says the Sri Ram Samaj is a public temple as per Section 6(20) of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959.
“There are idols and regular poojas conducted. The public is visiting the temple for pujas. They are collecting a huge amount through the hundial (collection box), which is not accounted for. An order was issued in 2013 following complaints of mismanagement of the temple and funds by a few members of the Samaj,” said an HR&CE official.
The HR&CE department looks after more than 35,000 temples in the state as per the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act 1959. Their work includes maintenance of historical structures, carrying out renovations, implementing welfare schemes etc.
While Hindu outfits and powerful groups led by godman Jaggi Vasudev have been leading social media campaigns to “free Hindu temples from the clutches of the government”, the DMK government that came to power last year has retrieved encroached temple land worth Rs 2,000 crore in different parts of the state.
A writ petition filed by Samaj in the Madras high court was dismissed on March 31. Following a fresh petition after the takeover, the court refused to intervene immediately on April 12, and asked the government to file a reply by April 21.
As members of the BJP and some Hindu outfits protested against the takeover on April 11, Chief Minister M K Stalin defended the government’s move. Replying to an attention motion by BJP MLA Vanathi Srinivasan, Stalin accused the party of trying to “politicise the issue” and that “they will not succeed.”
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