Church complex built on top of 7th century cave temple in Tamil Nadu, complaint lodged

Featured Image Credits: Reclaim Temples\Twitter

Authorities have been yet again caught napping as a church complex has been built on top of the ancient Thirumalapuram cave temple in Tiruneveli, Tamil Nadu.

The church complex is built by illegally encroaching on the temple hill beneath which lies the seventh century cave temple. Dated to the Pandyan era, the Thirumalapuram cave temple is dedicated to the God Shiva and housed a monolithic Shiva Linga, until it was reportedly destroyed by Christians. By virtue of being a site of historical importance, the site is under the supervision of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

The Sendamaram Tirumalaimatha Church built on top of the cave temple comes under the authority of the Diocese of Palayamkottai. The Diocese’s website even mentions that the chapel and Christian structure was built on top of  a pre-existing Hindu temple.

The Legal Rights Observatory (LRO) has filed complaints with the ASI and the Ministry of Culture against this encroachment. The LRO requested “immediate intervention” regarding the issue.

Cases of temple land encroachment ― by various groups for a variety of purposes ― are a dime a dozen in the nation. Particularly, the states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are seeing a rise in cases where Christian groups build unauthorised and illegal religious structures on encroached land.

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