The Madras High Court has ordered that no alienation or encumbrance should take place on a 1.6-acre land belonging to the 343-year-old Kandakottam Kandaswamy Temple in Chennai, after two of its trustees alleged attempts by third parties to take over the property.
Justice PB Balaji passed an interim order restraining any alienation of the temple land located at Surya Narayana Chetty Street, Royapuram, until the case is heard next on 19 November 2025. The judge clarified that the interim order had been passed solely to protect the temple property and that “none of the parties to the case should take advantage of the order.”
The petition was filed by trustees K. Sendilvellan and V.C. Kandhaswamy, who sought the court’s intervention against alleged attempts by certain individuals to alienate the property that was specifically endowed to the temple over a century ago.
According to the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department, the Kandakottam Kandaswamy Temple, located at Rasappa Chetty Street near the Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. MG Ramachandran Central Railway Station in Park Town, was established in 1672 by two individuals, Mari Chetty and Kandapandaram, who brought the idol of the main deity from the Kandaswamy Temple at Thiruporur near Mamallapuram.
After the original structure fell into disrepair, the temple was rebuilt with stones about 200 years ago. A magnificent gopuram (temple tower) was later constructed by Kalirathna Chettiar, and the temple is now administered by the Muthukumaraswamy Devasthanam.
In their affidavit, the petitioners stated that a devotee named Pauckam Kandhaswamy Chettiar had bequeathed one cawney, five grounds and 1,570 square feet of land to the temple for the performance of the annual Vedarpari festival. The land, measuring 71,170 square feet (1.6 acres), was located at Surya Narayana Chetty Street in Royapuram and was dedicated to the temple as a specific endowment through a registered will executed on 12 February 1886, which was duly probated by the Madras High Court.
The petitioners said that the endowment was created on the condition that the property “should not be alienated even after the death of the executor and that it should be owned by the temple alone.” They added that Pauckam Kandhaswamy Chettiar’s adopted son, Pauckam Appu Chettiar, had confirmed the endowment in 1919.
Over the years, various trustees were appointed to manage the endowment. However, the petitioners alleged that one of the trustees, T Parthasarathi Chetty, had executed a “fraudulent” will in 1997 in favour of his sons and daughters, claiming absolute ownership over the property which houses a mandapam and several idols.
They said that the legal heirs of Parthasarathi Chetty had been attempting to alienate the property for a long time. Their earlier request to declare the property as a non-endowment was rejected by the Deputy Commissioner of the HR&CE Department in 1994, a decision later confirmed by both the Commissioner of HR&CE and an Assistant City Civil Court in Chennai, which had dismissed a 1996 civil suit in 2015 for default and non-prosecution.
Despite these rulings, the petitioners said, the legal heirs had attempted to obtain patta (land ownership record) for the property. They informed the court that the Tondiarpet Special Zonal Tahsildar had issued a patta on 15 July 2025, based on a no-objection certificate (NOC) provided by the chairman of the Devasthanam’s board of trustees.
The petitioners further alleged that the executive officer of the temple had failed to take action against the chairman in connection with the issuance of the NOC. They said they have since approached the Revenue Divisional Officer to seek cancellation of the patta and urged the court to restrain the third parties from alienating the property.
After hearing the submissions, Justice Balaji granted time till 19 November 2025 for all respondents in the case to file their counter affidavits and directed that no alienation or encumbrance be made on the property until then.
(Source: The Hindu)
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