News Tamil Nadu

RTI Reveals Over ₹400 Cr Missing From Samayapuram Mariamman Temple Fund, HR&CE Dept Says Funds Are Safe

March 17, 2023
The Commune

Over ₹400 crore have gone missing from the Samayapuram Sri Mariamman Temple Fund, according to temple activist T R Ramesh. In a tweet, Ramesh accused officers of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department of reducing temple deposits by 92% of savings, which is both illegal and against temple welfare. Ramesh alleged that the department bought cars with temple funds and appointed drivers for minister use, in addition to taking 12% of fees as administration charges and 4% as audit fees.

And if they incur any expenses concerning the administration of the temple, it must be only with the 12% they take. He alleged that the dept bought cars worth ₹12-15 lakhs (Innova/Scorpio) with Samayapuram Mariamman temple funds and was sent to the Commissioner’s office for use by some officer there. The expenses include petrol bills and insurance charges. This is above and beyond the 12% they take, said TR Ramesh. According to TR Ramesh, the car is being used in Chennai and money is being sent to a particular petrol bunk where they have an account for petrol purchases. This buying of cars and appointing drivers for use by state ministers is not restricted to this temple but also to Swami Malai temple, Kapaleeshwarar temple, and Tiruvannamalai among others, he alleged.

In an RTI filed by Ramesh requesting a 5-year income and expenditure statement, while no extraordinary expenses were spotted, the savings/investments of the temple raised eyebrows. Right up until 2021, the funds looked intact, however, in December 2022, 92% (approximately ₹422 crore) were missing from just this temple.

It was also discovered that there is no trustee for this temple, and the board of trustees alone can make all administrative decisions concerning the temple. This disappearing of huge amounts of funds is not happening at this temple alone, he said. Apparently, ₹70 crore have disappeared from Kapaleeshwarar temple (from an existing saving of about ₹80 crores) and about ₹100 crores from Madurai Meenakshi temple have also disappeared.

Pazhani Kumbhabishekam

The Pazhani temple’s Kumbhabhishekam was conducted with grandeur and was attended by a large number of devotees from across the country and the world. Following the event, the temple authorities announced that the Mandalabhishekam would be completed in three days, which is a significant reduction from the usual 48-day period. This announcement raised concerns among devotees that the temple’s rituals were being compromised.

TR Ramesh filed a petition regarding the Pazhani temple, and an urgent hearing was held on a holiday at the Chief Justice’s residence. The judge ruled that the Pazhani temple is a wonder of the world and that the pujas and rituals must be conducted as per tradition. This ruling has brought relief to devotees who were concerned about the temple’s rituals being compromised.

There are concerns that temple funds and rituals are being neglected, and the current dispensation does not seem to care. 

 In a video interview with Pesu Tamizha Pesu YouTube channel, T R Ramesh spoke about this issue among other corruption activities done by the TN HR&CE dept.

There are concerns that the government is using funds meant for temples in Tamil Nadu for other purposes. The funds are reportedly being used for road laying and building colleges and schools in the state under the HR&CE’s name instead of the temple’s name. This has raised concerns among devotees who are worried that the funds meant for the temples are being misused.

There have also been reports of jewellery belonging to temples such as Srirangam or Thiruvotriyur being stolen by the authorities themselves. However, no serious action has been taken on the issue, which has further raised concerns among devotees.

After the matter of the missing funds at Samayapuram Mariamman came to light, Tamil Nadu HR&CE Department Minister Sekar Babu clarified that the temple deposits are safe.

However, this raises questions as to where those ₹420+ crores are, as they are not seen in the temple records as received in the RTI. 

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