Across Tamil Nadu, large swathes of temple lands are being grabbed and taken over by Christian missionaries to construct prayer halls and other illegal structures. Some of the temple lands are being used for commercial activities while some of them have been encroached by human settlements. All this has been happening right under the nose of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Tamil Nadu government. Here are some of the instances that have happened in the recent past:
Pudukottai District
A water body belonging to an 18th century Siva temple in Pudukottai district is being encroached by Pentecostal Christians to build a Church. They have been filling it with sand to level it up despite opposition from local communities in the region. The temple priests who had stood up to the pastors were threatened.
Upon coming to know of the issue, District President of Indu Makkal Katchi M Solaikannan lodged a complaint with the SP of Madurai district against the construction of the prayer hall. The police have promised to take action.
Chennai
It is said that four grounds of land in prime part of the city belonging to the Gangadeeswarar Temple has been leased out for free to The Salvation Army, by the HRCE. The Salvation Army is a proselytizing Christian organization.
It is also said that around 96 acres of land belonging to a Siva temple has been leased to the Loyola College, a Jesuit institution for 99 years. Hindu organizations have been demanding to not renew the lease which expires in 2021.
Nagapattinam
Land belonging to the Ayyanaar Temple at Ariyamangalam on the Mayiladuthurai – Thirukadaiyur road has been bought by Christian missionaries. There existed a Sivan temple near this. An idol of Yoga Narasimhar belonging to the 11th or 12th century, stone carvings, pillars, idols, inscriptions were recovered from the site and kept at the Ayyanaar temple. The missionaries who have bought the land now claim that no such temple existed. This has led to the locals trying to get back the temple land from the land grabbers.
Mayiladutharai
Sivaloganathar and Swarnamukhi temple at Thennangudi near Mayiladutharai, said to be owned by Pachaiyappa trust and currently under the custody of HRCE, has been encroached. This temple is said to be around 1000 years old and is believed that Sage Agasthiyar and Thirugnanasambandar have sung about the deities in the temple. The temple which is situated on 9.5 acres had remained unattended in a dilapidated condition. Local Hindus made sure that regular poojas are performed. However, the encroachers have now occupied most of the area leaving only the part where the sanctum sanctorum is situated. Locals allege that priest and devotees were threatened by rowdies and had even removed a shed built for housing cattle by a donor from Chennai.
Erode
Miscreants had vandalized a temple by desecrating the Vinayagar idol and using the Vel (Lord Murugan’s weapon) to dig sand. They had removed and thrown the idols into a godown compound.
Kanyakumari
An attempt to raze down a Bhagavathi Amman Temple and felling off the holy tree at Thovalai to build a memorial for Kavimani Desiya Vinayagam Pillai was averted by the court.
The Madras High Court in 2018 had directed the HRCE department then to locate the 50,000 acres of temple lands in Tamil Nadu. No progress has been made on this.
Vizhupuram
1500 years old Jain stone beds (Samanar Padukai) in Theganurpatti near Gingee has been destroyed using explosives by miscreants. These stone beds have several inscriptions and images of Tirthankaras. They are of high historical significance.
Locals were quoted in Organiser saying that it was the work of Christian missionaries along with other anti-Tamil forces like the Dravidianists and Communists. They have asked for the Archaeological Survey of India to protect the monument.
Perambalur
Construction of Vinayagar temple was opposed by a school run by Christian authorities. Rover school had objected to the construction of the temple meant for the benefit of 200 families. The Christian authorities had used their influence higher up in the government to halt the building of the temple.
Tirunelveli
A cemetery was built by Christians just outside the Manimoortheswara Uchishta Ganapathy temple. The land which belongs to the temple was acquired illegally. Idols of Hindu Gods Vinayagar and Murugan were found in gunny bags near Karuppudurai Sivan Temple located near Melapalayam near Tirunelveli.
Cemetery being built by Christian fundamentalist groups right infront of Manimoortheswara Uchishta Ganapaty temple Tirunelveli , in temple land taken over by fraud.#ReclaimTemples pic.twitter.com/CQqOR1WZqR
— Reclaim Temples (@ReclaimTemples) April 7, 2018
Kachipuram
Queensland amusement park near Poonamalle in Chennai has been sitting on the temple lands belonging to Kasi Viswanathar Temple and Sri Venugopalaswamy Temple of Pappanchatram near Poonamalle in Kanchipuram district since its inception. The amusement park owner Selvaraj, popularly known as Oorvasi Selvaraj owing to soap-making business, had taken the land for lease in 1991 under the pretext of carrying out farming activities. However, he had violated the agreement by indulging in commercial activities.
Selvaraj founded Oorvasi Soap Company, Queensland and King’s Engineering College. He was the Vice President of South Chennai branch of Indian National Congress from 1990 to 1997. He was elected MLA from Srivaikuntam constituency in 2006. Back then, he was the third richest MLA in the assembly according to sworn affidavits next only to Karunanidhi and Jalalithaa. He died in 2009. His wife Nalini Selvaraj is prominent Christian evangelist.
The Kasi Viswanathar Temple and Sri Venugopalaswamy temple own 177.7 acres of land. The Queensland amusement park and the St. John’s International Residential School which is a kilometre away from Queensland are sitting on the lands owned by these temples which now remain in ruins while both the amusement park and the schools flourish.
In 2008, the local court ruled to a petition filed by the temple administration that the lessee had violated the lease agreement by indulging in commercial activities. An appeal against the court order was dismissed in 2013. The St. John’s school authorities were also a party to this suit.
St. John’s International School and the Queensland Amusement Park are located on 177.7 acres of land that was originally 1500 acres bought by a zamindar named Venkaiah in the 19th century. He had donated nearly 1000 acres of land where we have the Chembaramkkam Lake today. With the government gobbling the remaining as poromboke land, only 177.7 acres of the land remains which has also been encroached by Queensland and St. John’s School. The people of the area have stayed mum since some of their properties have also been located on temple lands.
The unruly Christian missionaries are not just encroaching temple lands but are also ousting other marginalized communities. A Christian pastor named Thangaraj has allegedly encroached 50 cents of housing lands granted to the Narikorava residents of Kuruvimalai near Kanchipuram, for building a Church. The Narikoravas say that Pastor Thangaraj is using his men and other anti-social elements who threaten and even attack them very often.
Apart from these, Muslims in and around the regions of Thanjavur, Mayiladuthurai, Kumbakonam, Nagapattinam regions have managed to occupy huge amount of properties. Some of them are said to be sitting on temple lands. What were once quaint agraharams have now become Muslim clusters.
As per law, temple properties cannot be rented out for commercial activities (non-farm activities) or to non-Hindu entities.
TR Ramesh, an activist working for relieving temples from state control, was quoted saying in the Organiser that this is how the officials at the HRCE department has been ruining temples. Mr. Ramesh had in a tweet mentioned that around ₹23.45 crores were transferred from the Dandayudhapani Temple in Palani (Palani Murugan temple) to the Common Good Fund from 2011 to 2018.
Not just this. The Tamil Nadu HR&CE department whose mandate is to maintain and safeguard temples along with ensuring that rituals and daily poojas are conducted as per Agamic texts has been going about doing things that are in blatant violation of the Agamas. The Annual Policy Note 2018-19 of the department notes that during 2011-2018, construction of toilets have been taken at a cost of ₹20.5 crores in 140 temples. While it is important that necessary facilities are constructed for devotees, there are cases where the department has built toilets at places unwarranted. For example, the Kailasanathar Temple administration has built toilets just behind the sanctum sanctorum and the water for the toilet is being drawn from the well that is used to perform Abhishegam for the deity.
BJP National Secretary H. Raja alleges that 5% of the temples that existed in Tamil Nadu are no more. Among the recorded 38,646 temples, at least 1800 of them could have been to make way for where building and commercial complexes and another 20% of the temples remain abandoned or underused, Mr. Raja says.
Inputs taken from Organiser.