14.09 hectares (34.82 acres) of drylands belonging to Sri Arthanareeswarar Temple located at Veerachozhapuram in Kallakurichi district is slated to be alienated by the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department to the Government of Tamil Nadu to build the Kallakurichi Collectorate complex.
This land is set to be usurped by the Tamil Nadu government for a pittance of ₹1.98 crores when the actual value of the property amounts to more than ₹88 crores.
What is to be noted is that the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Collectorate complex has been held without purchasing the land from the HR&CE department.
Locals and devotees have questioned if whether the Collectorate should be built only by usurping the temple land and whether no area was available.
History of Arthanareeswarar Temple, Veerachozhapuram
The temple with Lord Shiva as the presiding deity is said to be over 1500 years old. Rajaraja Chozhan’s son Rajendra Cholan, one of the greatest Tamil kings belonging to the glorious Chozha empire is said to have built this temple. Legend goes that Rajendra Chozhan was on his to Rameswaram to immerse his father’s ashes and was passing through Veerachozhapuram. Rajendra Chozhan who had halted for the night at Veerachozhapuram found that his father’s ashes have turned into jasmine thereby the village acquiring the name Mallikarjunapuram initially. The village gained the name of Veerachozhapuram due to the increasing influence of the Chozha kings.
According to the history of the temple, the Sivalingam at the temple is said to have been installed by the Siddhars and worshipped. There is also an Amman shrine and four Nandis (Lord Shiva’s vehicle/guardian deity).
The temple built during the Chozha period was rebuilt during the Pallava period. According to the inscription of the temple, Rajendra Chozha had named the presiding deity as the Nagareeswaramudaya Nayanar (Nayanar of Nagareeswaram). The Rajaraja Chozha dynasty sought to build a Rajagopuram (temple tower) towards the south. However, the construction of the Rajagopuram was not been completed due to the death of the person involved in the work. This historical Veerachozhapuram Shiva Temple which has been under the control of Tamil Nadu HR&CE department for 25 years now lies in shambles.
The temple owns 70 acres of land adjoining the Veerachozhapuram border and 10 acres in the V. Palayam village. The temple earned its revenue by leasing the land for farming which was used for performing the annual Theerthavaari Uthsavam during Maasi Magam (occurs in the month of February-March) and other daily rituals. Locals and devotees have made several requests to the HR&CE department to renovate and preserve the dilapidated temple which has fallen on deaf ears.
Several of the temple idols have been stolen many years ago which includes statues of Thirupuraandhakar, Thirupurasunthari, and other panchaloha idols. A lawyer named Rajendran had filed a case regarding the matter with the Idol Wing of the Tamil Nadu police in May 2018.
To safeguard the idols, 13 of the them were housed at a safehouse in Vizhupuram.
The blatant usurpation of temple land by Tamil Nadu government
After the new district of Kallakurichi was carved out from Vizhupuram district, authorities began looking for land to build a new integrated Collectorate complex comprising of the District Collector’s office, Superintendent of Police’s office, district court, playground, etc. 35 acres of the 40 acres land belonging to the Arthanareeswarar Temple was chosen and the HR&CE department is set to sell the land to the Revenue department.
Accusations have arisen that the Revenue department is trying to buy the land for a rate far lesser than the market price. The HR&CE department itself has said that the value of the 40 acres land is around ₹29.17 crores. The land has to be sold at a rate 275% more than the this rate which comes to ₹80.21 crores.
But the Kallakurichi Collector has valued the property at just ₹1.98 crore. This has upset the people of the area and other Hindu devotees.
In a blatant disregard for due process of law, the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Collectorate complex was held on October 23 and construction work is already underway, even before the purchase of the land by Revenue department.
Administration’s coverup
This has irked the people of the village who are questioning if the government found no other place other than a temple land to build the complex and the motive of government to proceed hastily. They say that the announcement regarding public hearing at the HR&CE office was not properly made. After controversy regarding the matter gained traction in the area, the district administration put up a notice for namesake.
Also, it is said that the HR&CE departement has been spinning an elaborate web of lies stating that the temple is just about a 100 years old and that a consecration ceremony was held 12 years back which has been refuted by the people of the village.
Another textbook example of usurpation of temple lands by the state
This is not the first time that a Hindu temple or its property thereof has been encroached. Political parties in Tamil Nadu and the Church have encroached many temple lands across the state. The Tamil Nadu government helmed by both the Dravidian parties have aided these encroachments. In 2009, the then DMK government under Karunanidhi arbitrarily usurped around 293 acres of temple land to build the Central University at Thiruvarur. Similarly, the lands belonging to Mudhugulathur Subramania Swamy Temple in Ramanathapuram was grabbed in 2007. 21.39 acres lands belonging to Prasanna Venkataramana Swamy Temple were usurped arbitrarily in 2009.
Even though there exists a judgement and a government order that prevents acquiring lands of religious nature, the encroachment of temple lands continues.
Many have said that the ownership of the temple lands should remain with the temple while it can be given on lease for non-commercial purposes to support the temple’s revenue. If the HR&CE department hands over the land to the Revenue department, the temple will lose revenue leading to inability to maintain and preserve the temple.
With the temple lands not yet been sold to the Revenue department, the HR&CE department has called for a public hearing on October 29. Temple rights activist TR Ramesh has filed an objection and is leading the fight in the matter.
Filed my objections against TN Govt illegally acquiring 35 acres of Sri Arthanareeswarar Temple for building a Dist Collectorate & paying a pittance in the process. TNGovt's puppet HR&CE Dept alienating Hindu Temple lands at will @swamy39 @BJP4India @indiccollective @TWS_Bharat pic.twitter.com/zlgpqrjavz
— trramesh (@trramesh) October 27, 2020
Those concerned about temples are requested to send their objections to commr.hrce@tn.gov.in and mark copy of the mail to veeracholapuram@OurTemplesOurPrideOurRight.in.
The forma of the email to be sent can be found here.
(With inputs from Dinamalar)