When EPS As TN CM Brought Down A Temple To Build Memorial For A Poet

The destruction of the centuries-old Bhagavati Kottaram temple in Thovalai village of Kanyakumari district for the construction of a memorial for Kavimani Desiga Vinayagam Pillai has caught the attention of Twitter users.

Reports indicate that in 2019, the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS), announced that his government would construct a memorial for Kavimani Desiga Vinayagam Pillai for a sum of ₹1 crore rupees in Therur village of Kanyakumari district, the poet’s birthplace. However, by the time he laid the foundation stone in June 2020, the memorial was shifted to Thovalai, and the temple premises of Bhagavati Kottaram were chosen as the site of the memorial.


It has been alleged that the temple was destroyed without any prior notice on the night before the foundation-laying ceremony. A few local devotees reportedly approached the district court and obtained a stay on the construction of the memorial in January 2021.

In defiance of the court order, the EPS government attempted to complete the memorial and even approached the Madurai bench of Madras High Court in March 2021, seeking to overturn the order.

In its affidavit, the ADMK government under EPS claimed that the temple did not exist in the said land and that the devotees had no right to question the government’s actions.

However, the High Court dismissed the affidavit and refused to lift the stay on the construction of the memorial. After examining multiple witnesses associated with the case, the district court passed its final order on the matter on July 27, 2022.


The court noted that the land belonged to the temple and that the government had encroached upon the site, and subsequently ordered a halt to the construction of the memorial, returning the property to the temple.

Despite the court’s order, AIADMK MLA Thalavai Sundaram reportedly urged the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government to complete the memorial on the same site during a speech at the Tamil Nadu Assembly in January 2023.

The incident has raised concerns about the AIADMK’s stance on the protection of temples and the potential destruction of ancient religious structures.

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