Sri Kapaliswarar temple (Source: Tamil Nadu Tourism)
T.R. Ramesh, President of the Temple Worshippers Society, has issued a formal notice to key officials in the Tamil Nadu government, including the Chief Secretary, the Secretary of the Religious Endowments Department, and the Commissioner of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department. The notice demands the immediate cancellation of a government order (G.O.) that approved an allegedly illegal long-term lease of prime land belonging to the Sri Kapaliswarar Temple. Ramesh also calls for the recovery of the land from the encroacher and compensation of at least Rs. 20 crore plus interest to the temple for losses incurred due to governmental negligence.
Taking to the social media platform X, Ramesh detailed the series of events that led to significant financial losses for the temple due to the mismanagement of its properties. He credited Srimati Radha Rajan, a Hindu activist, for her pivotal role in founding the Temple Worshippers Society in 2011 to protect the rights of temple-worshipping Hindus. Rajan, as the then secretary of the society, took significant steps to safeguard temple lands.
Ramesh highlighted a controversial lease agreement orchestrated by the TN government and the HR&CE department. The officials allegedly planned to lease 10 grounds of prime property on Greenways Road, Chennai, to a “service organisation” for nearly 30 years at a nominal rent of Rs. 3,000 per month. This was far below the government-fixed rate of Rs. 15 lakh per month.
Detailing the dubious nature of the deal, Ramesh pointed out that only one day’s notice was given for the lease, instead of the 30-day window mandated by the HR&CE Act. Despite the short notice, Radha Rajan swiftly filed a legally robust objection on July 23, 2012, followed by two more objections from other individuals. Consequently, the then Commissioner, on February 13, 2013, wrote to the government recommending the cancellation of the G.O. However, to date, the G.O. has not been revoked, and the encroaching organisation has not been evicted.
Ramesh emphasised that this inaction has resulted in the Sri Kapaliswarar Temple losing at least Rs. 20 crore in fair rent income over the past 11 years. He accused the Tamil Nadu government and the HR&CE department of intentionally denying the temple funds necessary for its Dharmic activities, which benefit thousands of Hindus annually.
In his notice, Ramesh has called for the following actions:
Ramesh suggested that the Tamil Nadu government could recover this amount from past and current government secretaries, HR&CE Department commissioners, and the fraudulently appointed executive officers of the Sri Kapaliswarar Temple.
Ramesh has been an active advocate against the HR&CE department, focusing on protecting temple properties, addressing maladministration, and preventing the misappropriation of temple funds. The question now remains whether the Stalin-led DMK government will act on Ramesh’s demands.
In a related incident, Hindu Munnani functionary and advocate Kutralanathan highlighted a troubling event at the Nelliappar Temple, where the chariot ropes snapped for the first time in 518 years, attributing this to poor quality ropes supplied by the HR&CE department.
Ramesh has vowed to file a case against the HR&CE department for its alleged mismanagement and illegal continuation at the Tirunelveli Gandhimathi Amman Nelliappar Temple.
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