Bringing back to the pantheon what it owns 

The Department of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments has launched a massive exercise to retrieve and restore properties belonging to temples, many of which were encroached upon. The total value of properties retrieved from May 2021 is ₹2,027.58 crore and it keeps growing.

As details of rent collection and updates of retrieval of properties keep pouring in from 44,219 temples across Tamil Nadu, the server at the headquarters of the Department of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) at Nungambakkam, Chennai, keeps refreshing the files every few minutes.

In the last eight months, after the new government assumed office, the Department has retrieved 538.03 acres of land, 490.597 grounds of house plots, 20.1434 grounds with buildings and 46.2077 grounds classified as waterbodies. The total value of the properties retrieved from May 2021 is ₹2,027.58 crore, and it keeps increasing.

One of the first tasks that HR&CE Minister P.K. Sekarbabu undertook was to retrieve temple lands that had been encroached upon over the years. Based on a complaint, department officials retrieved 9.58 acres belonging to Sri Gowri Vinayagar Temple in Sivaganga district. The Minister, who inspected the site, told reporters that the land was encroached upon by some people close to a former Minister from the district. “People should remember the adage, ‘ Sivan Sothu Kula Naasam’, meaning those who want to usurp temple properties will only perish. We will not spare anyone,” he said in a message that was loud and clear — temple lands can no longer be misused.