Two staff members of Chennai’s Vadapalani Andavar temple placed under suspension, after judge complains

Justice S.M. Subramaniam of the Madras High Court said he had visited the temple on Saturday and had been given the wrong tickets despite paying the right amount; officials have now said a separate ticket counter will be set up to avoid confusion

Two office assistant-level staff of the Vadapalani Andavar temple in Vadapalani have been placed under suspension following a complaint filed by a judge of the Madras High Court. 

Justice S.M. Subramaniam, who had visited the temple on Saturday evening along with his family members but had chosen to not reveal his identity, had complained that he had paid ₹150 for three special darshan tickets but had been provided only two special darshan tickets and one ₹5 archana ticket by the staff. 

Following this, senior officials of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department enquired into the incident and suspended the two persons. One was the woman who had issued the tickets and another was the man who took the tickets and let the special ticket holders inside.

The woman at the counter had been there for only three days as the regular person was on leave. Both archana and special tickets were of the same colour. The officials have now instructed that a separate special ticket counter be placed to avoid such confusion in the future. In other temples, including Sri Parthasarathy Perumal temple and Kapaleeswarar temple, special ticket counters are placed separately.