CHENNAI: HR&CE Minister S Ramesh on Friday alleged that in the past, 40,245 acres of temple lands had been transferred to private individuals through patta transfers, and recovering these lands was a major task before the TVK government.
Responding to discussions in the assembly during the demand for grants for his department, Ramesh said around 33,949 acres had been erroneously transferred to private individuals while computerised Chitta records were being prepared, and the TVK government was taking steps to recover them. He added that, over the past 100 days, the government had pursued appeals to recover approximately 464 acres of temple lands as part of its efforts to retrieve and protect temple properties.
Ramesh said approximately `108 crore in outstanding temple revenue has been recovered by the TVK government. A further `2,000 crore in revenue remains outstanding, and all necessary steps are being taken to recover this amount and bring it into the government’s coffers as well.
Announcing a series of measures for the renovation and development of temples across the state, he said restoration of 64 temples that are more than 1,000 years old will be taken up at Rs 125 crore.
The minister said that as part of efforts to restore dilapidated temples, restoration works in 152 temples will be carried out at an estimated cost of `35 crore. Renovation of 75 completely dilapidated temples and 75 partially dilapidated temples will be taken up at `85 crore.
He also announced a series of initiatives to preserve Tamil Nadu’s temple heritage and folk traditions, including an annual Village Deities Cultural Festival featuring folk arts, traditional theatre and drama. A heritage temple tour will be organised for 2,000 devotees to highlight the history, inscriptions, architecture, sculptures and paintings of important temples.
Special worship and community feasts will be held at major temples on July 15 to mark the birth anniversary of former Chief Minister K Kamaraj, while the Elephant Welfare Camp at Thekkampatti will be revived with `3 crore in government funding. Besides, 108 rare devotional Tamil books as well as English translations of temple histories will be published.
Rs 125 crore
The minister said 64 temples, with more than 1,000 years of history, will be restored for Rs 125 crore. He also announced a series of initiatives to preserve Tamil Nadu’s folk traditions