'HRCE Planning To Take Over Chidambaram Temple Which Has Been Occupied By Dikshitars', Says Minister P Sekar Babu

Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HRCE) minister P Sekarbabu has said that the government is planning to take over the Natarajar temple in Chidambaram from the Podhu Dikshitars, (who are the hereditary archakas of the temple), and it is gathering documents for the same.

Sekarbabu said that the Dikshitars have occupied the temple and are treating it like it is their own company.

His statement comes days after a row over allowing devotees to have darshan by climbing atop the Kanagasabhai mandapam.

The Dikshitars had put up a board announcing that Kanagasabhai darshan would not be allowed temporarily during the Aani Thirumanjanam festival.

However, this was objected to by the HRCE department and the government issued a G.O. ordering the board to be removed.

The Dikshitars contended that this has been a practise since time immemorial due to the huge number of people who come to the temple during the festival.

They also said that the HRCE has no authority over the temple.

The HRCE officials accompanied by police later removed the board and a case was filed against 11 Dikshitars based on a complaint by an Executive Officer of the Thillai Kali temple in Chidambaram. She said that the Dikshitars had obstructed her from performing her duty.

In an interview to The Lede, G Chandrasekhar, the Dikshitars' counsel said that they suspect the role of one of the Dikshitars who was expelled from a committee. Chandrasekhar added that the said Dikshitar had joined hands with those who were against the interests of the temple.

In a recent press conference, in which the Dikshitars were present with Chandrasekhar, a CCTV footage of HRCE officials accompanied by police climbing up the Kanagasabhai in spite of protests by Dikshitars was shown.

Chandrasekhar said that those officials had gone up at a time when even the Dikshitars are usually not allowed to do so due to certain rituals.

Refuting the charge of the minister that the Dikshitars were running the temple like their own company, he said that they do not issue any special darshan tickets and anyone can have darshan of the Lord in five to ten minutes unlike temples under the control of the HRCE.

He also said that he was unable to understand why the government was hell bent on interfering in the affairs of the temple.

Further, he said that Dikshitars are afraid of their lives and desire security from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and investigations into cases filed against them should be done by central agencies and not the Tamil Nadu police.