47,000 acres of land belonging to Temples goes missing in Tamil Nadu, in the last 36 years

Madras High Court seeks an explanation from the State Government

• The State Government is caught napping when this land began gradually disappearing from the official records over the last couple of decades. Also, questions arise about the responsibilities of the trustees and other office bearers of the impacted temples in the State.
• It’s quite shameful that the land belonging to the temples is being forcibly grabbed from Hindus as the devotees remain negligent. When would Hindus realise that protecting the temples and the associated wealth from the evil forces is also a form of devotion ?

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) – Madras High Court has sought an explanation from the State Government regarding the 47,000 acres of missing land belonging to the Temples in the State. The State Government needs to submit the findings latest by July 5, 2021, the Court ordered while hearing a petition. The total land owned by the temples was 5,25,000 acres in the year 1984-85, while it reduced to 4,78,000 in the year 2019-20.

‘Temple Lands Shall Always Remain With Temples; Public Purpose Theory Shall Not Be Invoked Over Temple Lands’ : Madras High Court https://t.co/e4AQPz5gBm

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1. The High Court has directed the State Government and the Department of Archaeology to set up a 17-member commission to look into the state of historic monuments, temples and ancient structures of the State from a historical and archaeological point of view. The State Government has also been directed to restore and renovate the structures wherever necessary while carrying out such survey.
2. The Court has also directed the State Government to set up strong rooms and video surveillance mechanisms to safeguard the Idols and other valuables. In addition, the State has been asked to electronically store all the important information pertaining to the Idols along with their photographs.