48 stolen idols retrieved,temple properties worth Rs 8K-cr recovered: Minister PK Sekarbabu

CHENNAI: Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Minister PK Sekarbabu on Friday said the department had retrieved 48 idols stolen from temples and traced another 28 in different parts of the world, with efforts under way to bring them back.

The minister said that temple properties worth Rs 8,015 crore had been recovered from encroachers since the DMK came to power. In the last four years alone, the department has also undertaken a large-scale exercise to demarcate temple lands.

“So far, 1,41,820 boundary stones have been erected,” he said after handing over certificates to 108 students, who had completed Othuvar and musical instrument courses in HR&CE-run institutions, in a programme.

He noted that facilities in 21 training schools, including Archakar training centres and institutes teaching Othuvar, Veda Agama and musical instruments, had been upgraded, with further improvements in the pipeline.

The minister said that following a court order in favour of the department, a meeting with the five-member Agama committee would soon be convened.

He also pointed out that since the DMK came to power, consecration had been conducted in 3,707 temples, including 100 ancient shrines. The government, he said, was confident of conducting the 4,000th consecration by January next year.