Devotees protest, demand custody of mandapam keys

According to the devotees, the keys of two halls owned by the Avinashilingeshwarar temple, coming under the HR & CE Department, were taken into the custody of the Revenue Department officials following a dispute over its possession between the temple management and a community. As there was a legal dispute over the last several years, the revenue officials locked and sealed the two ‘mandapams’. 

Meanwhile, the court issued an order in favour of the HR&CE Department and directed the revenue officials to hand over the keys to the temple administration.  The devotees claimed that the temple management has been losing huge amount of revenue as both the ‘mandapams’ remain unused. 

The halls have also become dilapidated due to lack of maintenance. They condemned the revenue officials for wilfully disobeying the court orders by not handing over the keys. Following the protest, the devotees also submitted a petition to the revenue officials highlighting the issue. 

A senior official of the Revenue Department, however, said they haven’t got the court order copy to hand over the keys to the HR & CE officials. “We will give away the keys to the officials concerned once when we receive the order copy for the same,” said an official preferring anonymity. 

Following this, the devotees withdrew their protest.