HC gives nod to build Kallakurichi Collectorate on temple land

CHENNAI: TheMadras High Court on Thursday permitted construction of Kallakurichi Collectorate on the land belonging to Arulmigu Arthanareeswarar Temple in Veeracholapuram.

Rangarajan Narasimhan had filed a petition against the decision to hand over 45 acres of land belonging to Arulmigu Arthanareeswarar Temple at Veeracholapuram to the construction of the Collectorate of newly formed Kallakurichi district and urged that the temple land should not be leased for a long time.

When the case came up for hearing before acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy, the government of Tamil Nadu and the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) assured that the rent for the temple land would be properly determined and paid regularly and the temple would be renovated at a cost of Rs 2.85 crores.

Accordingly, the bench has ordered the Tamil Nadu government to pay Rs 1.60 lakh as rent to the temple administration from July 2020 and the rent should be increased by 15 per cent every three years and the market value of the land belonging to the temple should be determined every 10 years.

The bench also directed the government to take steps to renovate the temple and to conduct pujas regularly.