Officials of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) Department on Monday night handed over the hundial collections of the Lord Nataraja temple here, including Rs 3.30 crore in bank deposits, 330 grams of gold and golden articles and 1,458 grams of silver articles to the Podhu Dikshithars.
By this, the department has completed the formalities of restoring the full administrative rights of the temple to the Podhu Dikshithars as directed by the Supreme Court.
Secretary of the Podhu Dikshithars’ Committee R. Bhaskara Dikshithar told The Hindu that the HR &CE Department officials had deposited the hundial collections, since the government takeover in 2009, in three nationalised banks in the name of the Executive Officer of the temple.
Receipts given
The officials on Monday got the rights over such bank deposits changed in favour of the Podhu Dikshithars and gave the receipts to Mr. Bhaskara Dikshithar.
Those present on the occasion included Assistant Commissioners of HR&CE Department Gajendran (Tiruvarur) and Jothi (Cuddalore) and the Executive Officer of the Thillai Kaliamman temple, Murugan.