MADURAI
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday questioned the Centre and the State why they were not showing any interest in preserving ancient monuments in Tamil Nadu.
A Division Bench of Justices N. Kirubakaran and S. S. Sundar, while hearing a petition that sought a direction to preserve Jain monuments in the State, observed that neither the Centre nor the State Government had shown interest in maintaining or preserving the ancient monuments in Tamil Nadu.
Taking cognisance of photographs produced before the court, the judges observed that people were not valuing the ancient monuments. Further, the court questioned why some of the monuments were not given the heritage tag by the Centre and the State. It also took cognisance of the fact that idols of deities were being put up at Yanaimalai in Madurai. This would not only demean the heritage site but also the deity, the court said and sought a report in this regard.
Further, the court asked both the Centre and the State to file a report on the sites in Tamil Nadu that would fall under the ‘ancient monuments’ tag and why they were not declared so. What steps had been initiated so far to preserve the ancient monuments and how many staff members were deployed at these sites to preserve them, the court asked.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation petition filed by S. Anandha Raj of the Madurai Jain Heritage Centre, who sought a direction to the Centre and State to preserve and protect Jain monuments in the State. He pointed out that some of these sites were being converted into places of religious worship and this would result in devaluing heritage. The court adjourned hearing in the case to March 4.
