Devotees are up in arms against the move to acquire 82 cents of land of the ancient Sree Edayavanath Bhagavathi Temple at Thottavaram near Attingal in the district to make way for the four-laning of the National Highway (NH) 66.
The alignment finalised by the National Highway Authority (NHAI) for the Attingal Bypass and the boundary stones placed in the northern and southern part of the temple located in the 28th ward of the Attingal Municipality shows that the temple will have to part with the land for the proposed NH four-lane corridor from Cherthala to Thiruvananthapuram.
A part of the sanctum sanctorum of the Bhagavathi temple, the Ganapathi temple, Nagaprathishta and the sacred grove of the temple that is believed to be more than 700 years old, will be affected if land is acquired as per the present alignment, says the secretary of the temple committee, S. Ajith Prasad.
“There seems to be a hidden agenda behind the move to acquire land from the temple as the straight road has been bent near the temple when there is enough unoccupied land behind the temple. The sacred grove of 8,000 m2 area and protected through grant of Forest Department will be wiped out if the present alignment is executed,” Mr. Prasad says.
“We are not against development. A minor adjustment in the alignment can save the temple and the sacred grove and this has been pointed out to all the authorities, including the NHAI officials, petitioned by us,” Mr. Prasad says.
The NHAI authorities have informed through the Project Director, Project Implementation Unit, that no changes can be made in the alignment that has been finalised.
Mr. Prasad said it is a mystery why the authorities are not ready to make any alterations in the alignment to save the ancient temple as they did in the case of the Thonnal temple at Kazhakuttam and mosques in the NH corridor.
The 3(D) notification issued on June 26 this year also reveals 82 cents of the temple had to be parted with for NH development.
Legal remedies
The temple committee is looking into legal remedies to save the ancient temple under the Sreeramadasa Ashramam, Chengottukonam.
