Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister P.K. Sekar Babu on Friday said ‘kumbhabhishekam’ of Madhura Kaliamman Temple at Siruvachur would be performed before August.
The ‘balalayam’ for the temple was done in August 2014 and instructions had been given by him to expedite the ‘thirupani’ works at the temple so as to perform the ‘kumbhabhishekam’ before August, Mr. Sekar Babu told reporters after inspecting the temple.
Steps would be taken to renovate the Selliamman temple near Siruvachur and the idols which had been damaged at the shrine. The Collector had given an assurance that a proper approach road would be laid to the temple for the benefit of devotees, Mr. Babu said.
The HR & CE department, the district police and the Collector would discuss the type of safety measures that could be put in place to prevent any untoward incidents from recurring again at the temple by deploying required staff so as to bring the shrine to its original state. The department would conceive a plan to improve facilities required at the temple and execute them., he said
Asked whether the department had collected the money raised from public by Youtuber Karthik Gopinath who was arrested recently on a cheating charge after he mobilised money for renovating the damaged statues at the Selliamman temple, Mr. Sekar Babu said the contention of the HR & CE department was that he (Karthik Gopinath) had not done the works in a proper manner, adding that he could not delve more on the issue as the matter was sub judice. Adequate funds would be allotted for its speedy renovation.
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had instructed officials to inspect HR & CE controlled temples where minor issues and problems were reported and ensure that there were no difficulties for devotees to have darshan at all temples.
A team of revenue officials, surveyors and assistants had been roped in by the HR & CE department to measure lands belonging to temples and install boundary stones besides fencing them. Several acres of land belonging to the temples had been retrieved from encroachers. At some places, it was found that patta transfers of land belonging to the temples had been done and efforts were underway to retrieve those lands also, he said.
Earlier, Mr. Sekar Babu accompanied by Commissioner of HR & CE Department J. Kumaragurubaran, Perambalur Collector Sri Venkada Priya and other officials, inspected the golden chariot at Sri Madhura Kaliamman Temple and instructed the officials to make the chariot functional. Thereafter, he visited the Selliamman temple near Siruvachur and inspected the idols that were damaged. Later, the Minister inspected Sri Sutharathneswarar Temple at Ottathur and Sri Brahmapureeswarar Temple at Thirupattur in Tiruchi district.
