Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Thursday chaired the first meeting of the State-level advisory committee for major Hindu temples, falling under the purview of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) Department.
Speaking on the occasion, he urged committee members to provide suggestions to improve temples’ facilities for devotees. The government has been implementing many schemes in places of worship, including initiating works for the conduct of Kumbabhishekam in temples and renovation of temple cars, he said.
During the meeting, the members discussed various issues, including amending the HR and CE Act, bringing out books containing temple history, legends, architecture, art and inscriptions ( Sthala Purana ) in electronic and print formats, preservation of copper plates, rare books, palm leaf manuscripts, reprinting of books brought out by various Mutts in the State, training people for various roles associated with temples, including priests and musicians.
Earlier, Mr. Stalin inaugurated a control room at the HR and CE Department headquarters, where the meeting was held. The control room has live footage from major temples in the State that are connected via closed circuit television cameras. HR and CE Minister P.K. Sekarbabu said the meeting was a milestone as far as the department was concerned. The Chief Minister also heard complaints from members and gave them suggestions.
HR and CE Secretary B. Chandra Mohan, HR and CE Commissioner J. Kumaragurubaran, Kundrakudi Ponnambala Adigalar, Srimad Varaha Mahadesikan, Ambalavana Desika Swamigal, Santhalinga Marudachala Adigalar, retired judge D. Mathivanan, scholar Suki Sivam, industrialist Karumuthu T. Kannan, M.P. Sathiyavel Muruganar, N. Ramasubramanian, Dharanipathi Rajkumar, Mallikarjun Santhana Krishnan, Sreemathi Sivasankar and Desa Mangayarkarasi participated in the meeting.
