BJP says it’s not a temple: Understanding the row over Ayodhya Mandapam takeover by Tamil Nadu government

There’s yet another controversy surrounding a temple. This time it’s in Tamil Nadu.

The takeover of Ayodhya Mandapam by the Tamil Nadu government’s Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) department has not gone down well with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other Hindu outfits in the state. But why?

The temple situated in Chennai’s T Nagar was run by the Sri Ram Samaj. An order was issued by the J Jayalalithaa government in 2013 to bring it under the purview of the state.

The HR&CE department recently took over the 64-year-old temple, a move that has faced strong opposition.

The department was created to streamline the administration of temples in Tamil Nadu, soon after the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1951 was promulgated. It looks after more than 35,000 temples in the state and its work includes maintainece and renovation, among other duties.

The court intervenes

The Madras High Court (HC) had on 31 March, dismissed a plea challenging an order of the HR&CE that appointed a person to take over administration of the mandapam.

BJP cadres in the state protested the takeover on 11 April. A writ petition filed by Sri Rama Samaj in the Madras HC was dismissed on March 31. Following a fresh petition after the takeover, the court refused to intervene immediately and the case was adjourned to 21 April. It has also asked the government to file a reply by then.

The objections to the takeover

The 2013 government order says the Sri Ram Samaj is a public temple as per Section 6(20) of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959.

However, the Samaj, which has the support of some residents and Hindu outfits, has argued that the Ayodhya Mandapam is “neither a temple nor built with public money”. The “public didn’t worship the temple”, they “do not do pujas as per Agama Sastra”, and there is “no idol consecration or worshipping”, it argued, according to a report in The Indian Express.

BJP MLA Vanathi Srinivasan raised the issue of Ayodhya Mandapam in the Tamil Nadu assembly on Tuesday alleging that the takeover was done without adhering to the legal process.

State BJP chief Annamalai alleged that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government took over the mandapam to make sure that no bhajans or satsangs happened there. The BJP claimed that the state had no right to take over Ayodhya Mandapam as it was not a shrine.

The party also staged a protest in front of the mandapam on Tuesday, raising slogans like “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”. BJP councillor Uma Anandan said that what HR&CE was doing was illegal because the Ayodhya Mandapam cannot be taken over, as it was not a temple. She was arrested along with BJP state general secretary Karu Nagarajan and other cadres for “preventing public servants from performing their duty”. They were later released on bail.

The TN government’s defence

If the BJP is trying to politicise a temple issue to strengthen the party, it will not succeed, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin said in the state Assembly on Tuesday.

The HR&CE department alleged that a few members of the Sri Ram Samaj had mismanaged the temple funds. The money collected through the temple collection box was not accounted for.

Minister of HR&CE Sekar Babu said that complaints of irregularities in the mandapam were received since 2004 and an inquiry was held in 2013. “The inquiry report said that the activities in the mandapam shrine went against a provision of the HR&CE Act.”

Refuting claims by the Samaj that no prayers are held at Ayodhya Mandapam, an HR&CE official told The Indian Express ‘there are idols at the temple” and pujas are “conducted regularly”.

With inputs from agencies

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