Kapali Temple Staff Suspension

Unprecedented Development

JC Kavenitha suspends Maniyakaarar and three other staffers 

In an unprecedented move, Kapaleeswarar temple JC Kavenitha has suspended four staffers including the long standing Maniyakaarar.

The long Vasantha Utsavam is just under 36 hours away and on a hot Friday afternoon, Kavenitha, who took over from Hariharan last June, is busy looking into the audit papers for records and accounts. One does not often hear of a suspension of multiple members in one go at a HRCE temple and definitely it has not been seen at the Kapaleeswarar temple in the past. 

An angry JC told this writer at the temple complex that she is tightening the screws at the temple and getting the staff to create registers and records for every activity. These staff members have focused far too much on taking care of VIPs. In the first Panguni Utsavam(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2023/04/kapali-panguni-utsavam-2023.html) that she experienced recently at the Kapaleeswarar temple, she found many shortcomings and this led to the suspension of the staffers “The post of Maniyakaarar is not just one of power but of great responsibility. I found that there were no registers maintained for any abhisekam or ubayam. There were unnecessary additions to pandals around the Mada Streets during the Panguni Utsavam, many of which were without official permission”, she said explaining the reason behind the suspension of the maniyakaarar who had been holding this post for over a decade at this temple.

In February last year, this writer featured a story on how Maniyakaarar worked 36 hours without a break around the annual Maha Sivarathri utsavam 

“When I found him not carrying out his duties as expected of a Maniyakaarar with processes not being followed and records not being maintained, I decided to suspend him. As an immediate replacement, two staffers have been assigned to this post for the moment. It is a very important responsibility and I am looking to create a separate room for them within the temple complex so that devotees can reach out to them for any ‘Ulthurai’ issues and queries”, the JC said reasoning out the suspension order.

On Friday, he was seen handing out the pending papers to his colleagues at the office.

The JC told this writer that she has also suspended three others pending enquiry for not carrying out their services.

"For long, the staffers at the temple have taken their jobs for granted and felt that it was time for those failing in their duties to be brought to task. The role of the security is to be at the temple entrance. Instead, they are seen doing other work which is not within their purview”, Kavenitha told this writer on how she is keen to bring in transparency at the temple on all fronts.

The JC also said that she has spoken to the chief of the Sripatham on the specifics relating to street processions and to avoid unnecessary and long stopovers during the Swami purapadu.

For long, the EOs at the Kapaleeswarar temple had gone slow on the internal issues. In the past, there had not been a single suspension of a staffer. Kavenitha is clearly taking a tough stance. 

She also said that she has asked for a couple of EOs for this temple so she can focus on replying to RTIs and also legal issues relating to the temple.

It is a welcome development and inspiring to see a JC take a tough stance with her staffers. Recently, she has hired a few staffers who she assigned for the long and tedious ongoing Vastram auction to give them a feel on what temple work entails. "I have told them that this is not a 10am to 6pm job. Being assigned work at the temple is a great blessing and we should not see this as a typical office job looking to leave the work place when the clock ticks to six in the evening."

This story has been edited at 10.30am on Sunday April 14.

Kavenitha said that she is monitoring her staff closely and those failing in their duties will be taken to task. It is a great blessing to be posted at the Kapaleeswarar temple and every staff member has to realise his / her responsibility and carry out their duties diligently, she said. The JC is hoping that these measures will get the staffers to get more serious at the work place.