TN Temple Trustees Non Appointment

Temple Activist/President of Temple Worshippers Society TR Ramesh sends notice to TN Principal Secy and HRCE Commissioner on Trustee Appointment and Internal Audit issues in TN temples

It is Sunday (Dec 15) morning at the Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam. All the hereditary priests of the temple have just received a letter from Joint Commissioner Mariappan allocating the archaka service duty for the month of Margazhi. The HR & CE has taken possession and the rights of archaka service from those hereditary archakas who had let go off their right towards the end of the previous century given the challenging scenario that prevailed at the temple at that time. With a sizeable number of days in each of the Sannidhis at this huge temple now under the control of the HR &CE, it is the JC of the Srirangam temple who decides as to how he allocates these services to the archakas. One look at the duty allocated for Margazhi (2024) will give a knowledgeable devotee an indication as to the basis on which he has made this allocation!!!

The Srirangam temple has been without a Board of Trustees for many years now after the term of Venu Srinivasan had come to an end. With a good understanding of temple administration and the financial management, the TVS Motors Chief had reigned in good control in the administration of this huge temple on behalf of the devotees (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/11/venu-srinivasan-srirangam-temple.html). But his departure from the role of the CBT has handed back full control to the HR &CE on most aspects of the administration of the Srirangam temple including the allocation of archakas for the Sannidhis every month from the above mentioned basket of days that HR & CE now have under their arms.

2021 - Judge Anitha Sumanth's order on EO's role

In November 2021, this section had featured a story on the Madras HC order paving the way for the phasing out of Executive Officers in HR & CE Temples and the appointment of Trustees to take over the management of the temple. On the role of EOs in TN Temples, Judge Dr. Anitha Sumanth had said in that order that with the elapsing of the tenure of the E.O (period of five years), he becomes functus officio. As per that order, the position of the Executive Officers in TN temples had become untenable and the temple administration had to be handed back to the hereditary trustees, or a new board of trustees that had to be constituted (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/11/tn-temples-hr-eos-out-trustees-back.html).

Display of Trustee's name and phone number

In September 2020, another Judge M.M. Sundresh had directed the name of the Trustees and their phone numbers to be displayed inside the temple as the trustees were doing a public duty and appointed as trustees of the named temples to take care of the interest of the  temples to which  they   are  appointed.  "Therefore, it is not only logical but also proper that their names along with their profession/ avocation will have to be  published  in such of those temples in which they are appointed and thereafter function as trustees. Their phone numbers also will have to be indicated so that a devotee can have access to them to redress his grievance on the functioning of the temple", the judge had said in his order.

Appointment of Trustees in TN Temples

In November 2020, Periya Nambi Acharya Narasimha Gopalan of Kulasekara Azhvaar Rajagopalaswamy Temple in Mannar Koil, Ambasamudram  reached out to the Court seeking the official direction for his appointment as a descendant of Periya Nambi as the hereditary trustee of the temple based on the 1000 year inscription, a copy of which he presented to the Court. The court had directed the JC to initiate action on this front but the appointment is still pending after four years with the JC court refusing to accept the centuries old inscription that points to the Periya Nambi clan as being the hereditary trustee of the temple (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/11/mannar-koil-narasimha-gopalan.html). 

Narasimha Gopalan had also questioned the transparency involved in the appointment of non hereditary Trustees in Temples. In a letter to the Commissioner of the HR & CE and to the Principal Secretary to the Govt - Religious Endowments Dept, he had requested to make public the qualifications and credentials of Trustees selected for the Temples in Tamil Nadu.  

For decades, most temples under the HR & CE administration have had no trustees and the activities of the temples have been administered by “Fit Person” appointed by the Government.  There are also cases in temples where the Fit Person and the EO are the same. In many cases, the application for funds is signed by the EO of the temple and the same individual approves the application and signs as the Fit Person.

TR Ramesh sends notice to Secy/TN Govt and HRCE Commissioner

On the morning when Srirangam JC Mariappan sent the archaka service break up to all the hereditary archakas for the month of Margazhi, a few hundred kms away in Mylapore Chennai, Temple Activist and President of the Temple Worshipper’s Society TR Ramesh has sent a notice to The Principal Secretary, TN Government Tourism, Culture and Religious Endowment and The Commissioner HR & CE asking for detailed clarification on the pending appointment of Trustees (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/02/tr-ramesh-temple-activist.html).

Mandatory to appoint Trustees but HR & CE has failed

Accusing them of not appointing mandatory trustees, Ramesh has said in the notice that Trustees have not appointed to temples having non-hereditary Trustees for more than 10 years even though such appointments are mandatory requirements under Section 47 of the 1959 Act and that they have deliberately withheld appointment of qualified Hindu citizens as Trustees to Hindu Temples and Endowments  to ensure that these continue to be under the abject control of the Government.  Further he has said in his notice that despite being fully aware that while the full term of a properly appointed Board of Trustees is only two years they have continued with the “interim appointment” of Fit Person for more than 10 years i.e. the said interim period is more than 5 times the full term of properly appointed Board of Trustees.

Cites specific examples of wrongly presence of EOs

Citing the examples of Samayapuram Sri Mariamman Temple (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/12/samayapuram-mariamman-temple.html) and Sri Arunachaleswarar Temple, Tiruvannamalai, Ramesh has said  in his notice that the EOs of these temples are  functioning there without any legally sustainable order of appointment but in each of these temples such illegally present person  is also made the “Fit Person” of the very same temple.

Suspension of Trustees and appointment of HRCE officials

Citing a few other specific cases, Ramesh says that at the Sri Madhava Perumal Bysani Trust and Sri Lakshmi Narasimhar Temple, Pazhaya Seevaram (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2008/12/lakshmi-narasimha-perumal-pazhaya.html), Hereditary Trustees have been suspended and the HR & CE official appointed as Fit Person.  At the Tiruporur temple, the trustee service of Sri Chidambara Swamy Mutt has been terminated and the Asst Commissioner has been appointed as the “Fit Person” in his place. 

Financial Mismanagement

While the lack of proper trustees impacts negatively the administration of temples, Ramesh has pointed out a deep rooted issue in this. Lack of professional internal audit services has led to the HR&CE not sending the audit reports are to the Trustees and only to their own EOs and JCs and the Commissioner leading to a lack of transparency in the financial management of temples in TN.

Summarising the points in the notice and demanding immediate action, Ramesh has requested the two of them to resolve and rectify audit objections that have been pending for decades, ensure no promotions and additional responsibilities are bestowed on HR&CE Officials against whom audit objections are pending in Audit Reports, ensure no HR&CE official is allowed to freely retire from service and reap retiral benefits without settling the audit objections pending against him  and without rectifying the defects disclosed in the audit reports.

Ramesh has asked them to respond to every point in the notice within the next three weeks failing which he has said that he would take to legal recourse.

This section will track the developments on this front.