Temples in Tamil Nadu

Temples in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu are famed for Tamil architecture styled Hindu temples, culture and tradition and commonly known as the Land of Temples. Tamil Nadu has more temples than any other states of India. Tamil Nadu is home to more than 400,000 Hindu temples and is aptly called "the land of temples" by the media. Many are at least 800 years old and are found scattered all over the state. The rulers of various dynasties constructed these temples over centuries. Vimanas (storeys) and Gopuram (towering gateways to the temple complex) best characterize the temples of Tamil Nadu.

• I visited a celebrated temple at Peruru, which is two miles from Coimbatore. It is dedicated to Iswara, and called Mail [high] Chitumbra [Chidambaram], in order to distinguish it from another Chitumbra, that is near Pondicherry . . . the Brahmans in the time of Haidar had very large endowments in lands; but these were entirely reassumed by Tipu, who also plundered the temple of its gold and jewels. He was obliged, however to respect it more than many others in his dominions; as when he issued a general order for the destruction of all idolatrous buildings, he excepted only this, and the temples of Seringapatam and Melukote. This order was never enforced and a few of the temples were injured, except those which were demolished by the Sultan in person who delighted in this work of zeal . . . even in the reign of the Sultan an allowance was clandestinely given, so that the puja, or worship, never was entirely stopped, as happened in many less celebrated places.
  • During his visit to Coimbatore during 29–30 October 1800, Francis Buchanan recorded these words
  • quoted in Vikram Sampath - Tipu - The Saga of Mysore's Interregnum (2024)

• But I ask you, if the Congress can bring in a legislation to control Hindu temples, one that still stands, why cannot the present government bring in a legislation to free Hindu temples? A petition by Swami Parmatmananda and Swami Dayananda Saraswati is pending in the Supreme court since 2012. For more than 10 years. They can allow midnight hearings for granting mercy to terrorists but cannot spare time for this. In his pica, Swamiji gave the example of the grand Ardhanareswara Temple in Tiruchengode, Tamil Nadu. Even though the temple generates more than a crore in annual income, the budget earmarked for conducting daily puja and performing rituals is a mere 1 lac. Swami Dayananda Saraswati did not live to see the day his beloved temples would be wrested from State control. He passed away in 2015... Kapaleeswarar Temple is one of the richest temples in Tamil Nadu, owning more than 600 acres of prime property in Chennai. State records show it has 473 defaulters, with most of its land now encroached.
  • (2023.) Hindus in Hindu Rashtra : Eighth-Class Citizens and Victims of State-Sanctioned Apartheid. by Anand Ranganathan chapter 1

• Governments of just 10 states control more than 110,000 Hindu temples. Tamil Nadu Temple Trusts own 478,000 acres of temple land. Tamil Nadu government alone controls 36,425 temples and 56 mutts; for Karnataka, the figure is 34,563.17 Is this what we call secularism? ... According to the activist and litigant T.R. Ramesh, the Tamil Nadu government, that should be earning a minimum of 6,000 crores per annum from the 2.44 crore square feet of temple land it controls, earns a mere 58 crores, not even 1 percent. Kapaleeswarar Temple is one of the richest temples in Tamil Nadu, owning more than 600 acres of prime property in Chennai. State records show it has 473 defaulters, with most of its land now encroached. And these are the estimate of only one state. Because of this loss in revenue generation, Hindu temples are not able to spend money on what they would really like to spend money on—opening up ved pathshalas, schools, colleges, gaushalas, fellowships and scholarships, orphanages, Hindu cultural and religious centres—all things and causes other religions and their places of worship spend their money on unencumbered.... More than two years have gone by the Tamil Nadu government informed Madras High Court that 11,99 under its control do not have enough money to perform even a single pooja.
  • (2023.) Hindus in Hindu Rashtra : Eighth-Class Citizens and Victims of State-Sanctioned Apartheid. by Anand Ranganathan chapter 1

• Muslims had destroyed and looted the temples. The British did not do that but they took over a good deal of the temple lands as a 'revenue measure'; they did not use the word 'confiscation' and, in fact, converted some of these lands into 'monetary remuneration'. As a result, according to the Government of India's own comprehensive study beginning in 1962 and lasting for over ten years, the ten thousand five hundred and odd temples of Tamilnadu have a total annual income of only rupees twenty-seven million, from all their moveable and immoveable properties. Over 5,000 temples have only an annual income of Rs.500/- each! There is almost no money for the pujas, and the priests also hardly get anything. The only people who get proper remunerations are the Government functionaries employed to overseer the working of the temples.
  • Ram Swarup, Hindu View of Christianity and Islam (1992)

• A petition by Swami Paramatmanda and Swami Dayananda Saraswati has been pending in the Supreme Court of India since 2012, where they demonstrate that though the Ardhanareeshwara temple in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruchengode generates more than a crore in annual income, a paltry one lakh is earmarked for its conduct of daily poojas and performance of rituals. Governments of just ten states control more than 1,10,000 Hindu temples, with the Tamil Nadu Temple Trusts itself owning 4,78, 000 acres of temple land and controlling 36,425 temples and 56 mutts.10 This draining away of the temples of their self-generated income; their inability to run their affairs or their schools, cow shelters, orphanages, and other socio-religious institutions; and the constant interference in their administration and management further added to the continued decadence of Hindu temples after independence. With no guarantee of any income, priests in many temples end up extorting the pilgrims, adding further to the sad state of affairs. It was no different with the famed Kashi Vishwanath temple as well.
  • Vikram Sampath - Waiting for Shiva_ Unearthing the Truth of Kashi's Gyan Vapi-BluOne Ink (2024)