The removal of a board installed by priests at the ancient Nataraja Temple in Chidambaram, restricting access of devotees due to a festival, has triggered fresh claims that the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government plans to completely take over the running of temples. The handwritten board forbade the entry of devotees into the temple's Kanagasabhai Mandapam, citing the festival of Aani Thirumanjanam. Officials of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department removed the board on Monday. On Thursday, as the BJP joined protests over it, 10 priests were booked for obstructing HR&CE officials when they came to remove the board. The HR&CE Department handles the administration and assets of a majority of the temples in the state, including the Nataraja Temple. However, it does not have a say in temple rituals. The BJP has supported the claims, including by some priests, that the removal of the board violated temple traditions. However, HR&CE officials as well as others, including some priests, see it as another controversy triggered by Pothu Dikshithars, the hereditary custodians of the temple, who have accused the ruling DMK of trying to take over the temple's powers. G Chandrasekar, the counsel of the Dikshithars, said they are not trying to challenge the government but would legally resist any attempt to seize control of the temple. As per the Dikshithars, the restricted access to the mandapam during the festival was an ancient tradition, and essential for organising the festival. Defending the removal of the board, HR&CE Minister P K Sekarbabu said the government was committed to facilitating unhindered darshan for devotees, and was only trying to ensure adherence to court and government orders directing that devotees be allowed darshan from the mandapam. Sekarbabu called the decision to restrict access by the priests as “unprecedented and unjustified”. The minister also accused the priests of running the Nataraja Temple like a “private enterprise”, questioning the denial of access to the public and officials of the temple's financial records, income, jewellery, and other such information. BJP state president K Annamalai said the government's actions were upsetting devotees, and that since the DMK took power in 2021, it had overstepped legal bounds set by previous court rulings. Annamalai also called for the disclosure of income from the temple's land, managed by the government, over the past 15 years, alleging non-payment of this income to the temple. The removal of the board comes in the wake of charges that child marriages were held on temple premises with the knowledge of priests. The police had conducted a probe into the allegations, leading to several arrests, including of senior priests. Governor R N Ravi, who is at loggerheads with the DMK government, had questioned the charges and backed the priests and the temple.
