Temple Activist TR Ramesh throws an open offer to the Trustee to hand him the land documents for him to fight the case in the court and help recover the lands that had wrongfully changed hands decades ago
In September 2016, this section had featured a story on the Othanvaneswarar temple in Thiru Chotruthurai, one of the Sapthasthanam temples abound with historical inscriptions and praised by Sundarar, Thiru Gnana Sambandar and Thirunavurkarasar. The current trustee of the temple Kannan, holds a Masters degree in Computer Science and has been pursuing a P hd from Sastra University (he seems to have not completed 8 years after the story in 2016!!!). He has been anchoring most of the temple activities over the last decade or so. Aghoram Shivam had quit an IT job in Hyderabad and joined as a Gurukal. Both of them have been playing an active role in the revival of utsavams and the conduct of the daily poojas at the temple.
However, a larger issue has been hanging around the temple and its smooth functioning during this period.
Centuries ago, a trust had been formed where by the trustees who owned huge tracts of land were to perform certain mandagapadis, conduct utsavams and contribute to daily poojas from the income accruing from some of these lands. It is learned that one of the trustees of the temple, grandfather of the current trustee Kannan, sold off the lands several decades ago. Interestingly, the trust building (photo below) is housed on a huge land belonging to the temple where Kannan and his family have been residing for long.
The temple land- The Trust HQ- where the trustees have been residing
Trustee continues temple work through devotee donors
The HR & CE has been demanding that the trustee fulfil all the activities relating to the temple as detailed in the trust agreement. Since the lands belonging to the trust have changed hands, the current trustee Kannan has been organising the temple activities through donor contributions. He is currently anchoring the Thiruppani works at the temple through devotees and a lot of renovation works can be seen inside the temple complex. Last decade, the trustee had also organised the installation of a new Dwajasthambam at the temple.
Trustee Kannan - Feeling the heat from the HR & CE
Historical Inscriptions
Significant Contributions had been made from the 9th Century for the conduct of annual festivals, to burn a perpetual lamp and to feed Brahmanas in this historical temple town. In 890AD during the rule of Aditya I, there was a gift of two conches for blowing in connection with Thirupalli Sevai and other services. During the rule of Varaguna Pandya II, contributions were made by devotees to the burning of a perpetual lamp at the temple.
During the rule of Parantaka Chozha I, there was a gift to provide for Ghee, Milk and Curd for the sacred bath of the Lord on the Sankranthi day. There were also gifts of two separate lamp stands. In 954 AD, there was a land endowment for feeding Brahmanas. In the 10th Century AD, a huge quantity of oil was provided to light 50 lamps during the service in the night. The arrangement was such that 8 people engaged in the maintenance of cleanliness of the temple were assigned the task of lighting these 50 lamps along with four persons who were engaged in blowing the trumpet and one cook.
In 1000AD, there was a gift made to support the procession of the deity during the Vaikasi Visakam festival.
Saint Poets' Praise
At the end of each of the verses, Saint Poet Thiru Gnana Sambanthar concludes with ‘Chotruthurai Senru Adaiveney’ indicating that he had already started invoking the blessings of the Lord right from the beginning of his journey to this temple, such was his special devotion to this Lord.
Appar’s special praise in all his compositions
This is also the only temple in this region where Thirunavukarasar has sung praise in all his compositions – Nerisai, Virutham, Kurunthogai and Thandagam.
Temple Activist offers to secure back the trust lands
Temple activist TR Ramesh (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/02/tr-ramesh-temple-activist.html) has spent a lot of time in recent years focusing on recovering of temple lands in Tamil Nadu and fighting for these in the courts. Hailing from Thillaisthanam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2024/09/thillaisthanam-neiyarappar-sankara.html), one of the Sapthasthanam temples, the temple in Thiruchotruthurai, located just a few kms away, has always been very close to his heart. He has now thrown an open offer to Trustee Kannan to hand over a copy of the land documents for him to fight the case in the court and get back the lands that had been wrongfully sold in the past.
In recent years, he has had conversations with trustee Kannan on this subject. Ramesh told this writer on Friday that though he had asked for the land documents in the past, the trustee has not yet handed him a copy of the documents “The sale by his grandfather is not legally valid as one cannot sell the trust land. Thiru Chotruthurai has a great history with three Saivite Saint Poets having sung praise of the Lord. It is that legend that had led those in the past to write such huge tracts of land in favour of the trust in the hope that the trust would take care of the temple and its utsavams from the income from these lands. Since the lands have been sold in the past and it is now in the hands of those who do not have a legal right, I can fight this case in the court and secure back the lands if the current trustee hands me a copy of all the documents relating to these trust properties.”
As the sale by his thatha is not legally valid as per the Trust agreement, Kannan himself has filed a case to secure back all the lands that were purportedly sold decades ago and that is pending in the JC court. Following this case, he has had to face a backlash from the ‘encroachers’ who are holding the view that these lands had been sold by the current trustee’s thatha and hence he has no rights over those lands.
On its part, the HR & CE seems to have not taken action to recover the trust lands that had been wrongfully sold. While the trustee has been taking care of the maintenance of the temple and the conduct of the utsavams including building new vahanas for the annual processions, all these have been through donations to the trust from devotees and not out of income from the trust lands. The trust agreement dates back centuries and income from those lands have not been accruing to the temple, its utsavams and the daily maintenance.
If TR Ramesh does get a hold of the land documents, it is likely he will fight tooth and nail like he has in similar issues relating to several other TN temples to secure back the trust lands.
This section will track the developments.