How a political and legal battle halted efforts to conserve Tiruvannamalai temple 25 years ago

The contention surrounding the Subramaniya Swamy Temple astatine Thirupparankundram successful Madurai has taken a caller crook with a plea successful the Supreme Court praying for the “takeover and control” of the temple by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). But, astir 25 years ago, a well-intentioned inaugural of the ASI to “take implicit and control” the Chola-period Arunachaleswara temple successful Tiruvannamalai, astir 200 km westbound of Chennai, ended successful failure.

The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act and Rules bash not licence the ASI to instrumentality implicit oregon power immoderate temple. At most, the bureau tin state a temple a “monument of nationalist importance” and designate areas adjacent a protected monument arsenic prohibited (up to 100 meters) oregon regulated (up to 200 meters) for the purposes of mining operations and construction.

Perhaps without this basal understanding, a enactment was fomented by vested interests – some governmental and commercialized – implicit the ASI’s determination to state the Arunachaleswara temple a “monument of nationalist importance.” Subsequently, those who protested the Central agency’s determination succeeded successful blocking the Tiruvannamalai temple from getting developed connected the lines of the Vaishno Devi temple successful Jammu and Kashmir.

Situated astatine the foothills of a 2,668-foot-high hill, the Arunachaleshwara temple, spanning implicit a field of 24.35 acres, is simply a good illustration of Dravidian (South Indian) architecture and sculpture. According to inscriptions recovered there, the temple was built during the aboriginal Chola play (9th Century CE) and expanded during the periods of the aboriginal Chola, Hoysala, and Nayak kings. The temple has astir 300 shrines that screen the Amman shrine; 9 towers with 4 rajagopurams successful 4 directions; galore mandapams, including a 1,000-pillared one; and 2 immense tanks, the Sivaganga Punniya Theertham and the Brahma Theertham. Maintained by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the State government, the temple had its past kumbabishekam successful February 2017.

Rampant encroachments

It each began successful April 2002 erstwhile past Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Jagmohan visited the temple town. Though impressed by the quality of respective features of the temple – the architecture, sculpture, structural engineering, and creation – helium was disturbed by the show of umpteen shops and encroachments successful the vicinity of the temple.

In fact, the occupation of encroachments has lone grown bigger implicit the years, adjacent arsenic the authorities, astatine regular intervals, person been carrying retired their removal. About 2 months ago, encroachments – mostly roadside outlets and extensions of existing shops connected each 4 Mada Streets astir the temple – were demolished to supply much abstraction for pilgrims during the Karthigai Deepam festival successful December. The occupation has go acute; a information of the elevation and the 14-km-long Girivalam Path adjacent the temple has witnessed amerciable settlements to specified an grade that they had go susceptible to landslips. On December 1, 2024, 7 persons died aft dense rainfall triggered a landslip successful the hills. The authorities are present taking steps to notify definite places adjacent the temple arsenic a reserve wood to forestall the occurrence of landslips. Structurally too, damages were caused to the temple successful the lack of a conservation plan, arsenic the tegument of the granite stones astatine the basal of the gopuram connected the bluish broadside peeled disconnected owed to soil blasting, according to the Manual connected Conservation and Restoration of Monuments authored by R. Kannan, erstwhile serviceman of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) of the 1981 batch, known for his passionateness for practice conservation, successful 2007.

Controversial plan

Notwithstanding the occupation of encroachments, Jagmohan had advised his officials to gully up a program for the improvement of the temple. “Normally, either a connection is sent from the section portion of the ASI oregon from its Director-General’s office. However, astatine Tiruvannamalai, it was the Minister who initiated the proposal, they [local traders] claim,” stated a study of The Hindu connected November 9, 2002. The traders and the existent property lobby had apprehended that the restrictions, to beryllium imposed by the ASI successful the lawsuit of implementation of the conservation plan, would deed their concern badly.

C.P. Singh, Dr. Kannan’s batchmate successful the IAS and who was the State Commissioner of Tourism and Managing Director of the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation successful 2002-2003, recalls that helium was contiguous during a treatment that Jagmohan had had with past Tourism Secretary astatine the Centre, Rathi Vinay Jha, successful Chennai. Ms. Jha had impressed upon the Minister astir the request for processing the Tiruvannamalai municipality and the temple, which had suffered from a deficiency of facilities for devotees who would travel determination successful ample numbers. It was past that the determination was taken to get the improvement program executed done the ASI, Mr. Singh adds.

The information that the ASI successful September issued a preliminary notification nether Section 4(1) of the Act came to the fore lone erstwhile the traders and governmental parties, astatine the section level, began their protestation successful the archetypal week of November. The notification had expressed the Central agency’s volition to state the Arunachaleswara temple a “monument of nationalist importance.” It was pasted successful the precincts of the temple and successful different nationalist places of Tiruvannamalai to alteration persons and organisations having objections to the connection to nonstop successful their views wrong six weeks, earlier November 20. The instrumentality stipulates that the Director-General, ASI, considers each objections, and if a last notification were to travel through, an country with a radius of up to 300 metres from the temple would beryllium declared “prohibited and regulated.”

On November 5, 2002, past superintending archaeologist of the ASI for Chennai circle, K.T. Narasimhan, held a gathering with representatives of the Arunachaleswara Temple Protection Committee successful Tiruvannamalai and explained to them the rationale down the ASI’s plan. But, the representatives had walked retired of the meeting. The adjacent day, the municipality observed a bandh arsenic a people of protestation against the projected “takeover.” Possibly seeing successful this occurrence arsenic an accidental to country the Union government, which had representatives of her party’s main adversary, the DMK, past Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, who headed the AIADMK, had decided to situation the ASI’s notification successful the Madras High Court. This paper connected November 7, 2002, reported 4 reasons, arsenic ascribed by the State government. Among them were the “constant and strenuous efforts” made by the authorities successful enabling the maturation of the temple successful stature and the “unilateral move” made by the ASI without consulting the State government.

In New Delhi, Jagmohan himself had clarified the presumption to the media that the thought down the ASI’s efforts to state immoderate tract a monument of nationalist value was to reconstruct specified a tract to its archetypal glory. Echoing the Minister’s position, Mr. Narasimhan told journalists successful Chennai that “our superior work is to sphere the grandeur of the temple for posterity,” said this regular connected November 8, 2002. “We volition not interfere with the spiritual medication oregon levy immoderate interest connected devotees for temple upkeep,” helium explained. His organisation had “preserved” arsenic galore arsenic 410 past structures and sites successful Tamil Nadu, including the Brahadeeswarar temple astatine Thanjavur and the St. Mary’s Church astatine the Secretariat, but the State authorities did not rise immoderate objection successful the past to immoderate of these being brought nether “our purview,” Mr. Narasimhan added. The Hindu, successful its editorial titled “Conserving a heritage” published connected November 11, 2002, supported the ASI’s inaugural and argued that “it would beryllium against the semipermanent interests to artifact it by orchestrated ‘public protests’ connected specious grounds oregon to stroke it up arsenic a ‘Centre versus State’ contented oregon by resorting to ineligible quibbles.”

Political row

Meanwhile, the critics of the determination had mobilised enactment from astir the full governmental people comprising the AIADMK, DMK, Congress, and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK). A erstwhile authoritative of the ASI recounts that adjacent the State portion of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which had headed a conjugation ministry astatine that time, was opposed to the projected conservation project. Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi, too, jumped onto the protestation bandwagon.

On November 13, the Madras High Court stayed the notification. The adjacent day, the Centre approached the Supreme Court with a petition, giving its justification, according to a quality point of this regular connected November 15, 2002. Despite being 1 of the venerated places of the country, Tiruvannmalai had been desecrated by “rampant and illegal” operation astatine its base, betwixt the way of the elevation and the elevation itself. In August 1997, 2 earthy caverns, Skandashramam and Virupakshi ashram, and the transition starring to Skandashramam from Ramanashramam were declared monuments of nationalist importance, the Centre had submitted earlier the Supreme Court. However, the State authorities contended that the grade of encroachments successful the country was “minimal” and it did not necessitate Central involution arsenic it could beryllium tackled by the territory medication and the section body, according to a study of The Hindu connected May 1, 2004.

With the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance authorities [in which the DMK was a large constituent] taking complaint astatine the Centre subsequently, the Union authorities informed the Court connected July 12 that twelvemonth that it had withdrawn the September 2002 notification, shelving the Tiruvannamalai temple conservation project.