TN govt to rebuild Vellore temple razed by Hindus

Chennai, Aug 20 (IANS) The revenue department of the Tamil Nadu government will rebuild the Kaliamman temple near Gemmankuppam village in Vellore district, which Hindus razed a few days ago.

It may be recalled that Hindus razed the temple using earthmovers on August 6 in a bid to prevent the Dalits in the area from taking part in the temple festival.

K.V. Kuppam Police had registered a case under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on a complaint filed by Naveen Kumar, a Dalit.

The Revenue Department of the Tamil Nadu government has now taken the initiative to rebuild the temple and the consecration of the idol will now take place on August 22. The construction work of the temple will start on Tuesday.

The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) department of the Tamil Nadu government will take control of the temple once it is rebuilt.

The revenue department held a meeting of various Hindu groups and Dalit leaders on Monday and a decision was taken to rebuild the demolished temple.

It is to be noted that Vanniyars, Yadavs, Chettiars and Naidus are the main upper-caste Hindus living in the area.After the meeting, it was agreed upon that a committee of seven government officials under the HR&CE would manage the day-to-day affairs of the temple.K.R. Soolapani, a Dalit person of the area, while speaking to IANS said, “The decision of the state government is highly appreciable. With the HR&CE department managing the affairs of the temple, it will help the Dalit cause and we can now worship in this temple.”

Loganathan, a Hindu and a soothsayer who was looking after the affairs of the Kaliyamman temple, told the villagers that a goddess had appeared in his dream and told him that Dalits must not be allowed to worship in the temple. This led to tension in the region leading to the upper caste Hindus razing the temple.

The revenue department has now directed Loganathan to hand over the idol of the temple by Wednesday.As per the agreement, the committee of seven members from the revenue department who will manage the daily affairs of the temple will make recommendations to the District Revenue Officer (DRO) for anything regarding temple ceremonies and customs and will allow Dalits to also participate in the temple functions.