Madurai: It was said that ‘passes’ would be issued to 11,000 people, including 4,000 donors, to participate in the Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple consecration ceremony. However, since no ‘passes’ have been issued so far, donors who have contributed lakhs and crores of rupees to the temple’s works are dissatisfied.
The Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple consecration ceremony is being held tomorrow (Sept. 17) from 7:40 a.m. to 8:10 a.m., after 17 years. Eight types of ‘passes’ have been prepared to allow only 11,000 people into the temple, including 4,000 donors and VIPs, politicians, and family members of senior officials from the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department and the police.
It is alleged that the temple administration, which includes trustee board chairman Rukmani Palanivelrajan and trustees Subbulakshmi, Meena, Chellaiya, and Srinivasan, is being obstructed by the TVK government side from functioning; that Minister Nirmal Kumar has directly intervened, asking what work DMK-affiliated trustees have in the temple and keeping the authority in his own hands; and that the temple administration is being run through Joint Commissioner K. Sellathurai only at his behest.
During the previous DMK regime, renovation works for the consecration ceremony were undertaken at a cost of Rs. 28 crore from temple funds and donor funds, and restoration works for the Veerasantharayar mandapam were carried out at a cost of Rs. 35 crore, for a total of Rs. 63 crore.
In this, the donors who contributed are asking the temple administration, the trustees, for ‘passes.’ The trustees are disappointed as they have not yet received the ‘passes’ in their hands.
Similarly, the trustees were also sidelined in the district administration’s consultation meeting for the consecration ceremony, chaired by the minister. Later, in the case filed in the High Court, after the court’s verdict, a consultation meeting was held with the participation of the chairman of the trustees’ committee and the trustees.
However, the trustees are once again being sidelined, and with just one day left for the consecration ceremony, the trustees, temple staff, and devotees are disappointed as they still have not received the ‘passes.’
Regarding this, the donors said: At the request of the trustees for the temple renovation work, we have donated several lakhs of rupees. Many have donated crores of rupees. However, ‘passes’ have not been issued to us so far. We donated for the temple renovation without expecting anything in return. But ‘passes’ have not been issued to us, which is insulting. When we ask the trustees, they say the ‘passes’ have not yet reached our hands.
Minister Nirmalkumar is the one who holds the authority to issue ‘passes’. He is doing politics in the name of spirituality. If asked for a reason, he says he is not interfering in temple administration. Therefore, everyone is equal before God. But TVK members are politicizing this. ‘Passes’ should be issued to donors without discrimination,” they said.
Denial to journalists; no passes for councillors
In the information released yesterday by the Madurai district administration, it was stated that, “In view of the consecration ceremony of the Arulmigu Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, as instructed by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department and the district administration, a room has been allotted at Pudumandapam with the necessary facilities, including an internet live-streaming connection, for journalists to gather news.”
Journalists were expected to be allowed at the consecration ceremony, but at the last minute they have been denied permission. While the basic facilities work needed for the Meenakshi Amman Temple consecration ceremony is being carried out using municipal corporation funds, not even one of the 100 ward councillors has been issued a pass to attend the event.