A fallout of High Court imposing a blanket ban on refurbishing of temples in State

The renovation of the Sri Naganatha Swamy temple, constructed over 1,000 years ago by the Chola emperor Rajendra I, at Manambadi village, 15 km from Kumbakonam in Thanjavur district, has been halted.

The Madras High Court has imposed a blanket ban on refurbishing of temples in the State.

The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE) Department that manages the shrine was constrained to return to the Central government, Rs. 20.37 lakh, including interest, availed as part of the grant it had received for renovation under the aegis of the 13th Finance Commission. This was after utilising Rs. 11 lakh for the renovation when it was halted in November 2016.

Official sources claim that revised estimates based on the already sanctioned plan supported by technical evaluations were being prepared and would be forwarded to the State government shortly to facilitate the renovation work. But the ground reality is that it would take some time to materialise.

State monument

The temple has nine stone inscriptions — three belonging to Rajendra I period (regnal years 1014-1044 CE) and six belonging to Kulothunga I era (regnal years 1070-1120 CE). Over a period of time, the temple fell into ruins, and after a thorough inspection in 2007, the then Commissioner of Archaeology and Museums, R. Kannan, had in unambiguous terms recorded that the structure was in a dilapidated condition and declared it unsafe to enter the premises.

Then in 2013, the threat of demolition of a part of the ancient shrine complex came from the NHAI when it was executing the Kumbakonam-Vikravandi road widening project. Public pressure saved the day for the temple.

Later, the shrine was declared a State monument. Thereafter, the Assembly was informed of the plan to renovate the shrine following which the State government gave the administrative sanction to renovate the temple at a cost of Rs. 32 lakh on November 18 the same year.

The HR&CE Department sought and got the help of the Department of Archaeology for professional consultancy and supervision. The latter, on September 9, 2015, deputed an Assistant Engineer to assist the renovation work.

After dismantling the shrine meticulously, reconstruction commenced and reached the Adishtanam level, including replacement of the stone inscriptions, when the court ban halted the work in November 2016.