Date:13/05/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/05/13/stories/2006051309510600.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Concern over protection of temple lands outside A.P.

M. Malleswara Rao

Endowments Department wants to auction lands

HYDERABAD: A prime piece of land measuring 150 acres in Chennai on the Old Mahabalipuram Road has been found to be belonging to Sri Sadavarthi Mutt of Amaravathi in Guntur district, a religious institution now under the control of the State Endowments Department.

Its market value is estimated by the department at over Rs. 300 crores but it doesn't fetch any income to the temples and choultries supported by the mutt. The mutt has nearly 400 acres of cultivable lands in interior Tamil Nadu.

Hathiramji Mutt land

The Tirumala-headquartered Sri Swamy Hathiramji Mutt, which controlled the affairs of Lord Venkateswara temple till 1933, owns 128 acres in 12 villages of Tamil Nadu, 297 acres in Maharashtra, 856 sq yards urban land and shops in Mumbai and 4,795 sq yards in Bangalore. The total extent of land owned by the mutt is put at 2,433 acres of agriculture land and 5,651 sq yards of urban land.

There are any number of endowment lands in other States and yet the temples for which they were gifted, today lack wherewithal to undertake the daily rituals. This is the story of most of the endowment lands affecting the temples.

The department is fighting a court case over a one-acre land of Hathiramji Mutt on Royapettah Road in Chennai, which has been occupied by a school beyond the lease period. Similarly, a mansion at Triplicane, gifted to Kodandarama temple at Ontimitta, is found occupied by a family.

Free from encroachments

An extent of 6,903 acres of urban land within and outside the State is under different temples, of which 4,300 acres is free from encroachments while 2,603 acres is occupied. If auctioned, the 4,300 acres and the lands in metros may fetch nearly Rs. 700 crores.