While addressing a press conference in light of the recent controversy surrounding the Chidambaram Natarajar Temple, Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Minister PK. Sekarbabu can be seen peddling hate against the priestly community of Dikshitars calling them as “trouble/problem”.
A few days ago, a restriction was put in place preventing devotees from entering the Kanagasabai for darshan until the Aani Thirumanjanam festival is over. A board informing devotees about the same was placed.
However, the officials of the HR&CE department along with Tamil Nadu Police removed the board and forcefully entered the Kanagasabai creating commotion. An argument ensued between the Dikshitars and the state government officials.
In light of this, while addressing a press conference, DMK HR&CE Minister P. Sekarbabu said “Dikshitars mean trouble/problem only. With respect to the Dikshitars in the Chidambaram Temple, they are functioning like a power centre. The HR&CE department has no intention of interfering and changing the worship tradition that is being followed for ages. At the same time, the temple was built during monarchic reigns. The Dikshitars are continuously indulging in such controversies with the aim of making it a denominational temple.”
He further said that the temple is run through donations given by devotees but went on to say that there are no hundis in the temple.
“In other temples, there are hundis. There are accounts of income and expenditure kept. They (Dikshitars) are not allowing us to account how much cash they have. After they took control over the temple, they are refusing to show much gold jewels are with the temple.”, Sekarbabu said.
“They run the temple like it is their own organization”, the DMK Minister further said adding that the DMK government is opposed to this.
(This article first appeared on Thecommunemag.com on June 28, 2023 and is being republished as part of a content-sharing agreement via smart4bharat.com. Minor edits have been done to conform to HinduPost style-guide.)
