Readers may remember the earlier post in which the Selfless service of a Techie from Bangalore was highlighted. His remarkable contribution in renovating the Shiva Temple at his native place, Udayavar Theeyanur should inspire many to take up similar initiatives at their places. In fact this 
man had gone to several places to bring Holy waters from rivers to perform abhishekam on the day of Mahakumbabishekam. It was not easy to travel some 300 km every week to supervise the work. Still he drove all the way and finished the work within a year . We need people like him in every village to take care of the ancient temples. A good team of Sivacharyars performed the Yagasala poojas and the Kumbabishekam was performed as per tradition. As there was enough time in the forenoon after the Kumbabishekam, it gave scope for visiting the nearby temples as well. It was a nice opportunity to visit Sri Choleeswara Temple at Vikr
amangalam which was hardly 2 km from Theeyanur. This huge Temple has big Rajagopurams in the front that need immediate renovation. Plant growth is seen on them that could damage the entire structure soon. The hall in front of the Sanctum is tall with the nicely carved roof. The granite pillars have beautiful sculptures of Dhakshasamhara murthi , Agora Veerabadrar etc. The outer prakaram has Devakoshtas and a small shrine for Chandikeswara. Gajalakshmi sa
nnadhi is in a bad shape. The outer walls also require immediate attention. The heart breaking news was that the Utsava murthis of this temple and that of Sri Prahaladheswarar Temple at Sri Purandaran, a nearby village, have been stolen some years back. The administration never thinks of protection to idols until it is too late. The Govt simply builds Idol Protection centres at various places and shifts all Utsavamurthis to these cells and seal them. The locals can not perform the Utsavams in the absence of the Murthis. It may not be possible for anyone to undertake the risk of bringing the idols from custody and also for their safe return. As a result, the Utsavams of these temples come to a grinding halt. The Govt may think alternately by building safe vaults at the respective temples and provide buglar alarms and security personnel .The Govt has failed to collect the revenue due to the temples from farmers and others. It can atleast do something to prevent idol theft instead of dumping everything at a common place in the name of security.Once the idols are moved out of the country, it takes several years to go through the legal proceedings and bring them back. Who knows, even after their return they are housed in their own Temples or in common vaults. 
