Restoration at slow pace

Those who have visited the rural areas of Tamilnadu will agree how badly the very breadth of  Indian Heritage and culture has been eroded. This kind of erosion continues even now because of the negligence of the people towards the preservation of the tradition and culture . Rural life , bound by agriculture does not attract the new generations any more. With the advent of Science and Technology people leave their home towns and villages and migrate to Urban areas. However the elders remain in their ancestral villages as it is too difficult to pull on if they want to follow the youngsters and  migrate to green pastures. Retaining the poor in their respective places is going to be a real challenge for the Government as well. 

The result of the migration is an open book for anybody. The reasons cited are many. The fact remains that every one wants to become rich overnight and ready to do anything to achieve this goal!  When the neighbour takes modern education and earn huge salary, it is quite natural for others to be attracted and switch to the new life . They are prepared to sell their lands and other properties to fetch a new beginning at any cost ! In this process, the epicentre of the villages i.e. the temples around which all activities were functioning is totally forgotten. The lands donated by philanthropists to the Temples not only met the expenses of the shrines round the year,but also served the locals both directly and indirectly. 

People have started noticing  the failure of H.R & C.E department of the state Government in maintaining the Temples. The renovation and maintenance of the Temples is left to the donors as most of the lands are grabbed illegally and the rituals are reduced from four times a day to just one time ! 

Although the HR & CE was not ready to share the major part of the budget estimated for renovating the temples , it was allowing donors to do the job if they came forward. They still hold the key of granting permission to do the consecration on a particular date only! Of late, it is heard that they delay the entire process by routing the request for renovation to other departments. Hence the start date is getting delayed and people have to wait until they get the orders. 

When we look at the other side of the renovation work, we should agree that there are some places where the original structure is altered and mindless painting is carried out on the inscriptions. But the executive officer can visit the site and insist the donors and others not to indulge in such alterations  instead of making the process more complicated. 

There are scores of Temples where the respective executive officers seldom visit them. The unnecessary delay in granting permission to start the renovation work and consecration make everyone frustrated. If the Govt is not willing to do it on its own it should leave it to the donors with the supervision of the executive officers. 

More than thousand year old temples are left unattended due to sheer negligence. Only God knows why the people keep silence and allow the destruction to happen. If Democracy is by the people, many of us can question the Govt why it  keeps a blind eye at the dilapidated temples. 

In this context, we wish to take our readers to a Shiva Temple at Uma Maheswarapuram near Tiruvarur. In fact there were two Shiva Temples in this village of which one was pulled down during British period while laying a railway line between Tiruvarur and Tiruthuraipoondi. At that time the villagers could not protest and stop the demolition. Hence they brought all the deities and housed them inside the other Temple located inside the village. They would not have dreamt that the second Temple would be neglected in due course. 

The second Temple which gave "asylum "to the first one lost its Ambal shrine fully in due course. As there was no compound wall, a road was created adjacent to the temple by encroaching the premises. Therefore a new shrine had to be built for the Goddess to the right of Shiva Sannadhi and the renovation work was started. It came to a standstill when it was realised that new shrines had to be built for the deities brought from the other temple. 

Initially the work on Ambal Sannadhi was started and it went upto lintel level. It could not be completed due to lack of funds. Shiva Sannadhi can be built once the vimanam of Ambal shrine is constructed. An approximate estimate shows that it requires nearly four lakh to get the work completed. The villagers seek the help of philanthropists for the early completion of the job before going ahead for the consecration ceremony. 

We appeal to all like minded friends/devotees to join the noble cause and restore the deities worshipped by our ancestors and start regular rituals. You are requested to visit the Temple and those who stay far away may contact 9787462681 or 9840744337 to get more details. Please note that we wish to receive only the construction material and not cash. The donors can directly order the seller of materials like cement, gravel, iron rod etc to despatch the same to the site. Your participation in the "Shiva Kaingaryam " is more important than how much you contribute.