Lord Shiva is happy. Most tenants on his vast properties worth hundreds of crores of rupees around his most famous abode in Chennai, the Kapaleeswarar Temple, are paying their rents. Many difficult customers have been compelled to vacate.

In a society notorious for robbers of God’s money — from defrauding on rents for the temple lands taken on lease to simple nocturnal burglars breaking hundis — the recent inflows into the Kapaleeswarar coffers are very impressive.

The influential tenants of the temple are now worried that they must now pay the dues or face eviction.

“We have recovered a little more than 46 grounds from encroachers after starting our drive in March (2012).

The property recovered is worth more than Rs 230 crore,” says P. Vijaykumar Reddy, the temple takkar (trustee).

Since he was appointed the thakkar of this famous temple that symbolises not just the Shivaite faith but also the socio-cultural history of Mylapore as one of the earliest settlements of the pre-British era, Reddy has been cracking the whip against encroachers and rent-dodgers despite their political clout. The millionaire businessman can afford to do so as he enjoys the support of chief minister Jayalalithaa, whose passion for protecting temples is known.

Among the big properties that Reddy got back for Kapaleeswarar is an expanse of a little more than an acre worth Rs 90 crore in Raja Annamalaipuram.

What happened at this place could illustrate the sordid handling of temple properties across Tamil Nadu by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department that administers most temples in the state.

The Kapaleeswarar temple had appointed a private agency to take care of a parking lot and remit daily collections.

“The temple had fixed a parking fee of Rs 10 per hour but the agency was remitting Rs 100 a day, claiming low turnout of vehicles for parking.

We got suspicious and checked. We found many vehicles parked there, some even overnight. We cancelled the contract,” said a senior HR&CE official.

Against pressures of all kinds, the temple cleaned up the place, which also had a few huts encroaching, and closed access by erecting walls, he said.

“We will seek government approval for a multi-storied business complex in this posh area. If Kapaleeswarar helps us through this project, the temple income could more than double from Rs 9 crore annually at present from hundi collections, poojas and property rents,” the officer said.

He said the ‘cleared’ encroachments included 15 grounds held by Mylapore Club worth more than Rs 75 crore.

Meanwhile, the temple is locked in a legal battle with the P.S. High School for retrieving its property being used as a playground.

Of the 76 grounds, the school handed over (but not vacated) 30 grounds and the case in the high court is pending for the remaining space. “This property is worth more than `480 crore,” said the HR&CE official.

Every temple across Tamil Nadu has been suffering the same kind of ‘troubles’ faced by Lord Kapaleeswarar from His tenants and encroachers, with losses running into several hundred crores.

The present government, however, is said to be serious about consolidating temple assets.

Vijaykumar Reddy’s ‘war’ is a sample of that resolve. “These vast properties were left as endowments by kings and zamindars to take care of poojas and festivals in the temples but tenants and encroachers began to swallow this wealth, rendering many temples penniless. We must not allow this to continue,” said Reddy.

No legislation for Anna’s dream

The AIADMK and DMK consider him their mentor but former chief minister C.N. Annadurai’s wish to distribute land of religious institutions to the poor remains on paper.

Annadurai as the leader of the DMK legislative party had advocated in favour of taking over land of religious places and distributing it among the poor.

In Tamil Nadu, there are more than 6.70 lakh acres of wet, dry and rainfed lands owned by temples, mutts and religious trusts.

In 1973, the then DMK government passed the Tamil Nadu Cultivating Tenants (rights to purchase land owners' rights) Act 1973, fixing a ceiling of 15 acres for religious institutions.

The rest should be up for purchase by tenants who cultivated the temple lands, the Act directed. However, the President returned the Act in August 1973 because of stiff opposition from religious institutions.

Dr V. Sivaprakasam, formerly of the Centre for Research and Dravidian Movement, Madras University, said one reason for the dismal performance of land reforms in TN is the exemption of religious institutions from the Land Ceiling Act.

Tamil Nadu Vivasaigal Sangam general secretary P. Shanmugham said if religious institutions were brought under the Act, it would benefit 10 lakh tenants.

“We want the state to fix land ceiling for religious institutions and take away excess land by paying the temple. Later, the government can collect money from tenants with land tax in instalments and issue pattas,” he said.

Need to chart out property policy

At a time when temples are finding it difficult to protect their property from land sharks, here is one in the city that has leased out its land at prime Vadapalani junction to a leading restaurant and is earning a tidy sum.

The Vadapalani Andavar temple is generating revenue in the best manner possible but the management of several temples that leased out land on a long-term basis, have burnt their fingers as tenants have not paid the dues.

Pitching for a clear policy on use of temple lands, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Tamil Nadu unit’s advisor S. Vedantam has urged the state government not to use temple land for housing projects or any purpose other than serving the cause of Hindu religion.

“Land belonging to temples should be used only for Hindu religion based activities such as establishing Veda patasalas, Agama patasalas, schools to teach Thevaram or Divyaprabandam, and setting up gohsalas (shelter for cows),” says Vedantam.