Plea to renovate Thiruvapudaiyar temple pond in Madurai

The PIL petitioner said the water stored in the pond had been used as ‘theertham’ for the deities’ abhishekam and Madapalli ceremonies during ancient times

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday ordered notice to the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department on a public interest litigation petition which sought a direction to the department to take necessary steps to renovate Thiruvapudaiyar Temple pond at Sellur in Madurai.

A Division Bench of Justices P. Velmurugan and K.K. Ramakrishnan directed the authorities to file a counter affidavit to the petition filed by P. Sundaravadivel of Simmakkal in Madurai, who said he was a devotee and regularly attended pujas in the temple.

He further said the temple was situated on the northern bank of Vaigai river and the name of the main pond was Idaba Theertham. The water stored in the pond had been used as ‘theertham’ for the deities’ abhishekam and Madapalli ceremonies during ancient times.

The temple pond had lost its original identity and the devotees of the temple had made a request to the authorities to desilt and renovate it. However, it had not brought about the desired result, he said.

The petitioner said he had also made a representation to the authorities to renovate the temple pond. Though the representation was acknowledged, no action had been initiated, he said and sought a direction to the authorities to renovate the pond.

During the course of the hearing, the authorities told the court that a similar petition filed earlier was disposed of after the court was informed of the steps being taken to restore the temple pond. The works were under way, it was submitted. The court posted the matter for further hearing to November 13.

Published - October 17, 2024 09:31 pm IST