At a time when the portrait of
Thiruvalluvar
in a saffron robe has sparked a political controversy drawing national attention, the lone temple for the poet-saint, in Chennai’s Mylapore area, is a shambles.
The temple, maintained by the Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department, is suffering due to the apathy of the authorities concerned the compound wall has become a dumpyard and the entrance lacks a proper surface, causing miseries for devotees.
A visit by TOI to the Ekambaranathar temple that houses a shrine with an idol of Thiruvalluvar found human waste inside the temple. Beer bottles were littered around the compound wall that doubles up as an unpaid parking lot with an abandoned SUV the lone occupant. At the entrance stood a tricyle filled with trash and mounds surrounding it.
Entering the premises is a hassle for devotees, having to negotiate the vast potholed surface. Loads of construction waste, including stones, dumped inside compound the problem for those choosing to visit the shrine.
Sources say it is the only temple dedicated to Thiruvalluvar in the state for worship and also has an idol of his Vasuki. “As per a theory, Thiruvalluvar was born in Mylapore and this temple has been in existence in his memory for centuries,” a source said. Wen the authorities had a consecration (kumbabhishekam) done in 1973 during the tenure of late chief minister M Karunanidhi, three statues marking Thiruvallur’s birth place were placed in the shrine, he added.
When contacted, HR& CE commissioner K Phanindra Reddy said that steps had already been initiated to renovate the temple. “The archaeology report and other information were placed before the regional committee during a meeting held last week. A consecration (kumbabhishekam) ceremony would be held for the temple in three to four months,” he told TOI
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