Chilkur temple goes to State

Hyderabad, Feb. 25: The State government will nominate a board of trustees in three weeks to take over the famed Chilkur Balaji temple. The endowments department said the board would be constituted soon on High Court directions and overruled strong opposition from temple archaka M.V. Soundar Rajan and locals. A notice at the temple said that the department was taking over management of the temple and a trust board would be constituted within 20 days.

The temple is being managed by archakas and locals of Chilkur village, 20 km from the city in Moinabad mandal in Ranga Reddy district. The temple has no hundi and is popular among young devotees seeking the Lord’s help for US visas. The temple has been under the administrative control of the endowments department for several decades, assistant commissioner, endowments department, Ranga Reddy district, said.

The temple was registered under the old Hyderabad Endowments Regulation vide Muntakab No 431, dated November 18, 1964; under Section 6 (c) (ii) of the repealed Act of 17 of 1966 on January 1, 1966; and republished under Section 6 (c) (ii) of the Act 30 of 1987 on May 28, 1987. Referring to the archakas’ protest, an endowments official said: “The decision to take over the temple is in conformity with the High Court judgement. The general public are requested to cooperate with the authorities.”

One N. Basaveshwara Rao had filed a petition in the High Court alleging that the endowments department was not implementing the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act 30 of 1987 and was not appointing a trust board and an executive officer to the temple.

While delivering the judgement on February 10, 2006, the court directed the assistant commissioner, endowments department, Ranga Reddy district, under whose jurisdiction the temple is situated, to constitute the board of trustees to the temple under section 15 of the Act 30 of 1987 within three months.

But archaka Dr Soundar Rajan opposed the takeover. “We will intensify the agitation. Why are they targeting Chilkur temple? Why don’t they leave the temple like the Peddamma temple at Jubilee Hills and the Saibaba temples,” he asked. He added, “We do not have a hundi nor do we collect fees from devotees or shopkeepers. Will the endowments department run the temple on the same lines?”