TAMIL NADU, INDIA, November 13, 2024 (Swarajya): The Nataraja temple in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, is run by the Dikshitars. Does this shrine provide the template to be replicated across the country for the management of free temples? After the row over the alleged adulteration of the Tirupati laddu, there is renewed interest in the debate over who should be controlling Hindu temples. Governments or devotees? While the idea of freeing temples from government control has received a lot of support, there is the question of how a free temple would function. Those opposing the idea of freeing temples say that it could lead to certain groups dominating the temple, discrimination on the basis of caste, corruption, and a lack of accountability. While the debate continues, Swarajya visited the Nataraja temple in Tamil Nadu’s Chidambaram to see how a large and ancient free temple functions.

The Nataraja temple in Chidambaram is run by the Dikshitars, who have been recognised as a religious denomination by the Supreme Court. Their right over the temple was the subject of a long drawn legal battle and ended in their favor just about a decade back. Does their administration address the concerns raised by those opposed to freeing temples? Can the Chidambaram model be applied to other temples if they become free of state control? While the issue of who would administer the Nataraja temple in Chidambaram has been settled after a 2014 Supreme Court judgment, the nitty-gritty of the day-to-day administration is taken care of by the temple law, called koil sattam in Tamil. The law, which is followed till date with modifications made from time to time, is remarkable given it was written down and printed way back in 1849, even before the British government enacted the first HRCE Act. Under this law, the temple has been functioning very well.

Read much more on this complex issue at source.
https://swarajyamag.com/culture/is-chidambaram-the-right-role-model-for-temples-freed-from-government-control

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