Minister inaugurates reconstruction work of ancient temple

HR & CE Minister PK Sekar Babu inaugurated reconstruction work of over 800-1000 year old Satheeswarar- Thayalnayagi Amman Temple, at Kaspapet, coming under the HRCE department,  in Modakurichi block, on Monday morning in the presence of HRCE Commissioner J Kumaragurubaran,  Collector H Krishnaunni,  HRCE Joint Commissioner Paranjothi, assistant commissioner Annakodi, assistant divisional engineer K Kaneeswari, ASI retd assistant director Subramanian, Tahsildar Damodaran,  temple EOs Arulmurugan and 
Sugumar. 

According to temple thiruppani committee president PKN Chandrasekar, the temple, constructed by granite stones fully by the Chola kings, was in dilapidated condition so that the government barred devotees to enter the temple for the past 20 years. So, the locals sought permission from the government to rebuild the temple. But, in 2001, the temple came under the Centre's Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Now only, both ASI and HR & CE Department gave consent to rebuild the  temple without affecting the ancientness of the temple. So,  a temple renovation committee of devotees was created to rebuild the temple with Rajagopuram  at a cost of Rs 4 cr by collecting donations from public. Already  Rs 1 cr donation was mobilised from public and many already came forward to donate. So,  it is planned to complete the work within 3 years. 

The ancient temple has 125 acre farm land in the village. But at present none remit any rent to the temple due to its abandoned condition so far. So,  the minister was requested to direct the officials to identify the land and ensure rent from the users to the temple. The temple has many inscriptions and they were kept in the Kalaimahal school,  Erode, by historian Pulavar Raju. So,  he would be asked to write a book on the history of the temple. Next to the Siva temple,  Sri Varadharaja Perumal temple is existed. 

The ancient temple was also in poor condition for the past many years. 
The locals constituted thiruppani committee and rebuild the temple fully at a cost of Rs 3 crore and performed Mahasamprokshanam 3 years back. Now many devotees from various areas were visiting the temple where many marriages were performed regularly. 

 So,  the Thiruppani committee planned to buy a land between Siva and Perumal temples to build a marriage hall after the Maha Kumbabishekam of Siva temple to help public to arrange marriage at less expenditure. Nearby Perumal and Siva temples, another ancient Selliandi Amman temple is existed. So,  once the Siva temple is rebuilt fully,  the entire area of the village, located near by Erode Corporation, would become a major pilgrim and tourism spot also, he hoped.