The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department has cancelled the administrative sanction granted for the construction of 29 wedding halls and 17 commercial complexes, worth ₹246 crore, using excess funds from temples across the State.

The works include commercial complexes that were to be constructed using funds from the Arunachaleswarar Temple in Tiruvannamalai (₹6.40 crore) and the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple in Madurai (₹3 crore), as well as wedding halls at the Dhandayudhaswamy Temple in Palani (₹9.80 crore) and the Sankaranarayanaswamy Temple in Sankarankoil (₹9.80 crore).

These works were part of announcements made in the Assembly from 2022-23 onwards, but construction had not been taken up so far. The decision follows various orders of the Madras High Court (Madurai Bench).

According to official sources, the Commissioner of HR&CE wrote to the State government seeking the removal of these announcements from the Assembly records, following which they were removed.

A senior official said the funds could instead be utilised to provide better amenities for devotees. “We want to accord top priority to queue management, maintaining cleanliness in temple premises, the provision of prasadam through the respective temple devasthanams, toilets, clean drinking water, annadhanam halls and devotee rest houses, among other facilities,” the official said.

A former HR&CE official, who welcomed the move, said that the construction of wedding halls and commercial complexes was a deviation from the provisions of the HR&CE Act. “Temple funds can be used only for charitable and spiritual purposes, and wedding halls and commercial complexes do not come under the ambit of the Act. The department should have a regular programme to clean all temples. Many old temples face problems due to pigeons, rats, bats and cockroaches,” he said.