The Madras High Court has ordered the creation of a committee headed by retired judges to oversee the administration of the Chidambaram Nataraja Temple, while directing action to protect its historic structures and recover temple properties under encroachment.
The order was issued after petitions were filed against a Tamil Nadu government direction allowing devotees to climb the Kanakasabha at the temple for darshan. Petitions supporting the government’s direction were also filed. The matter was heard by Justices Jayachandran and Manoharan, according to a report by Dinamalar.
The court said the temple had not been properly administered by the Podhu Dikshitars after its management was handed back to them under a 2014 order, the report said. To monitor the administration, the court ordered a committee headed by retired High Court judge Bharathidasan, with retired judge Sureshkumar as vice-chairperson.
Retired IAS officer Rajendran has been appointed as a member. The secretary of the Podhu Dikshitars Association and the secretary of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department have been included as ex-officio members.
The committee structure places temple management within a broader oversight framework involving retired judicial officers, a former civil servant, representatives of the temple’s traditional management group and the state’s Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department. The order therefore addresses not only the immediate dispute over access to the Kanakasabha but also questions about administration and conservation of the temple complex.
The court also recorded concerns about construction carried out inside the temple by the Dikshitars. According to the report, the court said such works had caused damage to ancient structures. It directed that unnecessary structures constructed without permission and obstructing the temple’s historic buildings should be removed after consultation with the Tamil Nadu heritage monuments authority.
The direction is significant because the Chidambaram temple is both an active place of worship and a historic built complex. Changes to its internal spaces, access routes or structures can affect worship practices, visitor movement and the conservation of heritage fabric. The court’s order links these issues to formal administrative supervision rather than treating them as a standalone access dispute.
The court further directed that steps be taken to recover temple properties under encroachment with the assistance of the district administration. That instruction brings local government machinery into the process and extends the committee’s oversight beyond the temple premises to land and assets associated with the institution.
The immediate implementation of the order will involve constituting the committee, coordinating with the heritage monuments authority on unauthorised structures and working with the district administration on properties identified as being under encroachment. The court’s directions, as reported, do not provide further details in the supplied material on the committee’s tenure or the timetable for these actions.
