The Madras High Court has directed the Thanjavur District Collector to remove a statue of E V Ramasamy Periyar from the land of Arulmigu Brahmasirakandeeswarar Temple at Kandiyur and relocate it to another suitable site within four weeks.
A Division Bench comprising Justices P Velmurugan and K K Ramakrishnan issued the direction after hearing a writ petition concerning the statue, which stands near the perimeter of the temple in Kandiyur, in Thiruvaiyaru taluk of Thanjavur district.
The court’s order records that a status report submitted by the Thanjavur District Collector showed the statue had been installed on temple land rather than on government “poramboke” land. The court also held that permission had not been obtained from the temple authority, the District Collector or any other competent authority before the installation.
“Since the statue is installed in the temple land without obtaining permission either from the temple authority or from the District Collector or from any other competent authority, the 4th respondent/District Collector is directed to remove the said statue safely from the temple land and also place it in some other suitable place within a period of four weeks from today and file a report,” the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court said.
The case was filed by Rama Ravikumar, who sought the removal of the statue in line with a recommendation made by the Joint Commissioner of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department. The petition also requested that the court fix a time frame for implementing the recommendation.
The order places responsibility for the relocation on the district administration and requires the statue to be moved safely. It does not specify the alternative location, directing the authorities to identify another suitable place.
The statue depicts E V Ramasamy, who lived from 1879 to 1973 and is widely known as Periyar. He was a reformist Dravidian leader and iconoclast. The statue had reportedly been installed decades ago near the temple boundary.
The order also connects the dispute to the administrative distinction between temple property and government land. The Collector’s report, as recorded by the court, established that the site was part of the temple land, leading the Bench to direct action on the installation and relocation.
The court has directed the registry to list the matter after four weeks so that compliance with the order can be reported. The District Collector must therefore complete the relocation and submit the required report within that period.
