Three statues of Lord Murugan, all over 100 feet tall, would be installed at three temples in the State, Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable (HR and CE) Endowments P.K. Sekarbabu announced in the Assembly on Thursday.
A statue of Lord Murugan, measuring 184 feet tall, would be installed at the Arulmigu Subramaniyaswamy temple at Marudhamalai in Coimbatore district, along with a museum and parking facilities, at a cost of ₹110 crore, he said.
While one statue, measuring 180 feet tall, would be installed at the Arulmigu Velayudhaswamy temple at Thindal in Erode district at a cost of ₹30 crore, another measuring 114 feet tall, would come up at the Arulmigu Subramaniyaswamy temple at Timiri in Ranipet district at ₹6.83 crore, he said.
No darshan fee
The Minister also announced that fee would not be collected for special darshan on special occasions and festival days at Kapaleeswarar temple in Mylapore (Maha Shivaratri), Subramania Swamy temple in Tiruchendur (Kanda Sashti festival), Dhandayudhapani Swamy temple, Palani (Panguni Uthiram), Ranganatha Swamy temple, Srirangam (Vaikunta Ekadesi), Subramaniya Swamy temple, Tiruttani (Aadi Kiruthigai), Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple, Madurai (Meenakshi Thirukkalyanam), Ramanathaswamy temple, Rameswaram (Aadi Amavasai), Bannari Mariyamman temple in Bannari (Kundam festival), Sankaranarayana Swamy temple in Sankarankoil (Aadi Thapasu), and Thiruvarutpragasa Vallalaar Dheiva Nilaiyam, Vadalur (Thaipoosam).
On the lines of the Gold Investment Scheme, the government is planning to melt the unused and unusable silver items in the temples under the control of HR&CE Department into pure silver bars.
The Minister also said work was in progress to set up an integrated shelter for cows at the Kovilpathagai Sundararaja Perumal temple in Avadi, Arunachaleswarar temple in Tiruvannamalai, Vedha Pureeshwarar temple in Cheyyar, and Aalkondamal temple in Somavarapatti.
“For the elephants which served in the temples and attained mukthi, construction of monuments on the premises of 11 temples are being carried out,” he added.
Boiled milk for children
Mr. Sekarbabu said boiled milk would be distributed to the children of devotees who come to the temples managed by the HR and CE Department.
This initiative will cover major temples in Tiruchendur, Srirangam, Samayapuram, Tiruvannamalai, Tiruttani, Anamalai, Bannari, Thiruparankundram, Marudhamalai, and Periyapalayam.
Published – April 18, 2025 12:18 am IST