SRIRANGAM, TAMIL NADU, INDIA, October 9, 2008: Pay or move out is the ultimatum given by leaders the famous Lord Ranganatha temple to over 3,600 families residing on temple land. Ownership of the land was bestowed on the temple during the British regime in 1866 and was confirmed again in 1910. Ever since people can remember, they had lived there without paying any rent.
This 1,000-year-old Vaishnavite temple near Tiruchirapalli, 350 km from Chennai, owns a 98-acre property. Over the centuries, shops and buildings sprung up in the area.
“We have waited for long enough. But at some point we have to establish the Lord’s ownership rights in the temples. That is why we asked those who had constructed houses and shops to pay a decent rent for the land,” temple authorities told PTI.
The temple’s holdings came from land grants by various kings. It has the world’s tallest temple tower at its Southern gateway, at 235 feet high and has seven prakaras (rectangular enclosures) with the seventh one being Srirangam’s sanctum.