Source: HPI
KAUAI, HAWAII, July 26, 2009: Hinduism Today is trying to find out how many Hindu temples are under government administration in each state of India.
We know for Tamil Nadu that 38,465 temples (including 17 Jain temples), 56 mutts (ashrams) and other endowments are under the administration of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Board. Altogether 478,000 acres of land belong to these institutions. An informative paper on the activities of this Board can be downloaded at: http://www.tn.gov.in/policynotes/pdf/HR_and%20_CE.pdf.
In some areas, the temple administration may be at levels below the state level. For example, the Travancore Devaswom Board in Kerala administers 1194 Hindu temples in the erstwhile princely state of Travancore in southern Kerala.
The intent is to assemble a list of all Hindu temples under State or local government control in India. If you can help, kindly e-mail ar@hindu.org
We will publish in HPI whatever information we find.