Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department

Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, Tamil Nadu

இந்து சமய அறநிலையத் துறை
Agency overview
Formed	1960
Jurisdiction	Tamil Nadu
Headquarters	Chennai
Minister responsible	sevvoor Ramachandran[1], Minister of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department
Agency executive	Apurva Varma IAS [2], Secretary to Government
Website	http://www.tnhrce.org

The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department is one of the department of Government of Tamil Nadu which manages and controls the temple administration within the state. Department was constituted

History

In 1923, Madras Hindu Religious Endowments Act was passed by Madras Presidency. In 1925, the Government constituted "The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Board" consisting of a President and two to four Commissioners nominated by the Government to function as a statutory body. Subsequently, it was modified and in 1960 it became The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department by Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act XXII of 1959 which came into force with effect from 1 January 1960.^[3]

From 1991, no religious and spiritual leaders are involved in maintenance and administration of the Hindu Temples and Charitable Endowments. However, the maintenance and administration of the Jain temples are under the administration of Jain religious and spiritual leaders.

The act controls 36,425 temples, 56 mutts or religious orders (and 47 temples belonging to mutts), 1,721 specific endowments and 189 trusts.

Schemes

Annadhanam Scheme is conducted in 518 Temples and 50 to 300 devotees are provided with mid day meals after Uchikala Pooja. In every year Special Rejuvenation camp for mutt and temple elephants to maintain their balanced physical and mental health.^[4] Spiritual and Moral Instruction classes were conducted in 485 temples by scholars. Various welfare schemes for temple employees and Nathaswara artists were also performed by this department.^[5] This department publishes an electronic magazine called 'Thiru Koil magazine'^[6] at its official website.

Temples

Below are the few maintained Temples

• Annamalaiyar Temple, Thiruvannamalai
• Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai
• Palani Murugan Temple, Palani
• Ramanathaswamy Temple, Rameshwaram
• Jalakandeswarar Temple, Vellore
• Baghavathiamman Temple,Kanyakumari
• Thanumalayaswamy Temple,Suchindrum

See also

• Department of Tourism, Culture and Religious Endowments (Tamil Nadu)

References