Arulmigu Dandayudhapani Swamy Temple at Palani, known globally as the Lord Muruga Temple, atop the Palani Hills in Tamil Nadu’s Dindigul district, is a ticking time bomb because of serious shortcomings in safety and security measures followed by the temple authorities. Vinod C Menon, founder member of the National Disaster Management Authority expressed his shock over the safety and security scenario at Palani.
Any disaster in this shrine could lead to thousands of pilgrims losing their lives, said people residing in Palani. Safety guidelines have been given a blatant violation by the authorities of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) Department, a branch of the Government that administers the temple which has a history dating back to 3,000 BC.
The Temple shot into fame because of the material with which the idol of Lord Muruga has been built. “The idol of the deity in Palani Temple has been built of a rare combination of nine minerals (navabhasahanam in Tamil) , a compound made by Bhoga, an ascetic believed to have lived in the period 3,000 BC. This idol has many medicinal properties. The proportion of the materials with which it has been built is purely based on science,” said Parappanangadi Unnikrishna Panicker, thanthric and vedic scholar who through an Ashtamangala Prasna, prevented the Tamil Nadu Government from its move to replace the ancient idol with a statue made of 200 kg gold.
Thousands of devotees make it to Palani on a daily basis from all over India and abroad. Even the vehicles and houses of DMK leaders, sworn atheists, spot the picture of Lord Muruga. There are thousands of Murugans, Saravanans, Subramanians , Dandayudapanis in the DMK as well as the Dravida Kazhakam.
The decision of the Tamil Nadu Government to set up a kitchen inside the temple for preparing food for distribution under the Annadana scheme has sent shockwaves across Palani as well as among the devotees. “It is against all conventions and traditions. No one can set up kitchens inside the temple premises. Only the offerings to the deity could be made inside the temple in a separate area,” said Panicker.
T R Ramesh, president, Temple Worshippers Society, said the Agama Sasthra has clearly stated that community kitchens should never be built inside the temple. “Imagine what would happen in the eventuality of a fire accident. There are hundreds of LPG cylinders being used in the kitchen,” said Ramesh.
The kitchen is functioning close to the devotees standing in queue for getting a darshan, pointed out Anirudh Garga, a practicing lawyer. “In the eventuality of a fire, all the devotees waiting in the queue will get charred to death as there are no emergency exits,” said a worried Garga.
A free-for- all system prevails inside the temple. Last Saturday saw a devotee from Puducherry making it to the shrine with a letter of recommendation from Chief Minister V Narayanasamy asking the temple authorities to facilitate the bearer of the letter to get a darshan of the Lord. The main priests would distribute the holy ash only if they are given cash and that too in front of the sanctum sanctorum.