WATCH | Iyyappa devotees beaten up inside Srirangam Ranganatha Swamy temple for questioning long wait

Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai on Tuesday shared a video alleging that Iyyappa devotees were beaten up inside the Srirangam Ranganatha Swamy temple by the staff of the state government’s Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department (HR&CE) for questioning the long waiting time in the queue and the special treatment meted out to a select few for ‘darshan’.

“A government which has no faith in Hindu Dharma has no business to be in Hindu Temples. The Iyyappa devotees who have kept 42 days of Vrath, with all devotion, wanted to pray to Ranganatha Swamy after their return from Sabarimala. The Iyyappa devotees questioned the long wait in the queue and special treatment to a select few. They were assaulted near the sanctum sanctorum & which resulted in bloodshed inside the Temple premises,” Annamalai posted on X, formerly Twitter.

A government which has no faith in Hindu Dharma has no business to be in Hindu Temples.

The Iyyappa devotees who have had 42 days of Vrath, with all devotion, wanted to pray to Ranganatha Swamy after their return from Sabarimala.

The Iyyappa devotees questioned the long wait… pic.twitter.com/4BbNii9La5

— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) December 12, 2023

The BJP leader condemned the incident and asserted that this is the reason his party wants the Hindu temple administration to be moved out of the HR & CE department.

“This arrogance of the HR&CE department is one of the many reasons why Tamil Nadu BJP has been wanting them out of temple administration,” he said. He also announced immediate protests against the HR & CE department.

“Tamil Nadu BJP’s Trichy district unit will today hold a protest outside the Srirangam Ranganatha Swamy Temple against the TN HR&CE department, demanding the strictest action against those spoiling the sanctity of the Temple,” Annamalai said.

But, the HR&CE department which administers over 30,000 Hindu temples across the state issued a clarification saying that a few devotees behaved in an unruly manner inside the Gayathri Mandapam of the Srirangam Temple and they assaulted the security personnel when they questioned the devotees for hitting the ‘hundi’ and raising slogans. This led to a scuffle between the two groups.

Following the incident, the temple was shut for ‘darshan’. According to local priests, special pujas need to be carried out as blood was spilt inside the temple premises and the sanctum sanctorum.