Tamil archanai ticket share for priests hiked to 60%

CHENNAI: The state has offered to pay 60 per cent of archanai ticket fare collected by HR&CE Temples to the priests performing archani in Tamil to promote poojas in Tamil.

Replying to the debate on the demand for grants for his department in the Assembly on Wednesday, HR&CE Minister PK Sekarbabu said, “To promote Annai Tamizhil Vazhibadu scheme, 60 per cent of archanai ticket share will be given to the Archakas who perform Tamil archanai.”

Currently, the department pays 10 per cent of the ticket share for performing the archanai in Tamil, which is available in 48 major temples.

Sekarbabu, who made a whopping 165 announcements covering the establishment of goshalas to state-sponsored pilgrimage from Rameswaram to Kasi for 200 pilgrims per year and the development of rope cars for hill temples, said that the day-long Annadaanam scheme would be extended to Ramanathaswamy Temple in Rameswaram, Arunachaleswarar Temple in Tiruvannamalai and Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple in Madurai. The Minister also announced that the Annadaanam scheme will be introduced in 10 more temples and Annadaanam halls would be constructed in 14 temples at a cost of Rs 11 crore. Describing the DMK regime as the golden era of the department, he said that Oru Kala Pooja scheme will be extended to 2,000 more financially weak temples at a cost of Rs 40 crore and archakas working in the temples would be provided with an incentive of Rs 1,000 per month.

The Minister also announced new Raja Gopurams for Bannari Mariamman Temple in Erode, Elaiyaperumal Temple in Namakkal, Vanabathra Kaliamman Temple in Coimbatore, Koneswaraswamy Temple in Tiruvarur, Angalamman Temple in Namakkal and Kailasanathar Temple in Tiruvarur.