Chennai: The Madras High Court has ordered two government counsel to inspect tomorrow the Ananthasaras tank in the Sri Varadaraja Perumal Temple in Kanchipuram, from which the Athi Varadar idol was taken out, and submit a report.
Ashokan of Mambalam had moved the court to have the temple tank desilted now that the Athi Varadar idol has been taken out of it and is giving darshan in the Vasantha Mandapam of the temple.
He said all these years, the tank had not been desilted because the idol was buried there. Now that the idol is no longer there, he prayed to the court to direct the authorities to desilt the tank.
But the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department (HR&CE), in its reply to the petition during court proceedings, said the tank was cleaned before taking out the Athi Varadar idol and, hence, there was no need to desilt it now. The submission was made on behalf of the HR&CE commissioner.
Taking cognisance of the submission, the court ordered the counsel to inspect the tank tomorrow (7 August) and submit the report to the court.
The Athi Varadar deity is taken out of the Ananthasaras tank only once in 40 years. The idol was taken out of the temple tank in June and kept for darshan from 1 July in sayana thirukolam (reclining pose) and from 1 August in ninra thriukolam (standing posture).
The darshan is for a total of 48 days after which the idol will be returned to the tank and the tank filled up with water.