They take up paddy cultivation on its land and help it become self-sufficient
The paddy will be ready for harvest in a week to 10 days.
They take up paddy cultivation on its land and help it become self-sufficient
Over the last two years, the Arunachaleswarar temple in Tiruvannamalai has not purchased any rice for its use — it has become self-sufficient thanks to the staff taking up cultivation on a piece of land belonging to the temple in Dhanakotipuram village in Porkunam. This is also a change from the usual practice of temples letting out their lands on lease.
The temple has, however, leased out other lands to private parties, after retaining a 40-acre portion for its own use. Agricultural activities are taken up only once a year on most lands in the district. The presence of three open wells, three bore wells and a large irrigation tank on their land has encouraged the temple staff to look at this option. “Over the last 10-15 years, various executive officers/joint commissioners encouraged us and what began with just 2-3 acres has now touched 32 acres of paddy cultivation. Our former superintendent Badrachalam guided us. Most of us are from agricultural background and manage the farm. We employ labourers for various operations like planting, weeding and harvesting,” said a staff, who has been with the temple for over 32 years. This year, despite the heavy rain, the crops on this land and another 400 acres of private lands were saved by strengthening the bund of the tank using donor funds. Several years ago, the temple used to sell the paddy it cultivated to the Civil Supplies Corporation and buy rice from the proceeds of that sale. However, that practice was changed a few years ago and the staff now grow white Ponni and CO 51 varieties of paddy. The temple requires rice for annadhanam (free food for devotees), to make offerings to the deities (neivedhyam or amudhu padaithal), to make prasadams and also for annadhanam in Aadhi Arunachaleswarar and Balasubramaniaswamy temples.
In the last two Fasli years, the temple used 14,450 kg of rice for neivedhyam, 21,146 kg for use in making prasadam, 24,089 kg in annadhanam. It used to buy all this rice at ₹50- ₹55/kg.
Apart from these, the cattle in the goshala are given rice bran and broken rice as part of their feed. Since there is an abundance of straw, the temple also makes a saving on this count. The cow dung is used in the field as manure, which helps them reduce the amount spent on farming.
Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments P.K. Sekarbabu, who visited the lands recently, said he was delighted to witness such an effort. “The staff do it as a labour of love. If needed, we can dig more open wells and sink borewells on agricultural lands belonging to the temple,” he said.
They take up paddy cultivation on its land and help it become self-sufficient The paddy will be ready for harvest in a week to 10 days. They take up paddy cultivation on its land and help it become self-sufficient Over the last two years, the Arunachaleswarar temple in Tiruvannamalai has not purchased any rice for its use — it has become self-sufficient thanks to the staff taking up cultivation on a piece of land belonging to the temple in Dhanakotipuram village in Porkunam. This is also a change from the usual practice of temples letting out their lands on lease. The temple has, however, leased out other lands to private parties, after retaining a 40-acre portion for its own use. Agricultural activities are taken up only once a year on most lands in the district. The presence of three open wells, three bore wells and a large irrigation tank on their land has encouraged the temple staff to look at this option. “Over the last 10-15 years, various executive officers/joint commissioners encouraged us and what began with just 2-3 acres has now touched 32 acres of paddy cultivation. Our former superintendent Badrachalam guided us. Most of us are from agricultural background and manage the farm. We employ labourers for various operations like planting, weeding and harvesting,” said a staff, who has been with the temple for over 32 years. This year, despite the heavy rain, the crops on this land and another 400 acres of private lands were saved by strengthening the bund of the tank using donor funds. Several years ago, the temple used to sell the paddy it cultivated to the Civil Supplies Corporation and buy rice from the proceeds of that sale. However, that practice was changed a few years ago and the staff now grow white Ponni and CO 51 varieties of paddy. The temple requires rice for annadhanam (free food for devotees), to make offerings to the deities (neivedhyam or amudhu padaithal), to make prasadams and also for annadhanam in Aadhi Arunachaleswarar and Balasubramaniaswamy temples. In the last two Fasli years, the temple used 14,450 kg of rice for neivedhyam, 21,146 kg for use in making prasadam, 24,089 kg in annadhanam. It used to buy all this rice at ₹50- ₹55/kg. Apart from these, the cattle in the goshala are given rice bran and broken rice as part of their feed. Since there is an abundance of straw, the temple also makes a saving on this count. The cow dung is used in the field as manure, which helps them reduce the amount spent on farming. Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments P.K. Sekarbabu, who visited the lands recently, said he was delighted to witness such an effort. “The staff do it as a labour of love. If needed, we can dig more open wells and sink borewells on agricultural lands belonging to the temple,” he said. Our code of editorial values