madurai observing that the commissioner of hindu religious and charitable endowments hr and ce department is dutybound to ensure that temples and their properties are properly administered madras high court on wednesday directed the authorities to undertake a comprehensive survey of the temple properties of subramaniya swamy temple at tiruchendur in tuticorin district and ascertain the nature of encroachment and alienation of the samea division bench of justice r mahadevan and justice j sathya narayana prasad observed that not only the government and the board of trustees but also the devotees should be vigilant to prevent any encroachment on temple land parcels various land parcels of temples in tamil nadu have been encroached by third parties and are being used for purposes other than religious and temple activities though the authorities are taking steps to retrieve the land from the encroachers it is inadequate as it is evident from the cases filed before the courtthe court has repeatedly held that temples in tamil nadu are not only a source of identification of the ancient culture but also a testimony of knowledge and talent in the field of arts science and sculpture and a conduit for spiritual activities as well the properties of the religious institutions more particularly that of the temples have to be maintained properly in order to derive more income to spend for their betterment observed the judgesthe court made the observations while disposing of a public interest litigation pil filed by t velmurugan in 2015 the petitioner sought for a direction to safeguard the properties belonging to the tiruchendur temple and prevent them from being alienated in favour of third partiesthe judges directed the hr and ce authorities to undertake a comprehensive survey and if any encroachment is found immediate action shall be taken by invoking section 78 of the hr and ce act it is made clear that pendency of civil suit if any between the private parties and the temple will not be a bar for retrieving the properties of the temple and to take possession of those properties in accordance with law observed the judges