After a legal ordeal of 17 years, the trustee of Sri Sitaramanjaneya Bhajan Mandir in Tirupathi rural mandal, has got back the piece of land belonging to the temple, which was illegally sold to a third party, earlier.
The temple is located on Sarojini Devi Road in Tirupati. It has 5 acres and 56 cents of land, in survey number 541, at Venkatramapuram of Kuntrapakam village accounts in Tirupati Rural mandal.
In 1953, the ancestors of the present Trustee, Bandaru Venkatramana, donated the concerned land and a registered trust was formed, with the shrine having rightful possession over the stretch.
The trustees and their heirs, who is looking after the temple, are spending the revenue generated from the land, on the daily rituals of the temple.
But the actual troubles began, after the land was sold to the third party in 1998, on the pretext of an auction and a section of the revenue staff, had reportedly removed the name of Anjaneya from the Adangal and added the names of S. Sampurnamma and Thota Padmaja in place of it and even issued a Pattadar passbook.
Speaking on the issue, the Trustee and president of Sri Seetharamanjaneya Bhajana Mandiram, Bandaru Venkatramana said, “We raised the issue before the court of the Revenue Divisional Officer and pointed out the inaccuracies in the record. We also brought to the court’s notice that auction or sale of temple land required the prior permission and a gazette notification of the Endowments Commissioner according to the Andhra Pradesh Endowments Act 1987, which did not happen in this case.”
Adding to this, a plaque in the temple, mentions that, to meet the requirements of the temple, his ancestor Bandaru Chengaiah donated the land on 23/02/1953.
Reacting to the controversy, Venkatramana said, “Convinced by the arguments and the facts raised, the then RDO V.
Veerabrahmaiah, in his order dated November 30, set aside the orders issued by the Tahsildar of Tirupati Rural and declared that the Pattadar passbooks or title deeds issued for the land as null and void. The land was donated in the name of the Lord and will continue to remain in his name.”
By Phani Ch
