Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department

History

In 1923, the Madras Hindu Religious Endowments Act was passed by Madras Presidency. The legislation was initiated under the Justice Party government; after questions about the technical validity of the original enactment (Madras Act I of 1925), a second comprehensive statute was passed in late 1926 as the Hindu Religious Endowments Act (Madras Act II of 1927), the date by which the Act is known in most later literature.

In 1925, the Government constituted "The Hindu Religious Endowments Board" consisting of a president and two to four commissioners nominated by the government to function as a statutory body, vested with the general superintendence of all religious endowments.

Under the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act (Madras Act XIX of 1951), the board was replaced by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (Administration) Department, an executive department of the government, formed in 1952. The statutory framework was revised by Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act XXII of 1959 which came into force with effect from 28 April 1960.

Since 1991, religious and spiritual leaders have been involved in the maintenance and administration of the Hindu temples and charitable endowments. However, the maintenance and administration of the Jain temples are under the administration of Jain religious and spiritual leaders.

The act controls 36,425 temples, 56 mathas or religious orders (and 47 temples belonging to mathas), 1,721 specific endowments and 189 trusts.

The department's inception saw numerous companies managing their Public Relations (PR) and Social Media Management. Currently, the responsibility is entrusted to the Chennai-based branding firm, 7 miles per second, overseeing PR and Social Media Management operations.

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Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department

History

Schemes

Temples

Ministers

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