DHARMAPURI: A proposal for constructing a temple for ‘Bharat Mata’ in Dharmapuri district is only on paper, without any progress on the project since 2012.
On Wednesday, the district administration observed the 134 birth anniversary of the freedom fighter Subramania Siva, at his memorial place here where his body was cremated at Papparapatti.
Tamil Nadu Higher Education minister K.Anbalagan, district collector K.Vivekanandan and others paid floral tributes to the great leader, who was the first person to be imprisoned in entire erstwhile Madras state by then British rulers for sedition charges.
Subramania Siva, born at Vathalagundu near Dindigul, was imprisoned in Tiruchy jail and then moved to Salem prison. The British did not allow Siva to travel in train because of his leprosy status, it may be recalled. In 1921, Subramania Siva managed to reach Papparapatti and stayed in the house of Chinnamuthu, a strong supporter of India’s freedom movement. Here, Subramania Siva had planned to construct a fitting temple for 'Bharat Mata' for which Chinnamuthu had gifted six acres of his land. The foundation stone was also laid way back in 1923 for the temple, but the work was stopped because of Subramania Siva’s death in 1925. Decades later in 2012, the former collector of Dharmapuri district, Ms. R. Lilly had announced the government's plan to build the temple to fulfill the dreams of the freedom fighter. But, this announcement till date lies only on paper, making no progress.
