Hindu Temple to Be Demolished Lifted to New Site near Vellore in Tamil Nadu

Sree Aadhi Bethaballi Gangai Amman temple is located at Ayyanur village on the Ambur–Vaniyambadi Road near Vellore in Tamil Nadu. The temple was to be demolished due to highway expansion work. But devotees of the area other ideas and they decided to lift the temple to a new site. The temple is located around 230 km from Chennai.

Deccan Chronicle Reports  

 “We were really upset and shared the news with the devotees. They suggested that we decide by lot on whether we should allow the demolition or retain the structure and move to a new location.  The chit that was drawn, which we believe is the divine intervention, suggested that the shrine be kept intact and moved to a new destination,” said Moorthy. 

After it was agreed upon to move the shrine, the temple trust management purchased a private plot measuring 80 by 40 feet that was located 40 feet behind the present location for Rs 7 lakhs and engaged engineers from TDBD Private Limited, a Haryana-based structure relocation firm. “The only concern for us was the huge cost of relocating the shrine,” Moorthy said. 

But surprisingly for the temple trust, their financial woes melted away one after another. “The engineers agreed to relocate the temple to its new destination for a meager Rs 2.5 lakhs as it was for a public cause. Soon after, we received a compensation of Rs. 10.40 lakhs from the NHAI, all within a span of a few weeks as if it was divine intervention,” Mo­orthy said. 

On January 1, 2014, a team of 20 engineers began the work of uprooting the decades-old temple to its new location. The relocation is expected to be over in a little more than a fortnight.