A claim is getting viral on social media. It is being said that under the DMK government, an ancient Hindu temple in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruvannamalai was demolished.

Many users posted this claim from their respective social media accounts, under captions that were flooded with agitation and anger.

 A user with a following of around 50k by the name of ‘We the People’ tweets, “An ancient Hindu temple in Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu was demolished. People who tried to stop the demolition were arrested. The incident has sparked outrage among the Hindu community, alleging that the DMK government is biased against Hindus and favors other religions. (English Translation)

A similar video claiming the same statement was posted by many others.

Fact Check:

To investigate this claim, the DFRAC team did a keyword search and found a report by ABP news under the caption that reads, “Crime: Ammani Amman Mutt case: 3 arrested for obstructing government officials from performing their duties.”

The report mentions that, “Based on a complaint that a BJP functionary had encroached and constructed a house in and around Ammani Amman Mutt in front of the Ammani Amman gopuram at Annamalaiyar temple in Thiruvannamalai, the court had ordered the removal of the encroachment. Based on this, 23,800 square feet of land was demolished by a JCB machine in the presence of police, the revenue department, temple staff and municipal employees yesterday morning. Moreover, the ammani amman mutt was situated opposite the ammani amman gopuram for more than 400 years.”

The report further states that while this encroachment the mutt was also damaged by 70% , which then became the reason for people’s anger.

Source: ABP News

We also found the report of The Commune with the caption that reads, “ HR&CE Dept Reportedly Demolishes Ancient Mutt While Trying To Clear Encroachment On Mutt-Owned Land.”

In the report there was no mention of the temple being demolished.

Conclusion:

No temple was demolished as stated by many social media users, instead Ammani Amman Mutt in Tiruvannamalai was destroyed while encroaching the BJP functionary illegally constructed house. So the claim is misleading.