• 9 years ago
A TALE OF AN OLD ESTATE TEMPLE
by Indrani Kopal

In the early hours of June 14, 2003, a group of thugs torched the Sri Kalikambal Kamadeswarar temple at the Ebor Estate in Batu Tiga, Shah Alam.

These thugs were allegedly aided by a few men in police uniforms who intimidated and threatened the Hindu devotees in the temple with arrest when they tried to prevent the arson attack.

The devotees suspected that a property developer was behind the attempt to destroy their temple which they claim was built in 1886 when their ancestors began to settle on the plantation.

The arson attack drew national attention to the once relatively-unknown Sri Kalikambal Kamadeswarar Kovil, with senior politicians and police officers visiting the site to calm rising tempers.

The estate communitys problems started in 1990 when the plantation was sold off for property development.

Originally, there were two temples in Ebor Estate. The bigger Sri Maha Mariamman Kovil was bulldozed flat by a property developer on July, 14 1998 and this, too. without the communitys knowledge.

Caught by surprise, the devotees were forced to shift the demolished temple's deities to the nearby Sri Kalikambal Kamadeswarar Kovil.

After the arson attack on June 14, former Ebor Estate residents decided to organise themselves to wage a sustained campaign to save their remaining temple.
Since then, they have lodged numerous police reports, sent memorandums to federal and state government leaders and made several attempts to negotiate with the property developer and the land owner.

The case of Ebor Estate's Sri Kalikambal Kamadeswarar Kovil is perhaps typical of the dire threats facing estate temples throughout the country. Especially so for those near urban areas where rapid property development has displaced plantation communities.

This temple is just one of the thousands of unregistered temples dotting the country. As of 2003, there were 17,000 such temples.

These temples were built in the late 19th and early

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