The Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department :
The management and control of the temples and the administration of their endowments is one of the primary responsibilities of the State . A number of measures have been undertaken prior to the year 1925 for efficient control and supervision of the administration of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments.HRCE
In the Act 1 of 1925, the Government constituted "the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Board" consisting of a President and two to four Commissioners nominated by the Government to function as a statutory body. Subsequently, Act 1 of 1925 was repealed by the Act 2 of 1927, which was followed by several modifications up to the year 1951. In order to streamline the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Board, a Special Officer (Thiru. R.V. Krishna Iyer ) was appointed in the year 1940.HRCE
The Special Officer recommended that the Government may administer the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments instead of the Board. The non-official committee appointed in the year 1942 under the Chairmans Thiru. P. Venkataramana Rao Naidu, a Retired Judge of High Court of Judicature, Madras recommended among other things that it would be advantageous to convert Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Board into a Government administration. Accepting the above recommendation, the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1951 was enacted provincialising the administration of the Hindu Religious Institutions. Comprehensive amendments have been made to this Act and Tamilnadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act XXII of 1959 came into force with effect from 1st January 1960.
With a view to oversee the administration of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments in a proper manner, it was decided in the year 1991, that Religious and spiritual leaders should be involved in the proper maintenance and administration of the Hindu and Jain Temples and Charitable Endowments adding that their suggestions and guidance should be obtained regarding the administration of Charitable Endowments. Accordingly, many amendments were brought into the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959.