JUDGMENT

HARJIT SINGH BEDI,J.

1. The plaintiff is the appellant in this appeal. It arises out of the following facts.

2. The appellant idol was installed by one Mirasu Nainar Pillai, the great grandfather of the trustee R.Nambla Pillai in the year 1872. After the death of Mirasu Nainar Pillai his son Sattanatha Pillai and after his demise his son Ramalingam Pillai was performing the ritual pooja. Ramalingam Pillai executed a registered settlement deed dated 21st September 1930 creating a charge over the property mentioned in the deed for meeting the expenses of the pooja for the deity. In this settlement deed Ramalingam Pillai clearly recited that the idol had been installed by his grandfather and that the family had been carrying on the pooja as trustees. It also appears that Ramalingam Pillai had constructed two houses in the land in question, one for his residence and the other for rent and that he was maintaining the temple and idol as per requirement from the income received from the properties. The appellant also claimed that as per the record, the land belonged to the temple and that the respondents were taking steps to assign