The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

Venkatarama Aiyar, J.-

The point for decision in this appeal is whether an institution known as the Apparswami Pagoda situated in Mylapore is a temple as defined in section 9(12) of the Madras Hindu Religious Endowments Act. The appellant is the hereditary trustee of the institution. His contention is that it is only a Samadhi or tomb of one Apparswami and not a temple. The Hindu Religious Endowments Board held an inquiry under section 84(1) and passed an order on 1st April, 1947, that it is a temple as defined in the Act. The appellant applied in O.P.No.200 of 1947 on the Original Side of this Court to set aside that order. The matter was heard by Krishnaswamy Nayudu, J.,and after an elaborate inquiry, he agreed with the Board that the institution was a temple as defined in the Act and dismissed the petition. This appeal is presented against this judgment.

The case for the appellant is that there was a person called Apparswami belonging to the Vanibar Community, that he was buried in this place, that one Chidambaraswami built about 1852 a tomb for him, that Guru Pooja is being regularly performed for him and that it is a Samadhi and not a te

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