Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department has allowed devotees to deposit their mobile phones free of cost at designated mobile phone deposit centres at Arunachaleswarar Temple and Sri Lakshminarasimhar Temple in Tiruvannamalai and Sholinghur towns respectively, on Wednesday (September 9, 2026).

Temple officials said the action comes after opposition from the public on charging ₹5 for each mobile phone deposited in these temples which were among the 52 major temples in Tamil Nadu where the use of smartphone was banned by the HR&CE Department since September 1. “We have withdrawn the order of charging ₹5 for mobile phones at deposit centres. A fixed time to deposit mobile phones has also been decided upon,” a senior HR&CE official told .

Accordingly, devotees can deposit their mobile phones between 8 a.m and 8.30 p.m in the centres at Arunachaleswarar Temple in Tiruvannamalai on all days. At Lakshminarasimhar temple in Sholinghur town, phones can be deposited only up to 5 p.m. 

As the ban on smartphone use in 52 major #temples across #TamilNadu comes into force today (Sep 1), devotees at Arunachaleshwarar Temple in #Tiruvannamalai queued up to handover their mobile phones at a deposit counter on Tuesday.



📹&📸: C. Venkatachalapathy (@venkathin) pic.twitter.com/llhgykLbPK

Persons with disabilities, expectant mothers, and senior citizens can carry phones

Persons with disabilities, expectant mothers, and senior citizens are allowed to carry mobile phones into these temples after switching off the devices and after verification by temple authorities. “Allowing senior citizens to carry mobile phones inside the temple is a welcome measure as they find it challenging to collect their handsets at the counters due to the huge crowd,” said K. Parasuraman, a devotee. 

Mobile phones were banned in these temples since September 1. Five mobile phone deposit centres in each of these two temples were set up.

Temple staff were deployed to collect phones at these centres. They will monitor the centres round-the-clock. CCTV cameras will also be set up for better surveillance. The local police will also be deployed to assist temple staff.

Tokens were issued for devotees to get back their mobile phones. Temple officials said that devotees found taking mobile phones inside the temple will be fined. Mobile phones will also be confiscated.

Temple officials said that the visitor crowd during Chitra Pournami and holidays had steadily increased for the past few years.