The modi temple tamil nadu farmer story is about a very small building, not a big public project. In December 2019, news agencies reported that a farmer named P. Sankar had built an 8 feet by 8 feet shrine for Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his own land in Erakudi village, near Tiruchirappalli. Reports put the cost at Rs 1.2 lakh. We could not find any recent report that tells us whether the shrine still stands or is still in use.
This page sets out what was reported at the time, who reported it, and where the record stops. It also explains how a private shrine like this differs from the public Modi temple proposal in Patna, Bihar.
Key takeaways
- P. Sankar, a farmer aged about 50 at the time, built a small shrine with a bust of Narendra Modi at Erakudi village in Tiruchirappalli district, Tamil Nadu.
- Reports from December 2019 and January 2020 give its size as 8 x 8 feet and its cost as Rs 1.2 lakh. The Organiser says Sankar paid for it with his own money.
- He said he did it to thank the Prime Minister for farm payments, a gas connection and a toilet he received under central government schemes.
- Sankar told the Organiser he was not a BJP worker. We found no report of any party or government helping to build it.
- We found no news after early 2020. The shrine's present condition is not confirmed.
Short answer: what is the Erakudi Modi shrine?
It is a small private shrine on a farmer's land. According to the Tribune, which carried an IANS report on 26 December 2019, the building is 8 x 8 feet with a tiled roof and has a bust of Narendra Modi at its centre. The Organiser, a magazine linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, ran its own report on 1 January 2020. WION also interviewed the farmer on 26 December 2019.
It was not built by a trust, a party or the government. It was one man's act of thanks. That makes it very different from the proposal in Patna, which we cover further down.
Who is P. Sankar, as reported?
All we know about Sankar comes from news reports of that time. We could not reach him, and we have not independently checked these details.
- The Tribune and WION describe him as a 50-year-old farmer. The Organiser says he was in his fifties.
- WION reports that he farms about 10 acres, lost his parents when he was young and left school in the fourth grade.
- WION also reports that he worked in Saudi Arabia, looking after camels and sheep, before he came back and bought farmland. The Organiser says only that he worked earlier in Gulf countries.
- The Organiser says he also acts as the shrine's priest.
His name appears as Sankar in some reports and Shankar in others. This is a normal spelling difference for a Tamil name written in English. Keep both spellings in mind if you search.
Is he a member of a political party?
The Organiser says he told it he is not a BJP worker, but that he would become a member if the party approached him. We found no report that says he joined. We also found no report of any party funding the building.
What does the shrine look like and what did it cost?
The reports agree on the main points. They differ a little on small details, which is common in news coverage of a village story.
| Detail | What was reported | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 8 x 8 feet, tiled roof | Tribune (IANS), WION, Organiser |
| Cost | Rs 1.2 lakh | Tribune (IANS), Organiser |
| Who paid | Sankar himself | Organiser headline says "with his own money" |
| Main figure | A bust-size statue of Modi with garlands and flowers | Organiser, Tribune |
| Other pictures | Gods and goddesses, Mahatma Gandhi, K. Kamaraj, M. G. Ramachandran, J. Jayalalithaa, Amit Shah, Edappadi K. Palaniswami | Organiser |
| Building time | About eight months, slowed down by money problems | Organiser; WION also says about eight months |
| Daily worship | Sankar performs aarti every day | Organiser |
The Organiser adds some colour. It says the bust shows Modi in a pink kurta and blue shawl, that a kolam (a floor pattern drawn with rice flour at Tamil homes) greets visitors at the door, and that lamps stand on both sides of the figure. WION says Sankar told it that many people visit each day to see what he called the "Namo" temple. That visitor claim is his own and we could not check it.
Rs 1.2 lakh is 120,000 rupees. For comparison, other reported Modi shrines carried different price tags, which we cover in our pages on the Pune Aundh Modi temple and the Rajkot Modi temple.
Why did he build it?
Sankar gave his reasons to reporters. According to the IANS report in the Tribune and the Organiser, he named three central government schemes that helped him:
- PM-KISAN, a cash-support scheme for farmers. He mentioned a payment of Rs 2,000.
- The Ujjwala scheme, which gives families a cooking gas connection.
- The Individual Household Latrine scheme, which helps families build a toilet.
According to the Organiser, he said he was impressed by this and wanted to show his gratitude. WION adds that he has admired Modi since Modi was Chief Minister of Gujarat, and that he hoped one day to meet him. He told WION he saw Modi's motorcade only from a distance during the October 2019 informal meeting between Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mamallapuram.
These are the farmer's own explanations. They are not a verdict on the schemes themselves. Many people in Tamil Nadu and elsewhere have different views about them, and this page does not judge them.
Where is Erakudi?
Erakudi is a village in Tiruchirappalli district in central Tamil Nadu. The reports spell it Erakudi. Wikipedia has a page for a village called Eragudi in Thuraiyur taluk of Tiruchirappalli district. The Tribune says Erakudi is about 63 km from Tiruchirappalli city.
The Wikipedia page for Eragudi does not mention a Modi shrine. We cannot say for sure that it is the same place as in the news reports, although the district matches and the spelling is close. If you plan to look for it, ask locally rather than relying on a map pin.
Why do the district names vary?
"Trichy" is the common short form of Tiruchirappalli. The Organiser writes "Tiruchirappalli (Trichy)" and the Tribune writes "Tiruchirappalli". They mean the same district.
How is this different from a public temple project?
The Erakudi shrine and the proposed Patna temple are both called a "Modi temple" in headlines. They have little else in common.
| Question | Erakudi shrine (2019) | Patna proposal (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Who is behind it? | One farmer, P. Sankar | A state welfare board approved the idea at its meeting on 29 July 2026, on a proposal by board member Rajan Singh |
| Where is the land? | Sankar's own land, per reports | No land has been confirmed |
| Who pays? | Sankar, per reports | Not settled. Singh has said the board asked the government for money |
| Size | 8 x 8 feet | Singh has talked of five acres |
| Built? | Reported as built in 2019 | No building work confirmed |
A private shrine on private land raises few public questions. A public project that asks for government land or money raises more, such as who decides, who pays, and how a religious site fits the rules on state funding. We explain those in our pages on whether a temple can be built for a living person and on the Rs 112 crore figure. For the full list of places, see where Modi temples stand today.
For wider background, read our overview of temples for living politicians in India, and browse the Modi temples elsewhere topic page.
What we do not know yet
This is what we could not confirm from any source we opened.
- Whether the shrine still stands today. The latest reports we found date from late December 2019 and 1 January 2020.
- Whether Sankar held the formal consecration, called Kumbabishekam, that the Organiser says he wanted.
- Whether any local official, political party or temple department has said anything about the shrine. We found no such report.
- Whether he ever met Modi in person, as he told WION he hoped to.
- How many people actually visit. The "many visitors every day" claim is Sankar's own.
- Whether the village in the news reports is exactly the village listed on Wikipedia as Eragudi.
We have not visited the site. We have not spoken to Sankar. Anything not listed in the sections above should be treated as unconfirmed.
Why do small shrines like this get so much attention?
There are a few plain reasons, and none of them needs a guess about anyone's private motives.
- The story is easy to tell. One person, one small building, one clear reason.
- Leaders are a news subject. When a shrine involves a sitting Prime Minister, it is likely to be picked up by news agencies and then by magazines and social media.
- It touches on a bigger question in India, which is how people express respect for public figures. Fans have built temples for film stars and for regional politicians too. The Organiser itself lists several such examples in Tamil Nadu and elsewhere.
- It stays in search results. Years later, people searching "Modi temple" find the 2019 story next to the 2026 Patna story, and may mix them up.
It helps to keep the two stories apart. The Erakudi shrine is a personal act reported in 2019. The Patna idea is a public proposal reported in 2026. Our history of Modi temples in India gives the full picture across all the cases.
How to read the spelling differences and old reports
If you are checking this story yourself, a few tips will save time.
- Search under both spellings of the farmer's name (Sankar, Shankar) and of the village (Erakudi, Eragudi).
- Check the date of any article. Several reports are from 2019 and are about the opening, not today.
- Look for the original news agency report. The Tribune version came from IANS. Many websites copy each other.
- Be careful with photos. Image captions in old social media posts often have the wrong place or year.
- Treat figures such as the cost as the farmer's own statement unless a reporter says they saw bills.
The same habits help with any viral claim. See our guide on spotting viral misinformation.
Common questions
Who built the Modi temple in Tamil Nadu?
A farmer named P. Sankar built it at Erakudi village in Tiruchirappalli district. News reports from December 2019 and January 2020 say he paid for it himself.
How much did the Erakudi Modi shrine cost?
The Tribune and the Organiser reported Rs 1.2 lakh. This is the amount reported at the time, and we have not seen bills.
Is the Erakudi shrine open to visitors today?
We do not know. The newest reports we found are from early 2020. If you plan to visit, check locally first.
Is this the same as the Modi temple in Patna?
No. The Erakudi shrine is a small private building reported in 2019. The Patna temple is a proposal approved by a state board on 29 July 2026, and no building work has been confirmed.
Did a political party fund the shrine?
We found no report saying so. The Organiser quotes Sankar saying he was not a BJP worker but would join if the party asked him.
Sources
- Organiser, 1 January 2020: Farmer builds a temple for the PM with his own money
- The Tribune (IANS), 26 December 2019: Tamil farmer builds temple for PM Modi
- WION, 26 December 2019: Wish to meet him once and seek his blessings, says Tamil Nadu farmer
- Wikipedia: Eragudi, a village in Thuraiyur taluk, Tiruchirappalli district
Last checked on 24 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us through our contact page.