Tirupathi on evangelist hit-list by Sandhya Jain

[Guest guest]

Organizer 24July2005

 

Tirupathi on evangelist hit-list

 

Sandhya Jain

 

Evangelists are targetting the sacred site of Tirumala and in a direct

affront to the Hindu community, which has for centuries regarded all seven

hills as holy, have starting gathering on the slopes in groups for public

prayers. Even though an officer of the State-controlled Tirumala Tirupati

Devasathanam (TTD) which manages the world famous Venkateshwara temple has

denied that a missionary society has submitted a proposal to build a church

on the hills, there is widespread disbelief on account of the known biases

of Chief Minister Samuel Reddy.

 

The denials by TTD special officer A.V. Dharma Reddy follow reports in

leading Telugu newspapers such as Eenadu and television channels like ETV,

Teja TV, Gemini TV and Sun TV. Former Chief Minister Chandra Babu Naidu, who

was reportedly tipped off by informed sources in the Secretariat, has

strongly condemned the move, as has the state BJP.

 

What lends credence to Hindu fears is the despicable statement by the

Government official that the TTD temple owns only 10.33 sq. miles of land on

the hills, and this land is administered by the mandir trust. This is a

transparent ploy to deny the sacred character of all seven hills in their

entirety, and restrict the sacred site of the Hindu community to the formal

boundary of the extant temple of Lord Venkateshwara.

 

Clearly we are witnessing the development of a major assault upon one of the

most venerated sites of the Hindu community. Should it happen, it will be a

desecration at par with that of the Mylapore Shiva temple in Chennai.

Hitherto, there has never been any question of a structure other than the

shrine of Lord Venkateshwara on these hills, and it bears remembering that

it is the hills that are holy and not merely the mandir which adorns them.

For instance, a temple along a busy thoroughfare would be holy, but the

adjacent land would not be deemed sacred.

 

Thus, the attempt to limit the sacredness of Tirumala to the boundary of the

temple, i.e. 10.33 sq. miles, is suspicious and suggests that the State

Government may be preparing the ground for landing over land to a church

body on one of the slopes. This is consistent with the systematic defilement

of Hindu institutions since the UPA became ascendant in national life, as

witnessed in the harassment of the Kanchi Shankaracharya and Bal

Shankaracharya, and attempts to take over prominent Hindu temples.

 

What lends urgency to Hindu fears is the fact that six large churches have

already sprung up on the road to Tirumala (Bye-pass road and new Bye-pass

road) that leads to Alipiri, the foot of the hills. It is therefore

imperative that the State Government recognize the entire seven hills as the

sacred abode of Shri Venkateshwara, and ensure that no structure of any

other religion is allowed to come up there.

 

Hindu activists in the region point out that when Ms. Sonia Gandhi violated

the rules and entered the sanctum sanctorum of Tirumala Tirupati

Devasathanam some years ago, without signing the mandatory declaration for

practitioners of other religions; she was facilitated in this outrage by the

then TTD executive officer Ajay Kallam. The activists point out that

according to the local bush telegraph, Mr. Ajay Kallam and some of his

family members converted to Christianity some time ago, and this fact may

have some bearing on some of their public actions. For instance, Mr. Kallam

sought to auction hundred acres of land belonging to the Hathi Ramji Matham

(Tirumala) a year ago, and it was only with difficulty that the auction was

eventually cancelled.

 

The point being made is that it is a terrible sacrilege that State control

of Hindu holy sites enables non-Hindus to seize control of major temples and

run them according to an undisclosed agenda. Non-believers have infiltrated

critical areas of these institutions. It is already a matter of considerable

concern that the enormous revenues of Hindu temples in south India are being

misused to fund the Hajj subsidy and renovate churches, while temples and

priests remain starved of basic funds. Now more than ever before there is

need to expedite the return of the temples to the community.

 

According to field activists, an official scrutiny of lands and properties

acquired by evangelical organizations may shed interesting light upon a

phenomenon best dubbed as 'colonization through land ownership.' The value

of the properties and the costs of the gigantic bureaucracies associated

with them would be an eye-opener. It is instructive, for instance, to drive

through the Coromandel Coast from Vishakapatnam to Toottukkudi, and observe

the plethora of churches proliferating along the route; most are new

constructions. A journey to Guntur and Eluru may be similarly instructive.

 

The Andhra Pradesh Government is a wholly unsuitable custodian of Tirupathi

and must be made to surrender control of this holy shrine. Some time ago it

condoned the demolition of the 550-year old Thousand Pillar Temple for no

good reason. A Government that lacks the sense of the sacrality of the seven

hills which have been regarded as a tirthasthanam and devasthanam from time

immemorial cannot be allowed to preside over its destiny.