high time temples

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Wednesday, December 11, 2002

Priest: High time temples helped Indian society (cross post from Indian Malaysian group)

A high priest is convinced that Hindu temples have a role in tackling

criminal-related problems of Indian youths. Unorthodox and determined, Muthu

Kumara Gurukal wants the temples to share their wealth in uplifting and

restructuring the Indian community, writes M. KRISHNAMOORTHY.

MUTHU Kumara Gurukkal gets dejected when he reads the newspapers or hears news

about Indian youths getting involved in street fights, crimes and drugs. He is

quick to add, waving his long index finger in the air: “Don’t see the problem.

Look for a solution.” “The solution lies solely with the temples,” he shocked

his audience at an evening temple sermon recently.

 

Muthu Kumara is able to relate the ancient Vedic scriptures to present-day

situations.Highly recognised for his credentials and qualifications from

leading Indian temples, the Hindu high priest is a highly sought-after speaker

and a selfless community worker. His discourses have attracted the attention

and interest of Hindus in Malaysia. Travelling to every nook and corner of the

nation, even remote estate temples, Muthu Kumara is a household name among

Hindus who love to hear him because he relates the ancient Vedic scriptures on

Hinduism to current situations. He is part of the new wave of Hindu

Renaissance, which the Malaysian Hindu Society is propagating nationwide, in a

bid to awaken and educate Hindus on the importance of right action through

spiritualism. Muthu Kumara continued emphatically: “Yes! The temples can play

a constructive role in fixing the problem. It is high time the temples

disbursed their funds to keep the Hindu youths away from the streets, crimes

and drugs.” “Nobody is asking for handouts. The Government and political

parties have done their share. Now, the temples must play its part.” “Use

about one-third of the temple collection to providing food and clothing to the

poorer Indians, and to increase the number of educated Indians,” he said. He

added that it was the Hindus who filled the donation boxes in temples. “So what

is wrong with providing social and welfare services for Hindus,” argued the 56-

year-old priest. “Temples should allocate 30% of their collections and

donations to community service projects,” he said at a recent Hindu Renaissance

Rally held at the Cheras Badminton Hall.

Muthu Kumara said the money could be used to turn the temples into community

centres to serve the poor, provide tuition to the students and enlighten them

on Hinduism so that they could understand and adopt noble human values. “Many

of the temples have not responded because they feel that it is not their

responsibility to respond to the social needs of Hindus.” Hinduism is not

just about rituals, he said. “Hinduism has a rich and diverse philosophy, and

is an all-encompassing way of life. Our sacred rites and rituals are merely

tools. They are the means through which devotees seek spiritual satisfaction.”

To spread the knowledge of Hinduism, Muthu Kuamara is planning to set up a

school to train Hindu youths who want to be priests. Being well versed and

having worked as a priest for the past 40 years, Muthu Kumara is finally seeing

the light at the end of the tunnel as the Malaysian Hindu Sangam has expressed

full support to his move to help the community. The sangam is also determined

that the Hindu temples play a constructive part in educating Hindu youths and

parents. Its president, A. Vaithilingam, said the objective was for Hindus to

play an active role in affirming and reinforcing the strength of Malaysia’s

multi-ethnic, multi -religious and multi-cultural society. “Practically all

Hindu temples and organisations have come together to support the Master Plan

for the Hindu Renaissance in Malaysia. “It is agreed by all of us that the

action plan to be jointly implemented by all the Hindu organisations and

temples in Malaysia must cover four main areas,” he said. lPROPAGATE religious

knowledge; lTEMPLES to serve as community centres; lPROACTIVE social services,

welfare services and counselling services; and lREVIVAL of Hindu cultural

activities. Vaithilingam said over the next few months, religious teachers

would be trained to teach young people about Hinduism. “More religious classes

and educational activities will be held, but with a new twist – religious

education will not be boring lectures and classes. “We will try our best to

make religion alive to our young people. Our aim is to make Hindu philosophy

understandable to everyone.” “We will continue our efforts to ensure that

religion is taught in our schools, perhaps out of school hours,” said

Vaithilingam. They are also planning house-to-house visits by volunteers to

teach them the basics and simplify the philosophical meanings behind Hinduism.

“Most importantly, we are changing the way Hindus think about themselves. We

want to show that Hinduism is a way of life that is about forgiving, caring,

loving and compassion.

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into the enemy camp, SET THE AGENDA, be proactiveIn an argument, no emotions,

be detached, get yr facts right, then attack with the precision of a missile