Some Questions regarding Sriperumbudur

[Guest guest]

{Moderator's note:

 

The following email by srI rAma rAmAnuja AchArya is, I believe, questions

that he has regarding srIperumbUdUr. In correspondence with him, I believe

that these questions are honest questions he has regarding things that he

has observed in srIperumbUdUr. When we respond to his questions, I request

our members, particularly those who have knowledge of srIperumbUdUr, and

connections with srIperumbUdUr to focus on the larger issues involved -

accountability of temple property, srIvaishNavAs uniting to defend our

temples when there is a need to, etc. Please keep in mind that srI rAma

rAmAnuja AchAryA may not have the access that many of us have to gather

information and decide. So, please treat his questions as honest questions

and not as some accusation/flaming.

 

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,

varadhan

}

 

 

Facts About Sripermubudur

 

I¹ve been visiting Sriperumbudur and my acharya¹s matham for about 15 years.

I have with my own eyes seen and been shown appalling things. I last visited

2 years ago and so am happy and delighted that things have improved since

then. I am truly happy that superficially the alankaram is beautiful - but

again I stress about the state of the vigraha underneath the alankaram.

 

1. The gold from the Vimana was half removed and had been substituted with

yellow paint ­ simply raising your eyes will reveal this.

2. Upon entering the temple one can also notice that the gold from the base

of the dhvaja-stambha has been removed.

3. There is a mandap that was presented by the maharaja of Mysore on the

left hand side as you enter the temple. This mandap had been covered with

gold ­ if one can gain access to the rear one sees that all the gold at the

back has been stripped off.

4. There were many houses in the village that belong to the Matham ­ these

houses are now either delapitate or occupied by families that do not pay

rent to the matham. They now own these houses!

5. When the jiyar took over the pitham many years ago he requested an

inventory of all the temple property and jewels of the gods ­ all these were

found to be inadequate or tampered with or falsified. The jiyar was then

told by certain individuals that he should keep his mouth shut and only

attend to his duties of receiving prathama tirtham and sathari and should

not enquire into the financial and property arrangements of the temple. The

jiyar is a military man (tagadajiyar) and was not easily daunted by these

threats and proceeded to file cases against the culprits to regain the

temple property.

6. The questions can now be asked: who is it that has access to the temple

vimana and dhvaja-stambha and has the time and leisure to remove the gold?

Who is it that had access to the locked mandapa of the Raja of Mysore and

had the opportunity to strip the gold? How is it that has control of the

temple property and could have falsified documents to be able to sell the

property and land to the families who now live there? Who had control of the

temple jewels that could have tampered with them or relieved the lord of his

burden of caring for his own jewels?

7. When the Congress party wanted to appropriate temple land upon which to

build a smarak for Rajiv Gandhi the jiyar fought back through the courts and

was threatened with death by certain individuals ­ the courts appointed a 24

hour police guard to protect the matham.

 

In all these tribulations and difficulties the jiyar stood alone ­ none of

the alankari srivaishnavas came to his assistance ­ in fact everyone told

him to shut up and let things be. He himself has financed everything

regarding the recuperation of the temple property through his own pension

money. No-one came to his aid. Because the jiyar stood up for what is right

and refused to budge he was vilified and harassed.

 

I am not accusing anyone ­ simply raising questions which need answers. I do

not know who the perpetrators were ­ but I am entitled like every other

follower of Bhashyakara to ask the questions ­ when there is evidence of

wrong-doing. The gold quite evidently has gone, where has it gone? Who has

unrestricted access to those parts of the temple? Why were proper records of

all the temple interests not kept? Why are the people living in the houses

belonging to the Matham not paying rent? What has happened to the wet-lands

belonging to the Matham in Tanjore district? What has happened to the Matham

land in Nepal? Why have Srivaishnavas neglected Sriperumbudur for so long?

Why was the Matham and Bhashyakara¹s house delapidated for so many years?

Why was the jiyar marginalised and insulted and neglected for so many years?

Why was he threatened with death on many occasions ­ even by srivaishnavas

themselves? The jiyar has many of the answers and also many documents to

prove his case ­ anyone who is interested in helping can approach His

Holiness and receive a detailed account of all these atrocities ­ HH is an

honest, copassionate and open man who is afraid of no one and will present

his case clearly, lucidly and openly.

 

If someone points out the faults in a family ­ it is not to insult the

family but only to indicate where improvements can be made.

 

The same questions can be raised about many Srivaishnava holy sites. Why are

so many of the shrines and sannidhis in Srirangam locked and presently only

housing rats, cockroaches, spiders and weeds? Why are voluntary kinkaras not

given access to clean and refurbish? I known many who have tried and failed.

Why? When Sriranganatha was desecrated a few years back by students why was

not a hue and cry made. Why was no support given to those pious prapannas

that protested? But we speak much and do even more alankara and have no

snanam.

 

Adiyen ­ a concerned srivaishnava who seeks only to uplift srivaishnavism

not to depreciate.

 

Sri Ram