FW: Government control of temples is destroying Hinduism

[Guest guest]

 

 

 

 

Samskrita Bharati [ samskritam ]

 

March-09-09 7:24 PM

Michael Deslippe

Government control of

temples is destroying Hinduism

Government control of temples

is destroying Hinduism By J.G. Arora

jgarora Organiser,

New Delhi : March 8,

2009 & March 15, 2009

http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content & pa=showpage & pid=280 & page=43 Apart from Pak-Bangla terrorist and demographic invasion,

another problem tormenting Bharat and its heritage is the outrageous government

control of all prominent Hindu temples. It is shocking that though India is a Secular

Republic , and though secularism commands

separation of State and Religion, state governments have taken over all

prominent Hindu temples and shrines which is an anti-secular act. All

well-known Hindu temples including those at Puri, Tirupati, Guruvayoor, Kashi,

Mathura , Ayodhya, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Vaishno Devi,

Mumbai ( Shree Siddhi Vinayak Temple ),

Shirdi, Amarnath, Srisailam, Madurai and Rameshwaram are under government’s control. And in

the latest of such takeovers, the ancient Shiva temple at Chidambaram in Tamil

Nadu is being grabbed by the government. And only Hindu temples have been targeted for government

control whereas no Christian church or Muslim mosque has been touched. This is not to suggest that churches and mosques should be

taken over by the government. This is just to stress that Hindu temples also

should enjoy the same freedom from government control as enjoyed by churches

and mosques, and that Hindus too should have the same liberty to manage their

places of worship as given to non-Hindus. Moreover,

as discussed hereunder, the state governments are not applying the income from

Hindu temples for the cause of Hindus or Hindu religion. Rather, the state takeover

has resulted in appropriation of temple funds by government, and as in

Karnataka, even for Madrassas and Churches. Besides, state takeover has

resulted in gross mismanagement and embezzlement of temple funds, closure of

many smaller temples, encroachments, sale and alienation of temple lands, and

dismantling of temple infra-structure which is leading to gradual demolition of

Hindu religion. ANTI-SECULAR AND DISCRIMINATORY Government control of Hindu temples is anti-secular and

anti-Hindu. It amounts to suppression of Hindus’ right of

religious freedom guaranteed under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution of

India. Besides, it is discriminatory since only Hindu places of worship have

been targeted for control. Because

of government takeover, persons with no devotion and no knowledge about

Hinduism, and even non-Hindus are governing Hindu temples. Though as per Article 25 of Indian Constitution, all

persons are equally entitled to the right to profess, practice and propagate

religion, and though as per Article 26, every religious denomination “shall

have the right (a) to establish and maintain institutions for religious and

charitable purposes; (b) to manage its own affairs in matters of religion; ©

to own and acquire movable and immovable property; and (d) to administer such

property in accordance with lawâ€, various state governments are controlling all

prominent Hindu temples and their estates thereby depriving Hindus of their

Fundamental Rights guaranteed under Articles 25 and 26. DEVASTATION OF INFRASTRUCTURE All over

the country, there are serious allegations of mismanagement and embezzlement of

income and assets of the government controlled temples. Only a few

illustrations are given here. In

states like Andhra Pradesh, the devotees’ offerings to temples are appropriated

as government revenue; and are not used for Hindu community, or to promote

Hindu religious activities. Besides, in several districts of Andhra Pradesh,

thousands and thousands of acres of land owned by government controlled temples

have been sold, alienated, gifted and permitted to be grabbed by land grabbers

though the government has no right to do so since it is not the owner of temple

lands.

In Bhadrachalam and Simhachalam, hundreds of acres of temple land have been given

to Christian organisations. Moreover, the Endowment department has sold over

1600 Acres of Srisailam Temple land to various

Missionary Organisations. And in 2005, 245 acres of prime land belonging to

Seetharama Chandra Swamy temple at Devarayamjal was sold at throwaway prices

causing huge loss to the temple. And in

2006, the centuries old, 1000 pillar Mandapam

in Tirumala complex was demolished. Situation in other States is equally appalling. As reported

in a section of the press, for the years 1997-98 to 2002-2003 for which figures

are available, major portion of temple income in Karnataka was allocated to

Madrassas, mosques and churches; whereas temples got only a little amount.

In Kerala, state control has rendered innumerable temples dysfunctional.

Besides, under the Kerala Land Reforms Act, over 12,000 acres of Guruvayoor

temple’s land has been reduced to a few hundred acres only. And in

Sabarimala, 2,500 acres of temple land has been sold by the government’s Board.

In Orissa

also the administration has been selling Jagannath temple endowment lands. In

Jammu and Kashmir , even Mata Vaishno Devi Temple University created with the funds of Vaishno Devi Temple does not have Hindu religious studies in its curriculum. Tamil

Nadu’s position is equally dismal because of the problems inherent in

government control of temples. And

though the Church is the largest real-estate owner in the country, no Church

land has been controlled or alienated by the government. SHACKLING HINDU FAITH Though a

secular state can neither reward nor punish any religion, shackling Hindu

religion through state control of temples continues all over

India except in

Himachal Pradesh where in 2008, the government decided to liberate the temples

from its control. Government

control of their places of worship has crippled the cultural, social and

spiritual life of Hindus. Apart from depriving temples of their income and

wealth, this un-secular government action is ravaging the body and soul of

Hinduism. While the

government subsidises “Haj†pilgrimage with hundreds of crores of rupees every

year, state control is destroying the self-supporting edifice of Hindu

places of worship. Apart

from being the centre of Hindu community’s religious, social and cultural life,

the temple is supposed to be the focal point for learning Vedas,

Upanishads, Ramayana, Mahabharata and Tirukkural etc. from religious

scholars. But Vedic learning and Sanskrit have been banished from most of the

government controlled temples. As

reported in media, Andhra Pradesh government has brought Christian institutions

into the decision making body of Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam (TTD) and its

institutions. JRG Wealth Management, a Christian organisation has been employed

for Prasadam materials for use in Tirupati temple. And

there are apprehensions of evangelists’ design to build a Church at Tirumala. WAY OUT Since

temples belong to Hindu society which has built and maintained them over the

centuries, they must be restored to Hindu community to give religious freedom

to Hindus. Like other communities, Hindus too have a constitutional right

to manage their places of worship. And they must not be denied this fundamental

right. Independent

Boards comprising of Hindus must govern Hindu temples and shrines as is the

case with places of worship of other religious communities. And temple income should

be used for educational institutes, hospitals and welfare activities for

general public, and also for Sanskrit and Hindu religious studies. All

pro-Hindu individuals and organisations have to assert themselves and force the

State governments to liberate the temples. Alternatively, apart from demanding

the amendment of Hindu Religious Endowments and Charitable Trusts Act, 1951 to

make it compatible with Articles 25 and 26, suitable legal action should be

taken by filing writ petitions / public interest petitions in the respective

High Courts since the government control of Hindu temples violates Articles 14,

25 and 26 of Indian Constitution which bestow the fundamental rights to

equality, freedom of religion, and freedom to manage religious affairs. As per

Kathopnishad, “Uttishthta jaagrta praapya

varaan nibodhat†(Arise, awake, and do not stop till the goal is

achieved). Personal

greed of a few individuals, and Hindu community’s suicidal tolerance of gross

injustice of confiscation of their temples must not be allowed to destroy

Hinduism in truncated India the way Hinduism has been liquidated in Afghanistan ,

Pakistan and

Bangladesh which too used to be Hindu lands.

[Guest guest]

Sir, actually this e-mail is full of anti-secularism....To bring a good

& organised systems in hindu temples, the government has to

regularise these management of hindu temples...Lots & lots of acres

of land wasted & was earlier enjoyed only by a few percentage of

people who govern them. This condition started to become as an act due

to few temple authorities prevent some sects of people entering &

worshipping the Lord who is common for all. In the case of Chidambaram

temple, those people who were incharge of the management earlier wanted

their [temple's huge] land or properties to be with them & they

themselves wanted to enjoy their property, for this they l'd marry only

amongst their group so that their property never goes in others hands.

 

Christian churches are well managed by a single higher authority, the

Pope. So there is someone to organise the management & to see to

that all are in order. But here in Hindu temple, Each & every

individual who builds that temple wants to be the only person who

manages them or their income.

 

A huge acre of land is not at all made useful to common people or for

their help. The private authorities may say that it is an agriculture

land and they have left many common farmers to work there, & have

the benifit from the land, but truly, the person allowed to enjoy those

lands would be the relatives or close servants of the managing

authorities. So it may be right to give those lands to some

missionaries. Or those huge acres of land would be, in future, used to

build some universities or colleges. If they really wanted to have

those land benifitted by others, educational instituitions governed by

the government would be the correct one.

 

This is just because the majorities in India are not given proper

recognition & they think that the priorities are given only for the

minorities [of course this may be true in some cases like allocating

seats in higher studies]. We are the real minorities in the world. If

we think they r the minorities & don't give them the respect that a

human needs surely when one goes abroad none will respect us.

 

It's always good if the government takes all the hindu temples &

organise them under a single department & the useless, overflowing

properties of the temples can be used for the development of the

country's educational, spiritual conditions.

Politics prevail everywhere, be it government or private party. But

when it's under the government's private under taking this politics too

have a meagre amount of existense. Like the temple's properties let

them belong to the government, but to the better management &

organisations let the private parties take them under the control. Like

in the case of BSNL or Air India, the highest share holders are

private, so the government has to fear about the private parties too.

 

It may seem to be that i'm making it more business oriented, but this

one would be more organised only if that condition prevail rather than

just a single private party holding that temple, not allowing other

sects of people to get benifitted by the Lord's [who never sees

partiality over religion like us] property which is given by him to all.

 

From the original message, it's seen that the author of the message has

lost the priviledges to the government to own or run or manage the

administration, the properties or the income to the government. So he

just puts out his hearteous feelings.

 

The temple's land is not for us [hindus] alone. The land space is

minimum in this earth. God gave us land to live & not to own it. So

we don't have the authority to say this piece of land belongs only to

hindus, christians or muslims. All of us can share & enjoy this

precious opportunity [life] given to us & try atleast 1% to attain

SAMADHI. It's not possible to attain any of the samadhi when we fight

for land, then what's there in even thinking about DHARMAMEGA SAMADHI,

the highest one according to Maharishi Patanjali.

 

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely,

Venkat <>"~~~tHe~cRusader~~~"<> By the way the above picture is an ambigram.... If u don't know what's an ambigram just ask me .. I made this one for

myself!Yogacharya Dr.Ananda Bhavanani <yognat2001 Sent: Wednesday, 11 March, 2009 9:32:39 AM FW: Government control of temples is destroying Hinduism

 

 

 

 

 

Samskrita Bharati [ samskritam (AT) gmail (DOT) com ]

 

March-09-09 7:24 PM

Michael Deslippe

Government control of

temples is destroying Hinduism

Government control of temples

is destroying Hinduism By J.G. Arora

jgarora (AT) gmail (DOT) com Organiser,

New Delhi : March 8,

2009 & March 15, 2009

http://www.organise r.org/dynamic/ modules.php? name=Content & pa=showpage & pid=280 & page=43 Apart from Pak-Bangla terrorist and demographic invasion,

another problem tormenting Bharat and its heritage is the outrageous government

control of all prominent Hindu temples. It is shocking that though India is a Secular

Republic , and though secularism commands

separation of State and Religion, state governments have taken over all

prominent Hindu temples and shrines which is an anti-secular act. All

well-known Hindu temples including those at Puri, Tirupati, Guruvayoor, Kashi,

Mathura , Ayodhya, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Vaishno Devi,

Mumbai ( Shree Siddhi Vinayak Temple ),

Shirdi, Amarnath, Srisailam, Madurai and Rameshwaram are under government’s control. And in

the latest of such takeovers, the ancient Shiva temple at Chidambaram in Tamil

Nadu is being grabbed by the government. And only Hindu temples have been targeted for government

control whereas no Christian church or Muslim mosque has been touched. This is not to suggest that churches and mosques should be

taken over by the government. This is just to stress that Hindu temples also

should enjoy the same freedom from government control as enjoyed by churches

and mosques, and that Hindus too should have the same liberty to manage their

places of worship as given to non-Hindus. Moreover,

as discussed hereunder, the state governments are not applying the income from

Hindu temples for the cause of Hindus or Hindu religion. Rather, the state takeover

has resulted in appropriation of temple funds by government, and as in

Karnataka, even for Madrassas and Churches. Besides, state takeover has

resulted in gross mismanagement and embezzlement of temple funds, closure of

many smaller temples, encroachments, sale and alienation of temple lands, and

dismantling of temple infra-structure which is leading to gradual demolition of

Hindu religion. ANTI-SECULAR AND DISCRIMINATORY Government control of Hindu temples is anti-secular and

anti-Hindu. It amounts to suppression of Hindus’ right of

religious freedom guaranteed under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution of

India. Besides, it is discriminatory since only Hindu places of worship have

been targeted for control. Because

of government takeover, persons with no devotion and no knowledge about

Hinduism, and even non-Hindus are governing Hindu temples. Though as per Article 25 of Indian Constitution, all

persons are equally entitled to the right to profess, practice and propagate

religion, and though as per Article 26, every religious denomination “shall

have the right (a) to establish and maintain institutions for religious and

charitable purposes; (b) to manage its own affairs in matters of religion; ©

to own and acquire movable and immovable property; and (d) to administer such

property in accordance with lawâ€, various state governments are controlling all

prominent Hindu temples and their estates thereby depriving Hindus of their

Fundamental Rights guaranteed under Articles 25 and 26. DEVASTATION OF INFRASTRUCTURE All over

the country, there are serious allegations of mismanagement and embezzlement of

income and assets of the government controlled temples. Only a few

illustrations are given here. In

states like Andhra Pradesh, the devotees’ offerings to temples are appropriated

as government revenue; and are not used for Hindu community, or to promote

Hindu religious activities. Besides, in several districts of Andhra Pradesh,

thousands and thousands of acres of land owned by government controlled temples

have been sold, alienated, gifted and permitted to be grabbed by land grabbers

though the government has no right to do so since it is not the owner of temple

lands.

In Bhadrachalam and Simhachalam, hundreds of acres of temple land have been given

to Christian organisations. Moreover, the Endowment department has sold over

1600 Acres of Srisailam Temple land to various

Missionary Organisations. And in 2005, 245 acres of prime land belonging to

Seetharama Chandra Swamy temple at Devarayamjal was sold at throwaway prices

causing huge loss to the temple. And in

2006, the centuries old, 1000 pillar Mandapam

in Tirumala complex was demolished. Situation in other States is equally appalling. As reported

in a section of the press, for the years 1997-98 to 2002-2003 for which figures

are available, major portion of temple income in Karnataka was allocated to

Madrassas, mosques and churches; whereas temples got only a little amount.

In Kerala, state control has rendered innumerable temples dysfunctional.

Besides, under the Kerala Land Reforms Act, over 12,000 acres of Guruvayoor

temple’s land has been reduced to a few hundred acres only. And in

Sabarimala, 2,500 acres of temple land has been sold by the government’s Board.

In Orissa

also the administration has been selling Jagannath temple endowment lands. In

Jammu and Kashmir , even Mata Vaishno Devi Temple University created with the funds of Vaishno Devi Temple does not have Hindu religious studies in its curriculum. Tamil

Nadu’s position is equally dismal because of the problems inherent in

government control of temples. And

though the Church is the largest real-estate owner in the country, no Church

land has been controlled or alienated by the government. SHACKLING HINDU FAITH Though a

secular state can neither reward nor punish any religion, shackling Hindu

religion through state control of temples continues all over

India except in

Himachal Pradesh where in 2008, the government decided to liberate the temples

from its control. Government

control of their places of worship has crippled the cultural, social and

spiritual life of Hindus. Apart from depriving temples of their income and

wealth, this un-secular government action is ravaging the body and soul of

Hinduism. While the

government subsidises “Haj†pilgrimage with hundreds of crores of rupees every

year, state control is destroying the self-supporting edifice of Hindu

places of worship. Apart

from being the centre of Hindu community’s religious, social and cultural life,

the temple is supposed to be the focal point for learning Vedas,

Upanishads, Ramayana, Mahabharata and Tirukkural etc. from religious

scholars. But Vedic learning and Sanskrit have been banished from most of the

government controlled temples. As

reported in media, Andhra Pradesh government has brought Christian institutions

into the decision making body of Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam (TTD) and its

institutions. JRG Wealth Management, a Christian organisation has been employed

for Prasadam materials for use in Tirupati temple. And

there are apprehensions of evangelists’ design to build a Church at Tirumala. WAY OUT Since

temples belong to Hindu society which has built and maintained them over the

centuries, they must be restored to Hindu community to give religious freedom

to Hindus. Like other communities, Hindus too have a constitutional right

to manage their places of worship. And they must not be denied this fundamental

right. Independent

Boards comprising of Hindus must govern Hindu temples and shrines as is the

case with places of worship of other religious communities. And temple income should

be used for educational institutes, hospitals and welfare activities for

general public, and also for Sanskrit and Hindu religious studies. All

pro-Hindu individuals and organisations have to assert themselves and force the

State governments to liberate the temples. Alternatively, apart from demanding

the amendment of Hindu Religious Endowments and Charitable Trusts Act, 1951 to

make it compatible with Articles 25 and 26, suitable legal action should be

taken by filing writ petitions / public interest petitions in the respective

High Courts since the government control of Hindu temples violates Articles 14,

25 and 26 of Indian Constitution which bestow the fundamental rights to

equality, freedom of religion, and freedom to manage religious affairs. As per

Kathopnishad, “Uttishthta jaagrta praapya

varaan nibodhat†(Arise, awake, and do not stop till the goal is

achieved). Personal

greed of a few individuals, and Hindu community’s suicidal tolerance of gross

injustice of confiscation of their temples must not be allowed to destroy

Hinduism in truncated India the way Hinduism has been liquidated in Afghanistan ,

Pakistan and

Bangladesh which too used to be Hindu lands.

 

 

 

Explore your hobbies and interests. Click here to begin.

[Guest guest]

thanks venkati have personally suffered from this anti-hindu attitude of the govt and am sympathetic to this story cause of thatsecularism is equal for all and not to be minority appeasement too!!Yogacharya Dr.Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani Chairman : Yoganjali Natyalayam and ICYER Hon General Secretary, Pondicherry Yogasana Association 25, 2nd Cross,Iyyanar Nagar, Pondicherry, South India-605 013 Tel: +91-413 - 2622902 / +91-413 -3203314/+91-413 -2241561 Mobile: 9842311433 Website: www.icyer.com www.geocities.com/yognat2001/anandahttp://youtube.com/profile_videos?user=yognat2001 & p=r--- On Wed, 3/11/09, venkatesan venkatesan <dvenkatesan_yoga wrote:venkatesan venkatesan <dvenkatesan_yogaRe: FW: Government control of temples is destroying Hinduism Date: Wednesday, March 11, 2009, 11:00 PM

 

Sir, actually this e-mail is full of anti-secularism. ...To bring a good

& organised systems in hindu temples, the government has to

regularise these management of hindu temples...Lots & lots of acres

of land wasted & was earlier enjoyed only by a few percentage of

people who govern them. This condition started to become as an act due

to few temple authorities prevent some sects of people entering &

worshipping the Lord who is common for all. In the case of Chidambaram

temple, those people who were incharge of the management earlier wanted

their [temple's huge] land or properties to be with them & they

themselves wanted to enjoy their property, for this they l'd marry only

amongst their group so that their property never goes in others hands.

 

Christian churches are well managed by a single higher authority, the

Pope. So there is someone to organise the management & to see to

that all are in order. But here in Hindu temple, Each & every

individual who builds that temple wants to be the only person who

manages them or their income.

 

A huge acre of land is not at all made useful to common people or for

their help. The private authorities may say that it is an agriculture

land and they have left many common farmers to work there, & have

the benifit from the land, but truly, the person allowed to enjoy those

lands would be the relatives or close servants of the managing

authorities. So it may be right to give those lands to some

missionaries. Or those huge acres of land would be, in future, used to

build some universities or colleges. If they really wanted to have

those land benifitted by others, educational instituitions governed by

the government would be the correct one.

 

This is just because the majorities in India are not given proper

recognition & they think that the priorities are given only for the

minorities [of course this may be true in some cases like allocating

seats in higher studies]. We are the real minorities in the world. If

we think they r the minorities & don't give them the respect that a

human needs surely when one goes abroad none will respect us.

 

It's always good if the government takes all the hindu temples &

organise them under a single department & the useless, overflowing

properties of the temples can be used for the development of the

country's educational, spiritual conditions.

Politics prevail everywhere, be it government or private party. But

when it's under the government's private under taking this politics too

have a meagre amount of existense. Like the temple's properties let

them belong to the government, but to the better management &

organisations let the private parties take them under the control. Like

in the case of BSNL or Air India, the highest share holders are

private, so the government has to fear about the private parties too.

 

It may seem to be that i'm making it more business oriented, but this

one would be more organised only if that condition prevail rather than

just a single private party holding that temple, not allowing other

sects of people to get benifitted by the Lord's [who never sees

partiality over religion like us] property which is given by him to all.

 

From the original message, it's seen that the author of the message has

lost the priviledges to the government to own or run or manage the

administration, the properties or the income to the government. So he

just puts out his hearteous feelings.

 

The temple's land is not for us [hindus] alone. The land space is

minimum in this earth. God gave us land to live & not to own it. So

we don't have the authority to say this piece of land belongs only to

hindus, christians or muslims. All of us can share & enjoy this

precious opportunity [life] given to us & try atleast 1% to attain

SAMADHI. It's not possible to attain any of the samadhi when we fight

for land, then what's there in even thinking about DHARMAMEGA SAMADHI,

the highest one according to Maharishi Patanjali.

 

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely,

Venkat <>"~~~tHe~cRusader~ ~~"<> By the way the above picture is an ambigram.... If u don't know what's an ambigram just ask me .. I made this one for

myself!Yogacharya Dr.Ananda Bhavanani <yognat2001 >Wednesday, 11 March, 2009 9:32:39 AM FW: Government control of temples is destroying Hinduism

 

 

 

 

 

Samskrita Bharati [ samskritam (AT) gmail (DOT) com ]

 

March-09-09 7:24 PM

Michael Deslippe

Government control of

temples is destroying Hinduism

Government control of temples

is destroying Hinduism By J.G. Arora

jgarora (AT) gmail (DOT) com Organiser,

New Delhi : March 8,

2009 & March 15, 2009

http://www.organise r.org/dynamic/ modules.php? name=Content & pa=showpage & pid=280 & page=43 Apart from Pak-Bangla terrorist and demographic invasion,

another problem tormenting Bharat and its heritage is the outrageous government

control of all prominent Hindu temples. It is shocking that though India is a Secular

Republic , and though secularism commands

separation of State and Religion, state governments have taken over all

prominent Hindu temples and shrines which is an anti-secular act. All

well-known Hindu temples including those at Puri, Tirupati, Guruvayoor, Kashi,

Mathura , Ayodhya, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Vaishno Devi,

Mumbai ( Shree Siddhi Vinayak Temple ),

Shirdi, Amarnath, Srisailam, Madurai and Rameshwaram are under government’s control. And in

the latest of such takeovers, the ancient Shiva temple at Chidambaram in Tamil

Nadu is being grabbed by the government. And only Hindu temples have been targeted for government

control whereas no Christian church or Muslim mosque has been touched. This is not to suggest that churches and mosques should be

taken over by the government. This is just to stress that Hindu temples also

should enjoy the same freedom from government control as enjoyed by churches

and mosques, and that Hindus too should have the same liberty to manage their

places of worship as given to non-Hindus. Moreover,

as discussed hereunder, the state governments are not applying the income from

Hindu temples for the cause of Hindus or Hindu religion. Rather, the state takeover

has resulted in appropriation of temple funds by government, and as in

Karnataka, even for Madrassas and Churches. Besides, state takeover has

resulted in gross mismanagement and embezzlement of temple funds, closure of

many smaller temples, encroachments, sale and alienation of temple lands, and

dismantling of temple infra-structure which is leading to gradual demolition of

Hindu religion. ANTI-SECULAR AND DISCRIMINATORY Government control of Hindu temples is anti-secular and

anti-Hindu. It amounts to suppression of Hindus’ right of

religious freedom guaranteed under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution of

India. Besides, it is discriminatory since only Hindu places of worship have

been targeted for control. Because

of government takeover, persons with no devotion and no knowledge about

Hinduism, and even non-Hindus are governing Hindu temples. Though as per Article 25 of Indian Constitution, all

persons are equally entitled to the right to profess, practice and propagate

religion, and though as per Article 26, every religious denomination “shall

have the right (a) to establish and maintain institutions for religious and

charitable purposes; (b) to manage its own affairs in matters of religion; ©

to own and acquire movable and immovable property; and (d) to administer such

property in accordance with lawâ€, various state governments are controlling all

prominent Hindu temples and their estates thereby depriving Hindus of their

Fundamental Rights guaranteed under Articles 25 and 26. DEVASTATION OF INFRASTRUCTURE All over

the country, there are serious allegations of mismanagement and embezzlement of

income and assets of the government controlled temples. Only a few

illustrations are given here. In

states like Andhra Pradesh, the devotees’ offerings to temples are appropriated

as government revenue; and are not used for Hindu community, or to promote

Hindu religious activities. Besides, in several districts of Andhra Pradesh,

thousands and thousands of acres of land owned by government controlled temples

have been sold, alienated, gifted and permitted to be grabbed by land grabbers

though the government has no right to do so since it is not the owner of temple

lands.

In Bhadrachalam and Simhachalam, hundreds of acres of temple land have been given

to Christian organisations. Moreover, the Endowment department has sold over

1600 Acres of Srisailam Temple land to various

Missionary Organisations. And in 2005, 245 acres of prime land belonging to

Seetharama Chandra Swamy temple at Devarayamjal was sold at throwaway prices

causing huge loss to the temple. And in

2006, the centuries old, 1000 pillar Mandapam

in Tirumala complex was demolished. Situation in other States is equally appalling. As reported

in a section of the press, for the years 1997-98 to 2002-2003 for which figures

are available, major portion of temple income in Karnataka was allocated to

Madrassas, mosques and churches; whereas temples got only a little amount.

In Kerala, state control has rendered innumerable temples dysfunctional.

Besides, under the Kerala Land Reforms Act, over 12,000 acres of Guruvayoor

temple’s land has been reduced to a few hundred acres only. And in

Sabarimala, 2,500 acres of temple land has been sold by the government’s Board.

In Orissa

also the administration has been selling Jagannath temple endowment lands. In

Jammu and Kashmir , even Mata Vaishno Devi Temple University created with the funds of Vaishno Devi Temple does not have Hindu religious studies in its curriculum. Tamil

Nadu’s position is equally dismal because of the problems inherent in

government control of temples. And

though the Church is the largest real-estate owner in the country, no Church

land has been controlled or alienated by the government. SHACKLING HINDU FAITH Though a

secular state can neither reward nor punish any religion, shackling Hindu

religion through state control of temples continues all over

India except in

Himachal Pradesh where in 2008, the government decided to liberate the temples

from its control. Government

control of their places of worship has crippled the cultural, social and

spiritual life of Hindus. Apart from depriving temples of their income and

wealth, this un-secular government action is ravaging the body and soul of

Hinduism. While the

government subsidises “Haj†pilgrimage with hundreds of crores of rupees every

year, state control is destroying the self-supporting edifice of Hindu

places of worship. Apart

from being the centre of Hindu community’s religious, social and cultural life,

the temple is supposed to be the focal point for learning Vedas,

Upanishads, Ramayana, Mahabharata and Tirukkural etc. from religious

scholars. But Vedic learning and Sanskrit have been banished from most of the

government controlled temples. As

reported in media, Andhra Pradesh government has brought Christian institutions

into the decision making body of Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam (TTD) and its

institutions. JRG Wealth Management, a Christian organisation has been employed

for Prasadam materials for use in Tirupati temple. And

there are apprehensions of evangelists’ design to build a Church at Tirumala. WAY OUT Since

temples belong to Hindu society which has built and maintained them over the

centuries, they must be restored to Hindu community to give religious freedom

to Hindus. Like other communities, Hindus too have a constitutional right

to manage their places of worship. And they must not be denied this fundamental

right. Independent

Boards comprising of Hindus must govern Hindu temples and shrines as is the

case with places of worship of other religious communities. And temple income should

be used for educational institutes, hospitals and welfare activities for

general public, and also for Sanskrit and Hindu religious studies. All

pro-Hindu individuals and organisations have to assert themselves and force the

State governments to liberate the temples. Alternatively, apart from demanding

the amendment of Hindu Religious Endowments and Charitable Trusts Act, 1951 to

make it compatible with Articles 25 and 26, suitable legal action should be

taken by filing writ petitions / public interest petitions in the respective

High Courts since the government control of Hindu temples violates Articles 14,

25 and 26 of Indian Constitution which bestow the fundamental rights to

equality, freedom of religion, and freedom to manage religious affairs. As per

Kathopnishad, “Uttishthta jaagrta praapya

varaan nibodhat†(Arise, awake, and do not stop till the goal is

achieved). Personal

greed of a few individuals, and Hindu community’s suicidal tolerance of gross

injustice of confiscation of their temples must not be allowed to destroy

Hinduism in truncated India the way Hinduism has been liquidated in Afghanistan ,

Pakistan and

Bangladesh which too used to be Hindu lands.

 

 

 

Explore your hobbies and interests. Click here to begin.

[Guest guest]

At first showing partiality towards minorities was to improve their condition of living, so the system of allocation of seats under a common sub-group had to be put into force. Since they have enjoyed it, they ask for separate sub-category seat allocation that finally leaves just 10 seats en somme for the General category, which is the category for the so called forward class & ofcourse a general way of obtainining seats in a professional college, & other 50 seats for the various communities & sects. Under the SC itself nowadays they ask for a separate seat allocation for a community. I wish that the government should slowly cut the quota's given. But `a contraire, they r increasing the quota seats which finally might atleast leave 1 seat to the general category. This doesn't say

that i'm from general category & so i want to vanish the system of quota allocating; i too have the priviledges to enjoy the quota allocation since i fall under their special category of OB but this system should bereally brought down & may be if the government really wants to help the needies, a new system based on annual income may be subdivided & quota allocations may be based on them. Some good member of this community who also belong to the central government, could possibly put forth this way. Because some from the so-called forward class too, there r people suffer due to economic status. What will they do, when there is no seat for them in the general category?!Some one should think of this.Thanking you,yours sincerely, Venkat <>"~~~tHe~cRusader~~~"<>  By the way the above picture is an ambigram.... If u don't know what's an ambigram just ask me .. I made this one for myself!Yogacharya Dr.Ananda Bhavanani <yognat2001 Sent: Thursday, 12 March, 2009 8:47:13 PMRe: FW: Government control of temples is destroying Hinduism

 

thanks venkati have personally suffered from this anti-hindu attitude of the govt and am sympathetic to this story cause of thatsecularism is equal for all and not to be minority appeasement too!!Yogacharya Dr.Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani Chairman : Yoganjali Natyalayam and ICYER Hon General Secretary, Pondicherry Yogasana Association 25, 2nd Cross,Iyyanar Nagar, Pondicherry, South India-605 013 Tel: +91-413 - 2622902 / +91-413 -3203314/+91- 413 -2241561 Mobile: 9842311433 Website: www.icyer.com www.geocities. com/yognat2001/ anandahttp://youtube. com/profile_ videos?user= yognat2001 & p=r--- On Wed, 3/11/09, venkatesan venkatesan <dvenkatesan_ yoga (AT) (DOT) co.in> wrote:venkatesan venkatesan <dvenkatesan_ yoga (AT) (DOT) co.in>Re: FW: Government control of temples is destroying HinduismWednesday, March 11, 2009, 11:00 PM

 

Sir, actually this e-mail is full of anti-secularism. ...To bring a good

& organised systems in hindu temples, the government has to

regularise these management of hindu temples...Lots & lots of acres

of land wasted & was earlier enjoyed only by a few percentage of

people who govern them. This condition started to become as an act due

to few temple authorities prevent some sects of people entering &

worshipping the Lord who is common for all. In the case of Chidambaram

temple, those people who were incharge of the management earlier wanted

their [temple's huge] land or properties to be with them & they

themselves wanted to enjoy their property, for this they l'd marry only

amongst their group so that their property never goes in others hands.

 

Christian churches are well managed by a single higher authority, the

Pope. So there is someone to organise the management & to see to

that all are in order. But here in Hindu temple, Each & every

individual who builds that temple wants to be the only person who

manages them or their income. 

 

A huge acre of land is not at all made useful to common people or for

their help. The private authorities may say that it is an agriculture

land and they have left many common farmers to work there, & have

the benifit from the land, but truly, the person allowed to enjoy those

lands would be the relatives or close servants of the managing

authorities. So it may be right to give those lands to some

missionaries. Or those huge acres of land would be, in future, used to

build some universities or colleges. If they really wanted to have

those land benifitted by others, educational instituitions governed by

the government would be the correct one.

 

This is just because the majorities in India are not given proper

recognition & they think that the priorities are given only for the

minorities [of course this may be true in some cases like allocating

seats in higher studies]. We are the real minorities in the world. If

we think they r the minorities & don't give them the respect that a

human needs surely when one goes abroad none will respect us.

 

It's always good if the government takes all the hindu temples &

organise them under a single department & the useless, overflowing

properties of the temples can be used for the development of the

country's educational, spiritual conditions. 

Politics prevail everywhere, be it government or private party. But

when it's under the government's private under taking this politics too

have a meagre amount of existense. Like the temple's properties let

them belong to the government, but to the better management &

organisations let the private parties take them under the control. Like

in the case of BSNL or Air India, the highest share holders are

private, so the government has to fear about the private parties too.

 

It may seem to be that i'm making it more business oriented, but this

one would be more organised only if that condition prevail rather than

just a single private party holding that temple, not allowing other

sects of people to get benifitted by the Lord's [who never sees

partiality over religion like us] property which is given by him to all.

 

From the original message, it's seen that the author of the message has

lost the priviledges to the government to own or run or manage the

administration, the properties or the income to the government. So he

just puts out his hearteous feelings.

 

The temple's land is not for us [hindus] alone. The land space is

minimum in this earth. God gave us land to live & not to own it. So

we don't have the authority to say this piece of land belongs only to

hindus, christians or muslims. All of us can share & enjoy this

precious opportunity [life] given to us & try atleast 1% to attain

SAMADHI. It's not possible to attain any of the samadhi when we fight

for land, then what's there in even thinking about DHARMAMEGA SAMADHI,

the highest one according to Maharishi Patanjali.   

 

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely,

 Venkat <>"~~~tHe~cRusader~ ~~"<>  By the way the above picture is an ambigram.... If u don't know what's an ambigram just ask me .. I made this one for

myself!Yogacharya Dr.Ananda Bhavanani <yognat2001 >Wednesday, 11 March, 2009 9:32:39 AM FW: Government control of temples is destroying Hinduism

 

 

 

 

 

 

Samskrita Bharati [ samskritam (AT) gmail (DOT) com ]

 

March-09-09 7:24 PM

Michael Deslippe

Government control of

temples is destroying Hinduism

  Government control of temples

is destroying Hinduism By  J.G. Arora          

jgarora (AT) gmail (DOT) com      Organiser,

New Delhi :  March 8,

2009 & March 15, 2009   

http://www.organise r.org/dynamic/ modules.php? name=Content & pa=showpage & pid=280 & page=43   Apart from Pak-Bangla terrorist and demographic invasion,

another problem tormenting Bharat and its heritage is the outrageous government

control of all prominent Hindu temples. It is shocking that though India is a Secular

Republic , and though secularism commands

separation of State and Religion, state governments have taken over all

prominent Hindu temples and shrines which is an anti-secular act. All

well-known Hindu temples including those at Puri, Tirupati, Guruvayoor, Kashi,

Mathura , Ayodhya, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Vaishno Devi,

Mumbai ( Shree Siddhi Vinayak Temple ),

Shirdi, Amarnath, Srisailam, Madurai and Rameshwaram are under government’s control. And in

the latest of such takeovers, the ancient Shiva temple at Chidambaram in Tamil

Nadu is being grabbed by the government. And only Hindu temples have been targeted for government

control whereas no Christian church or Muslim mosque has been touched. This is not to suggest that churches and mosques should be

taken over by the government. This is just to stress that Hindu temples also

should enjoy the same freedom from government control as enjoyed by churches

and mosques, and that Hindus too should have the same liberty to manage their

places of worship as given to non-Hindus. Moreover,

as discussed hereunder, the state governments are not applying the income from

Hindu temples for the cause of Hindus or Hindu religion. Rather, the state takeover

has resulted in appropriation of temple funds by government, and as in

Karnataka, even for Madrassas and Churches. Besides, state takeover has

resulted in gross mismanagement and embezzlement of temple funds, closure of

many smaller temples, encroachments, sale and alienation of temple lands, and

dismantling of temple infra-structure which is leading to gradual demolition of

Hindu religion. ANTI-SECULAR AND DISCRIMINATORY Government control of Hindu temples is anti-secular and

anti-Hindu. It amounts to suppression of Hindus’ right of

religious freedom guaranteed under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution of

India. Besides, it is discriminatory since only Hindu places of worship have

been targeted for control. Because

of government takeover, persons with no devotion and no knowledge about

Hinduism, and even non-Hindus are governing Hindu temples. Though as per Article 25 of Indian Constitution, all

persons are equally entitled to the right to profess, practice and propagate

religion, and though as per Article 26, every religious denomination “shall

have the right (a) to establish and maintain institutions for religious and

charitable purposes; (b) to manage its own affairs in matters of religion; ©

to own and acquire movable and immovable property; and (d) to administer such

property in accordance with lawâ€, various state governments are controlling all

prominent Hindu temples and their estates thereby depriving Hindus of their

Fundamental Rights guaranteed under Articles 25 and 26. DEVASTATION OF INFRASTRUCTURE All over

the country, there are serious allegations of mismanagement and embezzlement of

income and assets of the government controlled temples. Only a few

illustrations are given here. In

states like Andhra Pradesh, the devotees’ offerings to temples are appropriated

as government revenue; and are not used for Hindu community, or to promote

Hindu religious activities. Besides, in several districts of Andhra Pradesh,

thousands and thousands of acres of land owned by government controlled temples

have been sold, alienated, gifted and permitted to be grabbed by land grabbers

though the government has no right to do so since it is not the owner of temple

lands.          

In Bhadrachalam and Simhachalam, hundreds of acres of temple land have been given

to Christian organisations. Moreover, the Endowment department has sold over

1600 Acres of Srisailam Temple land to various

Missionary Organisations. And in 2005, 245 acres of prime land belonging to

Seetharama Chandra Swamy temple at Devarayamjal was sold at throwaway prices

causing huge loss to the temple. And in

2006, the centuries old, 1000 pillar Mandapam

in Tirumala complex was demolished. Situation in other States is equally appalling. As reported

in a section of the press, for the years 1997-98 to 2002-2003 for which figures

are available, major portion of temple income in Karnataka was allocated to

Madrassas, mosques and churches; whereas temples got only a little amount.          

In Kerala, state control has rendered innumerable temples dysfunctional.

Besides, under the Kerala Land Reforms Act, over 12,000 acres of Guruvayoor

temple’s land has been reduced to a few hundred acres only. And in

Sabarimala, 2,500 acres of temple land has been sold by the government’s Board.

In Orissa

also the administration has been selling Jagannath temple endowment lands. In

Jammu and Kashmir , even Mata Vaishno Devi Temple University created with the funds of Vaishno Devi Temple does not have Hindu religious studies in its curriculum. Tamil

Nadu’s position is equally dismal because of the problems inherent in

government control of temples. And

though the Church is the largest real-estate owner in the country, no Church

land has been controlled or alienated by the government. SHACKLING HINDU FAITH Though a

secular state can neither reward nor punish any religion, shackling Hindu

religion through state control of temples continues all over

India except in

Himachal Pradesh where in 2008, the government decided to liberate the temples

from its control. Government

control of their places of worship has crippled the cultural, social and

spiritual life of Hindus. Apart from depriving temples of their income and

wealth, this un-secular government action is ravaging the body and soul of

Hinduism. While the

government subsidises “Haj†pilgrimage with hundreds of crores of rupees every

year, state control is destroying the self-supporting edifice of Hindu

places of worship.  Apart

from being the centre of Hindu community’s religious, social and cultural life,

the temple is supposed to be the focal point for learning Vedas,

Upanishads, Ramayana, Mahabharata and Tirukkural etc. from religious

scholars. But Vedic learning and Sanskrit have been banished from most of the

government controlled temples. As

reported in media, Andhra Pradesh government has brought Christian institutions

into the decision making body of Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam (TTD) and its

institutions. JRG Wealth Management, a Christian organisation has been employed

for Prasadam materials for use in Tirupati temple.  And

there are apprehensions of evangelists’ design to build a Church at Tirumala. WAY OUT  Since

temples belong to Hindu society which has built and maintained them over the

centuries, they must be restored to Hindu community to give religious freedom

to Hindus. Like other communities, Hindus too have a constitutional right

to manage their places of worship. And they must not be denied this fundamental

right. Independent

Boards comprising of Hindus must govern Hindu temples and shrines as is the

case with places of worship of other religious communities. And temple income should

be used for educational institutes, hospitals and welfare activities for

general public, and also for Sanskrit and Hindu religious studies. All

pro-Hindu individuals and organisations have to assert themselves and force the

State governments to liberate the temples. Alternatively, apart from demanding

the amendment of Hindu Religious Endowments and Charitable Trusts Act, 1951 to

make it compatible with Articles 25 and 26, suitable legal action should be

taken by filing writ petitions / public interest petitions in the respective

High Courts since the government control of Hindu temples violates Articles 14,

25 and 26 of Indian Constitution which bestow the fundamental rights to

equality, freedom of religion, and freedom to manage religious affairs. As per

Kathopnishad, “Uttishthta jaagrta praapya

varaan nibodhat†(Arise, awake, and do not stop till the goal is

achieved). Personal

greed of a few individuals, and Hindu community’s suicidal tolerance of gross

injustice of confiscation of their temples must not be allowed to destroy

Hinduism in truncated India the way Hinduism has been liquidated in Afghanistan ,

Pakistan and

Bangladesh which too used to be Hindu lands.

 

 

 

Explore your hobbies and interests. Click here to begin.

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Divine Souls, Namaste!

 

I struggle to find the words to express my mind with regards to the temple takeovers that The Indian government has pursued. The words I do choose below are rare for me and the tone even rarer. Please excuse my emotion but do not excuse the sentiment, especially if it is in anyway similar to your own.

 

Frankly speaking, it is absolutely outrageous what has and is continuing to happen. The Indian government in killing the Hindu culture for very unconscious reasons. I have never felt spiritual experiences inside a church , rather I have always felt the presence of the divine in nature. The two exceptions to this have been when I have been to the Kambliswamy Madam, and to Chidambaram! The energy these two holy places provided to me was profound and sublime beyond words; I still feel them and it is as though they are speaking to me. I have been to Government run temples and all I felt was a great sense sadness emanating from a weakened life force barely able to speak; for me, this too was profound. I feel my hands are tied with the thought that the powers that be will continue to move on their self destructive path.

 

Imagine If India still had the hundreds of thousands of temples that have been destroyed over the years. Imagine the energy mother India would still have and the power she would still be. India is the divine mother and when we limit our devotional avenues the Atma Prasadinum that come back to us is so too weakened. There is no argument that can justify any path that decreases the energy of devotion that these holy sites provide. In fact to do so is to decrease our own energy and our connection to what is sacred.

 

The path of right "use" ness is always aligned with truth. Every citizen, especially every politician in India should know well the teachings of the Mahabharata. There is right and there is wrong, and those who are not aligned with truth will always fall. Those who intellectualize over what is to be done need only go to the thousands of government run temples in India and see for themselves, they may as well go to the circus. In fact there are circuses all over the world and some would say "why go to India?" The government is not just and we the people are not outraged enough to stand up and say ENOUGH!

 

Yours In The Service Of Yoga,Yogacharya GowrishankaranandaAtmalaya® AshramTat Tvam Asi...Thou Art That!www.atmalayaashram.com

 

 

 

 

Yogacharya Dr.Ananda Bhavanani <yognat2001 Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 10:02:39 PM FW: Government control of temples is destroying Hinduism

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Samskrita Bharati [ samskritam (AT) gmail (DOT) com ] March-09-09 7:24 PMMichael DeslippeGovernment control of temples is destroying Hinduism

 

Government control of temples is destroying Hinduism

By J.G. Arora jgarora (AT) gmail (DOT) com Organiser, New Delhi : March 8, 2009 & March 15, 2009 http://www.organise r.org/dynamic/ modules.php? name=Content & pa=showpage & pid=280 & page=43

 

Apart from Pak-Bangla terrorist and demographic invasion, another problem tormenting Bharat and its heritage is the outrageous government control of all prominent Hindu temples.

It is shocking that though India is a Secular Republic , and though secularism commands separation of State and Religion, state governments have taken over all prominent Hindu temples and shrines which is an anti-secular act.

All well-known Hindu temples including those at Puri, Tirupati, Guruvayoor, Kashi, Mathura , Ayodhya, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Vaishno Devi, Mumbai ( Shree Siddhi Vinayak Temple ), Shirdi, Amarnath, Srisailam, Madurai and Rameshwaram are under government’s control.

And in the latest of such takeovers, the ancient Shiva temple at Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu is being grabbed by the government.

And only Hindu temples have been targeted for government control whereas no Christian church or Muslim mosque has been touched.

This is not to suggest that churches and mosques should be taken over by the government. This is just to stress that Hindu temples also should enjoy the same freedom from government control as enjoyed by churches and mosques, and that Hindus too should have the same liberty to manage their places of worship as given to non-Hindus.

Moreover, as discussed hereunder, the state governments are not applying the income from Hindu temples for the cause of Hindus or Hindu religion. Rather, the state takeover has resulted in appropriation of temple funds by government, and as in Karnataka, even for Madrassas and Churches. Besides, state takeover has resulted in gross mismanagement and embezzlement of temple funds, closure of many smaller temples, encroachments, sale and alienation of temple lands, and dismantling of temple infra-structure which is leading to gradual demolition of Hindu religion.

ANTI-SECULAR AND DISCRIMINATORY

Government control of Hindu temples is anti-secular and anti-Hindu. It amounts to suppression of Hindus’ right of religious freedom guaranteed under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India. Besides, it is discriminatory since only Hindu places of worship have been targeted for control.

Because of government takeover, persons with no devotion and no knowledge about Hinduism, and even non-Hindus are governing Hindu temples.

Though as per Article 25 of Indian Constitution, all persons are equally entitled to the right to profess, practice and propagate religion, and though as per Article 26, every religious denomination “shall have the right (a) to establish and maintain institutions for religious and charitable purposes; (b) to manage its own affairs in matters of religion; © to own and acquire movable and immovable property; and (d) to administer such property in accordance with lawâ€, various state governments are controlling all prominent Hindu temples and their estates thereby depriving Hindus of their Fundamental Rights guaranteed under Articles 25 and 26.

DEVASTATION OF INFRASTRUCTURE

All over the country, there are serious allegations of mismanagement and embezzlement of income and assets of the government controlled temples. Only a few illustrations are given here.

In states like Andhra Pradesh, the devotees’ offerings to temples are appropriated as government revenue; and are not used for Hindu community, or to promote Hindu religious activities. Besides, in several districts of Andhra Pradesh, thousands and thousands of acres of land owned by government controlled temples have been sold, alienated, gifted and permitted to be grabbed by land grabbers though the government has no right to do so since it is not the owner of temple lands.

In Bhadrachalam and Simhachalam, hundreds of acres of temple land have been given to Christian organisations. Moreover, the Endowment department has sold over 1600 Acres of Srisailam Temple land to various Missionary Organisations. And in 2005, 245 acres of prime land belonging to Seetharama Chandra Swamy temple at Devarayamjal was sold at throwaway prices causing huge loss to the temple.

And in 2006, the centuries old, 1000 pillar Mandapam in Tirumala complex was demolished.

Situation in other States is equally appalling. As reported in a section of the press, for the years 1997-98 to 2002-2003 for which figures are available, major portion of temple income in Karnataka was allocated to Madrassas, mosques and churches; whereas temples got only a little amount.

In Kerala, state control has rendered innumerable temples dysfunctional. Besides, under the Kerala Land Reforms Act, over 12,000 acres of Guruvayoor temple’s land has been reduced to a few hundred acres only. And in Sabarimala, 2,500 acres of temple land has been sold by the government’s Board.

In Orissa also the administration has been selling Jagannath temple endowment lands.

In Jammu and Kashmir , even Mata Vaishno Devi Temple University created with the funds of Vaishno Devi Temple does not have Hindu religious studies in its curriculum.

Tamil Nadu’s position is equally dismal because of the problems inherent in government control of temples.

And though the Church is the largest real-estate owner in the country, no Church land has been controlled or alienated by the government.

SHACKLING HINDU FAITH

Though a secular state can neither reward nor punish any religion, shackling Hindu religion through state control of temples continues all over India except in Himachal Pradesh where in 2008, the government decided to liberate the temples from its control.

Government control of their places of worship has crippled the cultural, social and spiritual life of Hindus. Apart from depriving temples of their income and wealth, this un-secular government action is ravaging the body and soul of Hinduism.

While the government subsidises “Haj†pilgrimage with hundreds of crores of rupees every year, state control is destroying the self-supporting edifice of Hindu places of worship.

Apart from being the centre of Hindu community’s religious, social and cultural life, the temple is supposed to be the focal point for learning Vedas, Upanishads, Ramayana, Mahabharata and Tirukkural etc. from religious scholars. But Vedic learning and Sanskrit have been banished from most of the government controlled temples.

As reported in media, Andhra Pradesh government has brought Christian institutions into the decision making body of Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam (TTD) and its institutions. JRG Wealth Management, a Christian organisation has been employed for Prasadam materials for use in Tirupati temple.

And there are apprehensions of evangelists’ design to build a Church at Tirumala.

WAY OUT

Since temples belong to Hindu society which has built and maintained them over the centuries, they must be restored to Hindu community to give religious freedom to Hindus. Like other communities, Hindus too have a constitutional right to manage their places of worship. And they must not be denied this fundamental right.

Independent Boards comprising of Hindus must govern Hindu temples and shrines as is the case with places of worship of other religious communities. And temple income should be used for educational institutes, hospitals and welfare activities for general public, and also for Sanskrit and Hindu religious studies.

All pro-Hindu individuals and organisations have to assert themselves and force the State governments to liberate the temples. Alternatively, apart from demanding the amendment of Hindu Religious Endowments and Charitable Trusts Act, 1951 to make it compatible with Articles 25 and 26, suitable legal action should be taken by filing writ petitions / public interest petitions in the respective High Courts since the government control of Hindu temples violates Articles 14, 25 and 26 of Indian Constitution which bestow the fundamental rights to equality, freedom of religion, and freedom to manage religious affairs.

As per Kathopnishad, “Uttishthta jaagrta praapya varaan nibodhat†(Arise, awake, and do not stop till the goal is achieved).

Personal greed of a few individuals, and Hindu community’s suicidal tolerance of gross injustice of confiscation of their temples must not be allowed to destroy Hinduism in truncated India the way Hinduism has been liquidated in Afghanistan , Pakistan and Bangladesh which too used to be Hindu lands.