Fwd: [akandabaratam] Travel : Temple experience near Madurai

[Guest guest]

Perhaps someone can help explain the rationale for

using stone slabs for open area flooring in the older temples such as the

Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai. These slabs can build up considerable

heat enough to sting your naked feet real bad. I know of Malaysian

diabetics who visited Indian temples and came back with great deal of sores

and pain and in some cases resulting in amputation. Surely the ancients

knew the non-suitability of stone slabs for a hot place like South India.

 

I find another ugly habit of Indians: that is to proclaim to the whole

world in gaudy cheap paints on temple walls on who did ubayam when and so

on. These disfigurement of temple walls look like excrement to me just like

the way someone once described India as one big toilet. Are not the temple

authorities sensitive enough to stop these " excrement " on the temple walls?

 

When I was travelling in the countryside in Tamil Nadu, I came across

numerous dilapilated temples and statutes lying around in the open without

any care. I wonder what is the big fuss in Gujarat when existing temples

are left uncared for in India? Is not there a national body or movement on

preservation of historical buildings in India?

 

 

Regards,

Sathia,

Kuala Lumpur,

Malaysia.

--- End forwarded message ---

[Guest guest]

meykandar, " ssathia " <ssathia@h...> wrote:

Dear Vivek and Purushotaman,

 

Thanks for your information.

 

What I do not understand is what is stopping the Hindus from caring

about their legacies?

 

Are Hindus not clear about what they want? Are they still disunited

in terms of caste? Are they confused about religion? Do they lack

leadership? Do they not have management skills? Do they not have the

necessary technical skills to do restoraration? Do they not have

monetary support? What is the problem?

 

Does it not hurt a Hindu to see a dilapilated temple? I have seen

many Tamil movies using dilapilated Hindu temples in the back-drop

and each time I see such things a silent anger, frustration and

disappointment builds up. Even if a portion of the film revenue is

donated to the cause, many of these temples could be put back to

order.

 

I have come across a book in the rare books section of University of

Science Malaysia, a scaled drawing [by British archaelogists] of

Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple with all its grandeur [and its

faults]. Are such efforts at recording the Indian legacies still

continuing in independent India?

 

Regards,

Sathia.

 

 

meykandar, Vivek Anand Ganesan <v_ganesan@Y...> wrote:

> Dear Sathia,

>

> --- ssathia <ssathia@h...> wrote:

> > When I was travelling in the countryside in Tamil Nadu, I

> > came across

> > numerous dilapilated temples and statutes lying around in

> > the open without

> > any care. I wonder what is the big fuss in Gujarat when

> > existing temples

> > are left uncared for in India? Is not there a national

> > body or movement on

> > preservation of historical buildings in India?

> Most of the temples in India are run by the respective

> state Governments. Which really means -> the ruling party

> appoints its acolytes to oversee temple functions and

> often they are mis-managed ( not all but definitely many ).

> The public has very little knowledge about temple finances

> as these are not transparent. Also, collections from the

> richer temples are not used to maintain/repair the smaller

> ones. At the same time the Govt. gives lavish amounts to

> Islamic bodies to build and maintain mosques ( you will

> never see a dilapidated mosque or a church in TamilNadu,

> they also get money from the middle eastern countries ),

> pays for indian muslims to go on hajj pilgrimage ( yet

> the govt. will not pay for hindus to go on pilgrimages )

> and supports minority educational institutions. There is

> one theory that says that some of the money from the

> hindu temples is diverted to fund minority religions. I

> don't know how true that is. But, there is definitely

> prejudice against funding hindu temples. The solution is

> for

> Govt. to dissociate itself from religion and hand over our

> temples to local community bodies which would be elected.

>

> There are organizations such as the ASI ( Archeological

> Society of India ) and HR & CE ( Hindu Religious & Charitable

> Endowment ) which manage hindu temples. But, they do a

> lousy job. For instance, the thanjai periya koil ( one

> of the grandest shiva temples in the world ) was handed

> over

> to ASI in the 1960s because of its architectural grandeur.

> ASI has mis-managed the temple to the extent that proper

> services are not conducted and the several parts of the

> temple were in dis-repair ( even when India was under

> foreign rule this was not the case ). Only recently have

> things improved. Hindus must wake up and demand that their

> temples belong to the community and cannot be run by the

> Government.

>

> -Vivek.

>

>

>

> Mother's Day is May 12th!

>

--- End forwarded message ---