Temples

[Guest guest]

Dear All in TBP,

 

Love and Love alone.....

 

I fully to the anguish and agony expessed by the members of

TBP on the present sad state of affairs of Temples in India in

general and in Andhra Pradesh in particular. I am one with you. I

myself have seen at least three temples in Nalgonda district, of them

at least two old temples have been completely demolished and ruined

for hidden treasure in the Garbhalaya (i.e., sactum sactorum) and the

vigrahas have been defaced. I really wept on that day. The villages

were surprised at my lamenting !!! The villagers took me around, when

I visited Hyderabad last time. Unfortunately, at present, even the

rulers are either helping the looters or looking at other side, while

the Hindu temples are being ruined by hoolingans. The worshipping

places of other religions are absolutely intact and protected. What

does it show both on the part of rulers and ruled? The answer is

obvious.

 

Coming to unity in us, yes, I too agree on that score also that we do

not have it that and this was precisely the reason that the other

religious people invaded India, ruled us and ruined us and we allowed

them to do so. Now--a-days, it has become a fashion to find fault

with others, than rectifying one's own. We have divided ourselves on

the basis of caste, region, religion, sex, etc. The goal in life, in

most of us, is to earn as money as possible, whatever might be the

way of earning. It is very painful to see this degradation both in

the public and in the leaders. Bharat Mata is weeping every day and

night for this downfall of her children. But, who bothers? We forgot

to respect our parents, what to tell about respecting other elders

and especially our mother-land. Rama says to Lakshmana in Ramanaya,

in response to later's suggestion that Rama should rule Lanka and

forget about Ayyodhya:

 

Api swarnamayi Lanka

name Lakshmana rochate

Janani janmabhoomischa

Swargaadapi gareeyasi

 

Meaning: Lakshmana, it is true that Lnaka is made of gold and very

rich, but I do not like it, as I value, Janani (Mother) and

Janmabhoomischa (birth place) more than Swargam (Heaven).

 

How many of us are now in this state of mind? Not even one per cent.

I have seen, being a Pravaasaandhra (non-resident of Andhra Pradesh)

that in most of the Andhra families, the spoken language at home is

either Hindi or English, not Telugu, but the most spoken language in

India, after Hindi, is Telugu !!! Is it not sad? I strongly feel that

a person, who forgot one's Mother, Mother-tongue and Maatru-bhoomi,

is worse than a traitor. If so, how can we safeguard our age-old

traditions and culture and especially temples?

 

Unfortunately, temples have become a part of this negligence. We are

in the rat race to become rich overnight, whatever might be the price

we have to pay for that. It does not matter. We need a good house, we

need a good-looking wife or husband, we need car, we need bank

balance, we need T.V., we need all other facilities, which will give

us comfort and we ALSO need God. So, God comes the very LAST ITEM in

the list and we proudly say, I AM SORRY, I DO NOT HAVAE TIME FOR

PUJA, etc., or I DO NOT KNOW ALL THIS. I have absolutely no objection

to have all these facilities, but, ata the same time, we should

earmark time every day for our inner-self, for our culture, for our

moral-growth, for our mental balance and well-being, for self-less

service, etc., but we do not have time for any of that.

 

It is a painful commentary and it requires a soul-search to come out

of this trap of materialistic outlook. Then, and only then, we will

take care of ourselves and our culture, our temples, our self-

respect, etc. also. Till then, the only thing we can do is suffer

from this kind of humiliation. Lip-service and sympathy will not

yield any results to set-right the things that went or are going

wrong. It requires iron-will.

 

Earlier I wrote a couple of mails regarding our responsibilities

towards society, etc., how many have you responded? Not even one ! If

it is so, how many, do you think, would come out openly to support

any issue of this nature? The answer is very clear. So, first of all,

get out of this negative attitude that I CANNOT DO ANYTHING. Every

drop in the ocean counts and is equally important. Practice makes one

perfect. Let us realise this TRUTH now and now itself.

 

This is my first and last mail on this. Let us not drag it on and on

to a situation, where it becomes a personal one. Thank you very much

for your understanding. Hari Om.

 

Love and Love alone.....

 

P. Gopi Krishna

======

 

rajen babu <rajen_b wrote:

 

Dear sir,

we r seeing the fate of chilukuri balaji temple. new temples are

being constructed but not resurrection of old ones. u r correct. if u

resurrect and bring to a good one our government is there ready to

occupy the same telling that proper control is required. it is our

fate. we hindus are never united and we will never be united.

somebody wants to dominate and think that they are superior to other

subsects and wont impart their knowledge saying that their families

are only eligible to learn though the same are not written in any

scriptures. u should bring all the people together if we believe

bhakti is the road to reach GOD. now the temples are becoming

commercial. i am seeing practically with tirupati/tirumala temples

from my birth as i have born in tirupati. the greediness,

selfishness, eager to reach power corridors etc., the tolal cocept

and procedures are being destroyed for the convenience of the rulers

by the priests who wants to patronise the rulers forcibly sometimes.

where is the time for us to think about our culture. we should relax

certain things and amend our thoughts to bring back our brother who

are left from us.

i understand birlas have taken up to repair and reconstruct the old

temples in rajasthan instead of constructing new ones. like this if

anybody is there or ttd can help us. but, how far ttd can do this i

do not know. the heads appointed are subservient of the rulers and

the priests are subservient to the rulers and they advise as per the

liking of the rulers. GOD is mute and speechless. in HIS name

everything is being carried our even though the same is against our

scriptures and Dharma. who cares. we do not have any tolerance in

this group also if a good joke/cartoon/photos are sent. how can u

expect unity when there is no tolerance, compassion, kindness to

understand others, respect others views etc. we need sri sriman

ramanujacharya and sri chaitanya prabhu again in this country.

pardon me if i have exceeded my limits. i only poured my heart.

rajen babu

 

ramdantu <ramdantu wrote:

Endaroo Mahanu bhavulu...

Andharike Vandanamulu....

 

Mana Andhra desamulo Yenno Devalayamulu jeernavasthake cheeru

kuntunnye. Chala Devalayamulalo nityaa deeparadha naku nochu kokunda

vunnaye. Ede mana palakula nirlakshya neke nidarshanamu.

 

I would like to request you all the respected members of Telugu

Bhakti Pages to participate in this open discussion on this issue.

 

And please spread this message to all.

 

Swasthi....

 

Namaste.

 

Siva Ram DS

Hyderabad.