Sri Vinayakar idols at Thiruvateeswaranpet

Ganesh Chathurthi - celebrating Lord Vinayaka at Triplicane

Tomorrow 29^th Aug 2014  is Ganesh Chaturthi…. Vinayaka Chathurthi would be grandly celebrated in Tamilnadu as also in the rest of the country with gay and gaiety.  Lord Ganesha is widely worshipped as the God of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune and traditionally invoked at the beginning of any new venture or at the start of travel.

In mid 1980s, installing huge Vinayaka idols in many public places, religious worship for ten days and visarjanam were being conducted in a big manner ~ after a couple of incidents, the then rulers banned passing of procession in the Triplicane High Road citing law and order issues and now a days, the procession has shrunk ……. Those days, there would be hundreds of Vinayakas big and small installed at each street and the idol procession would unwind through narrow lanes of triplicane, with enthusiastic crowds singing bajans and songs extolling Ganesha.

Now there is so much of pressure on Hindu devotees – they are made to run for obtaining permission as Police, Corporaation and every authority does their mite to dampen the spirit.

This evening a bunch of sprightly youngsters organised a grand procession taking big Vinayaka statues to be installed for Pooja at Ponnappa Mudali Street………… Hail the Lord Ganesha

Vinayakane vinai theerppavane… !!!  Jai Ganapathi Maharaj ki…. !!!!!

Temple funds ...administration and buying of Toyota Innovas....

Only the Devout who regularly visits the temple  know the anguish…. It is not unique to any village temple… the malady affects almost all temples – more so, when thousands of devotees come to the temple …. More so when they contribute lakhs and crores of rupees in the Temple hundis.

For a Hindu, devotion and worship is way of life… their life revolves round the Temples ~ more around those great temples of which Alwars and Nayanmars have sung hymns… doing service at the temple, and donating their property were all for propitiation ~ and many rich people donated part of their wealth, their lands and more for Temples – constructing them and maintaining them…. People who died without progeny used to donate their property to temple – as when the temple flourished – all the neighbourhood prospered…. ‘people lived happily in places where culture and religion co-existed’…..

All tales of the past…. Now there are some temples where even daily rituals are not properly conducted… not all of them are in villages, neither – all of them not having property …. They have huge estates – only the administrators are not properly managing to derive revenue out of them.  We have HR&CE which will take over temples when revenue exceeds a set limit [the same rule does not apply to religious institutions of others !!!!] – and with the temple money – they will conduct political functions – in memory of leaders who preached atheism … why at a temple premises …. If feeding the poor is the aim – do it in the name of God – why in the name of political persons ?  have we asked this ??

Sadly, the temple precincts are poorly maintained – hygiene is not at all cared …. Temple festivities are planned, mentioned in agamas and puranas – Brahmothsavam in Vaishnavaite temples were ordained by Brahma himself; later by many Acharyas including Ramanuja Charya… in some places, the annual festivities do not take place … the Car festival is the most majestic and most attended by one and all… 

in some temples, where the ‘Temple rath (car)’ is damaged mainly due to improper (read NO) maintenance – repairs / reconstruction will take decades – that too, only when some private donors willingly take the initiative…………. 

But the officials come in Airconditioned cars – Innovas, Scorpios  - why SUVs and luxury sedans from temple funds – when nothing is done for the Lord = for whom those funds were intended. Why no action against officials who fail time and again to realize the revenue from assets and sometimes even do not maintain proper record of the assets/////////

Sad, sad, tragic … anguish and pain… today, there is a good article of Mr TR Ramesh in Dinamalar which is reproduced below.

Thanks to Dinamalar for publishing this and many thanks to the ilks of TR Ramesh who take up the cudgels, when ordinary mortals feel that there is nothing one can do….

Here is what appeared in Dinamalar supplement - chennai edition dt 8.3.14

Masi Magam Thiruvizha at Vanga Kadal ... Sri Kamakala Kameswari

14^th Feb 2014 was an important day ~ Masi Magam, generally a day on which the Magam Nakshathiram coincides with Pournami too.  On this day,  Uthsava Murthis of Temples are taken in a procession to Ponds, and Sea shores for ceremonial bath.  Devotees  flock  too for taking a dip in the water along with Murthis in propitiation of the sins. 

One of the by-lanes from Bharathiyar Salai aka Pycrofts Road is Hanumantha Lala Street – famous for the temple of Sri Kamakala Kameswarar…. The main deity of the temple is Sri Kamakala Kameswarar and he adorns the Shwethabaanalinga roopam here while Sri Kamakala Kameswari Ambal blesses in the Thribhangi roopam.

The antiquity  of the temple blessed by Sankaracharyas is revealed by the fact that the temple originally belonged to late Rai Raja Eswardoss Diawanth Bahadur, who founded the temple. After his death, his descendants inherited the temple and other properties but sadly  were adjudicated as insolvents in I.P.No.50 of 1924 and the management of the properties including the temple vested with Official Assignee, Madras.  As it happened with many temples in Tamil Nadu, that the ownership and management of temple was taken away from the descendants of the founder and subsequently is being managed by the Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments, which is lamented by many local residents.

On the Masi Makam day, in accordance with the traditions, the Uthsava idols of Sri Kamakala Kameswari Ambal with Sri Kamakala Kameswarar was taken to the sea front at Marina beach for holy theerthavari at Bay of Bengal.  There was the holy congregation of many Lords of whom Sri Parthasarathi, the presiding deity of the temple which gave the name to this area as Thiruvallikkeni was prominent.  

For a devout Hindu, ~ following our Hindu dharma, following our religious practices; wearing our traditional marks; chanting the name of the God; loving all His followers, doing good to humanity and serving those who are involved in the maintenance of our Hindu Dharma are all basic things.  Believe in HIM totally and HE would take care of all our problems….. Live happily serving the Lord; When God is with US ~ None can be against us………..

Here are photos taken on the festivity

Supreme Court rules against Govt in Thillai Chidambaram Temple; but Govt takes over Ayodhya Mandapam - the same day

For believers, asthigas and Hinduism – the Monday judgment of the Supreme Court quashing the TN Govt Feb 2009 order appointing Executive Officer to manage the affairs and properties of the  Natarajar temple at Chidambaram has come as a big relief. It was no case against the Dikshithars alone….. for long the Govts and the created HR&CE have held Hindu beliefs and the money / property donated by Hindus to their Temples have been held and used against the interests of Hinduism and the wishes of devotees. The devotees were really pained and anguished to note that there had to be a debate and subsequent Govt order that temple premises should not be used for anti-religion, atheist meets …. Can any such thing happen in any property owned / managed  by any other religious bodies ?.......... then, why Hinduism, Hindu temples are always targetted…

On Monday (6^th Jan 2014), a Bench of Justices B.S. Chauhan and S.A. Bobde, allowing a batch of appeals filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and Podhu Dikshitars against the Madras High Court verdict upholding the GO, held that the right of the Dikshitars to manage the temple could not be taken away by the government. The Bench accepted the contention of the Dikshitars that they were a religious denomination as per the Article 26 of the Constitution “which guarantees right to establish and maintain institutions for religious purposes.” Mr. Justice Chauhan pointed out that the right to administer the temple by the Dikshitars had been recognised by the Supreme Court in its judgment in 1952 and it could not be taken away. The Bench faulted the Madras High Court for re-opening the issue whether the Dikshitars were a religious denomination or not even after the matter had been res judicata (already been decided). On the State government’s contention that it had a right to interfere when there was mismanagement, the Bench said such interference could only be for a short period. Quoting the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, Dr. Swamy argued that if there were allegations of misappropriation, the issue should be dealt with under the provisions of the IPC and not by taking over the temple administration.

One of the earliest documented incidents relating to the status of Chidambaram Natarajar temple or Sabanayagar temple as it is officially known dates back to 1885 ~ and thus a century old tussle has come to an end.   The efforts of Chidambaram Podhu Dikshithars fructified as Dr Subramania Swami fought their cause and won it for them….. even before the asthigas could celebrate comes the news of Govt taking over ‘Ayodhya Mandapam’.

After Nanganallur Anjaneyar Temple, now it is Ayodhya mandapam at West Mambalam.  The government on Monday took over the Ayodhya Mandapam in West Mambalam, sparking protests in the locality. The Mandapam, around 60 years old, functions as a place for religious discourse and concerts. There is no proper temple but the Mandapam has depictions of Rama, Sita, Radha and Krishna and devotees worship in a small shrine in the hall. The Mandapam, the Mithilapuri Kalyana Mandapam, Sri Sitaram Vidyalaya Matriculation Higher Secondary School, and Gnanavapi, are run by the Sri Ram Samaj, a society, which was founded in 1954. A member of the society said that it was not a temple as it did not have a presiding deity or a dwajasthambam (flag mast) and was involved only in conducting religious discourses, and festivals including Ramanavami, Navarathri and Kandasashti.

TOI reports that the Hindu religious and charitable endowments (HR&CE) department took charge of the hall on a petition by a person whose application for membership to the Sri Rama Samajam, which managed the mandapam, had been rejected. The state took over the temple under Section 49(1) of the HR&CE Act.     “The samajam also manages a higher secondary school, a marriage hall and Gnanavapi, where funeral rites are conducted,” said samajam president S Ravichandran. “All the assets have been taken over by the HR&CE department. The department issued an order on Saturday appointing an assistant commissioner to manage the four assets.”

photo courtesy : www.panoramio.com/photo/43052646

The samajam on Arya Gowda Road was formed in 1954 to celebrate Rama Navami. It gradually expanded and constructed a marriage hall, set up a school nearby and Gnanavapi in T Nagar. The officer tried to serve the order on Saturday but could not as the office was locked, said Ravichandran. “The samajam has filed a petition in the Madras high court through its counsel against the takeover,” Ravichandran said.

Volunteers of the Hindu Mahasabha held protests outside the Mandapam after the takeover. The total assets of the samajam are estimated to be worth more than 5 crore. The HR&CE department said it had appointed an official to probe the financial affairs of the samajam.

So another temple, another yardstick as State Govt and its HR&CE try to usurp power and funds of another Hindu religious institutions – which they cannot do elsewhere…. Sad for the Hindus.

7th Jan 2014.

PS : A SMS received (in the evening) from an advocate friend says

 'Madras HC stays the taking over'...............