An RTI petition has brought out the shocking state of affairs of even famous temples such as Murugan temples at Palani, Thiruttani, Thirupparamkundram and Marudamalai and the Meenakshi Amman temple of Madurai incurring revenue losses. The total loss of revenue in the last 10 years incurred by 148 temples in Tamilnadu was found to be to the tune of 2,640 crores of rupees. The cause was attributed to mismanagement of temple properties. The recovery of dues was not properly done by the temple administration.
Misuse of temple property is happening at two levels - by the individuals and by the administration. Less than a month ago, an article in the Organiser magazine (given below) brought to light how the funds from Hindu temples are not being used for the Hindu temples, but diverted for other purposes. Stephan Knapp who has been doing a yeomen service for the Hindu cause has highlighted in one of his books that 85 % of the revenue of the Thirupathy Balaji temple goes to the government exchequer from which the money is diverted for purposes not connected with Hindu causes.
We don't know the exact state of affairs happening in the temples in Tamilnadu. The recent RTI petition has brought only the loss in terms of recovery of money from temple properties. We do not know how much is being spent on temple welfare. As far as I know the festivities in many temples are being run with the support of devotees only. The misuse and mismanagement of temple property has not yet been investigated.
From astrological point of view, misuse of temple property gets manifest in many forms. But the unfortunate thing about is that the effects do not get manifest in the same birth itself. It comes in a future birth when people would suffer for having cheated the deity by misappropriating the temple properties.
By this it is interpreted that God gives enough time to set right the wrong done to the temple / deity / temple property in the same birth itself.
When it is not done it is being carried over to a future birth when people would not know why they suffer.
From the horoscope it is possible to ascertain whether one has done an offence to a deity in a previous birth.
- The Badhak planet is an indicator of the offence done to a deity in some form in the previous births. All lagnas have a badhak-sthan. The 11th,9th and 7th are the signs of the badhak planet for moving, fixed and common signs respectively.
- If the badhak lord is positioned in dussthanas such as 6th,8th and 12th , that is sure sign of harm done to a deity.
- If there is a malefic in the 12th to the badhak lord, that also foretells harm done to the deity.
- If the badhak lord is conjoined with Gulika, Mandhi or Saturn or Mars, that also is an indicator of harm done to a deity.
- If the badhak lord or the lord of dussthana joins a malefic in the 4th house, that also shows a harm done to the deity.
- Similarly if the lords of dusthanas (6th / 8th / 12th) occupy 2nd or 12th house, it shows that the native had misused the property of the deity signified by that planet.
The misused or misappropriated property will be Dhatu or Moola or Jeeva according as the lagna happens to be moving, fixed or common.
Dhatu stands for metals and minerals such as gold, silver, copper etc. If the lagna happens to be moving (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn) and the badhak and dusthana lords come under above mentioned combinations and / or the dusthana lord is in 2nd or 12th, the crime was stealing or misuse of the jewellery of the deity.
Moola refers to land and plant kingdom such as land, trees, plants etc. If under the above mentioned conditions, the lagna happens to be fixed (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius), it means that the native had misappropriated the moola properties of the deity denoted by the afflicting planet.
Jeeva refers to jeeva dravyas or living entities such cattle and other animals that belong to the deity or temple. When the lagna happens to be a common sign (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces), it shows jeeva dravyas have been misused or stolen.
The plants also are classified as Dhatu, Moola and Jeeva. If the afflicting planet occupies the lagna it also denotes harm to the deity with specific reference to dhatu, moola or jeeva.
Saturn, Mars and Moon are Dhatu planets.
Sun and Venus are Moola planets.
Jupiter and Mercury are Jeeva planets.
Propitiation must be done in accordance with the sign / planet by identifying the deity represented by the afflicting planet.
The deities can be identified as follows:-
- Sun in the 1st Drekkana of common sign – Lord Subramanya.
- Sun in the 2nd Drekkana of a common sign – Lord Ganesha
- Sun in other drekkanas and signs – Lord Siva.
- Moon strong / waxing – Durga
- Moon weak and in Martian signs – Chamundi
- Mars in odd / satwic signs (satwic signs are Cancer, Leo, Sagittarius and Pisces) – Lord Subramanya
- Mars in odd and other signs – Lord Bhairava
- Mars in even signs – Chamundi, Bhadrakali.
- Mercury in movable and common signs – Any avatar of Vishnu.
- Mercury in the 1st and 2nd Drekkana of fixed signs – Lord Krishna
- Mercury in the 3rd Drekkana of fixed sign – Vishnu in general.
- Jupiter – Vishnu
- Venus in own sign – Annapurna
- Venus in a benefic sign - Lakshmi
- Venus in enemy sign – Yakshi
- Saturn in any sign – Sastha / deity of one's native place.
Hope people understand that playing with deity and its wealth does not do them any good.
-jayasree
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http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chennai/temples-state-suffer-rs-2640-cr-revenue-loss-748
Temples in state suffer Rs 2,640 cr revenue loss
Feb. 17: In the last 10 years, around 148 temples in the state under the control of Hindu religious and charitable endowments department have incurred a revenue loss of Rs 2,640 crore, according to the response to an RTI petition.Mr V. Thiagarajan, state president of the Hindu Baktha Jana Sabai, told Deccan Chronicle that it was the mismanagement by temple administrations that caused such a huge revenue loss. The temples usually generate revenue through various means such as renting out shops, houses and lands besides auctioning of parking lots and sale of temple pooja tickets etc.
"There is no denying the fact that majority of the temples has been blessed with good revenue," he said. "The audit report also points out that administrative mismanagement has led to revenue loss."
Several important temples in Tamil Nadu figure in the list including Palani Murugan Temple (`68 crore), Meenakshiamman Temple (`40 crore), Tiruttani temple (`7 crore), Tiruparankundram temple (`9 crore), Chennai Kaligambal temple (`7 crore) and Marudamalai Subramaniasamy Temple (`7 crore).
Usually a joint sitting of the top honchos of the endowments department comprising the commissioner, additional commissioner and joint secretary is held every year to discuss threadbare the objections raised in the audit report.
"However, no such meeting has been held in the last 10 years raising doubts of large-scale irregularities by the temple administration," said Mr Thiagarajan.
Despite a directive from the Madras High Court asking the endowments commissioner to take steps for the recovery of amount from the temple trust board and the executive officers of the respective temples, no action has been taken so far, said Mr Thiagarajan.
The Hindu Baktha Jana Sabai would file civil suit against the endowments department if it fails to act, he added.
Meanwhile, a memorandum has been sent to the Chief Minister, Dr M. Karunanidhi, seeking his intervention in directing the endowments commissioner to initiate recovery.
The HR&CE commissioner, Mr P.R. Sampath, refused to speak on the issue but another official, on condition of anonymity, said that both the trustees of temple trust board and the executive officers were pulling strings to get the arrears waived.
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The Moving Finger Writes
The on-going loot of Hindu temples
By MV Kamath
WHILE Congress leaders are hell-bent on damning the RSS – it is an old game that has long ceased to have any meaning – they seem to be unaware (or deliberately wish to ignore) that as late as on July 4, 2010 the right hand of a 53-year old Christian college professor (one TJ Joseph) was chopped off by Muslim fundamentalists, at Thodapurzha, Iduki district, in Kerala, for alleged blasphemy.
Digvijay Singh probably doesn't want to be reminded of this. Nor, one suspects, would he be anxious to know that police found out that this heinous crime was committed as part of the implementation of the verdict of a Shariah court run by fundamentalist elements in Kerala. The police apparently discovered that 14 such parallel courts have been running in Kerala for the last twenty years and Kerala State Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has been reported as confessing that since 1993, twenty two murders have taken place under the direction of the Shariah courts in Kerala (vide, Mangalam Daily Kottayam, July 21, 2010).
Digvijay Singh can check this bit of information as could Rahul Gandhi. At the same time, they could both check out on the performance of The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Act of 1951 which allows State Governments and politicians to take over thousands of Hindu Temples and maintain complete control over them and their properties. It is claimed that they can sell the temple assets and properties and use the money in any way they choose.
A charge has been made not by any Temple authority, but by a foreign writer, Stephen Knapp in a book (Crimes Against India and the Need to Protect Ancient Vedic Tradition) published in the United States that makes shocking reading. Hundreds of temples in centuries past have been built in India by devout rulers and the donations given to them by devotees have been used for the benefit of the people. If, presently, money collected has ever been misused (and that word needs to be defined), it is for the devotees to protest and not for any government to interfere. This letter is what has been happening currently under an intrusive law. It would seem, for instance, that under a Temple Empowerment Act, about 43,000 temples in Andhra Pradesh have come under government control and only 18 per cent of the revenue of these temples have been returned for temple purposes, the remaining 82 per cent being used for purposes unstated.
Apparently even the world famous Tirumala Tirupati Temple has not been spared. According to Knapp, the temple collects over Rs 3,100 crores every year "and the State Government has not denied the charge that as much as 85 per cent of this is transferred to the State Exchequer, much of which goes to causes that are not connected with the Hindu community". Was it for that reason that devotees make their offering to the temples? Another charge that has been made is that the Andhra Government has also allowed the demolition of at least ten temples for the construction of a golf course. "Imagine the outcry" writes Knapp, "if ten mosques had been demolished". It would seem that in Karanataka, Rs. 79 crores were collected from about two lakh temples and from that, temples received Rs seven crores for their maintenance, Muslim madrassahs and Haj subsidy were given Rs 59 crore and churches about Rs 13 crore. Very generous of the government. Because of this, Knapp writes, "25 per cent of the two lakh temples or about 50,000 temples in Karnataka will be closed down for lack of resources", and he adds: "The only way the government can continue to do this is because people have not stood up enough to stop it". Knapp then refers to Kerala where, he says, "funds from the Guruvayur Temple are diverted to other government projects denying improvement to 45 Hindu temples". Land belonging to the Ayyappa Temple, apparently has been grabbed and "Church encroaches are occupying huge areas of forest land, running into thousands of acres, near Sabarimala".
A charge is made that the Communist state government of Kerala…. wants to pass an Ordinance to disband the Travancore & Cochin Autonomous Devaswom Boards (TCDBs) and take over their limited independent authority of 1,800 Hindu temples. If what the author says is true, even the Maharashtra Government wants to take over some 450,000 temples in the state which would "supply a huge amount of revenue to correct the state's bankrupt conditions…." And to top it all, Knapp says that in Orissa, the state government intends to sell over 70,000 acres of endowment lands from the Jagannath Temple, the proceeds of which would solve a huge financial crunch brought about by its own mismanagement of temple assets. Says Knapp: "Why such occurrences are so often not known is that the Indian media, especially the English television and press, are often anti-Hindu in their approach, and thus not inclined to give much coverage, and certainly no sympathy, for anything that may affect the Hindu community. Therefore, such government action that play against the Hindu community go on without much or any attention attracted to them".
Knapp obviously is on record. If the facts produced by him are incorrect, it is up to the government to say so. It is quite possible that some individuals might have set up temples to deal with lucrative earnings. But that, surely, is none of the government's business? Instead of taking over all earnings, the government surely can appoint local committees to look into temple affairs so that the amount discovered is fairly used for the public good? Says Knapp: "Nowhere in the free, democratic world are the religious institutions managed, maligned and controlled by the government, thus denying the religious freedom of the people of the country. But it is happening in India. Government officials have taken control of Hindu temples because they smell money in them, they recognise the indifference of Hindus, they are aware of the unlimited patience and tolerance of Hindus, they also know that it is not in the blood of Hindus to go to the streets to demonstrate, destroy property, threaten, loot, harm and kill…
Many Hindus are sitting and watching the demise of their culture. They need to express their views loud and clear…." Knapp obviously does not know that should they do so, they would be damned as communalists. But it is time some one asked the Government to lay down all the facts on the table so that the public would know what is happening behind its back. Robbing Peter to pay Paul is not secularism. And temples are not for looting, under any name. One thought that Mohammad of Ghazni has long been dead.
