From a historian perspective it can be said that in just a short span of 50 years after Indian Independence, the small community of Sri Vaishnavas that was part of the insignificant Tamil Brahmin population in the three states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, suffered a collective trauma of grievous loss….
The losses were sustained at multiple levels the most notable of which were (i) loss of heritage contained in their ancient language, Sanskrit; (ii) loss of an entire culture of proud priesthood traditions (“ubhaya vedantha“); (iii) loss of hold or meaningful control over their centuries-old institutional heirloom viz. their temples; (iv) loss of social status, whether conferred through birth, class or occupation; (v) loss of all domiciliary and cultural roots in temple-villages and temple-towns since traditional vocations and means of livelihood became unsustainable (and from where, therefore, they were forced to mass-migrate to urban India to survive and somehow get ahead in a jungle world of secular, commercial competitiveness); (vi) loss of demographic presence or clout of any real significance or consequence in the electoral fray or in the larger play of democratic process in the country…. and lastly, (vii) a deep loss of personal identity and self-esteem.
***************************
From the 1970s onwards through the 1990s, and well into first decade of the 21st century, both in the de jure and de facto sense, the Sri Vaishnavas — a minuscule group that was once considered to be amongst the most preeminent of Tamil-speaking Brahmins in general — came to be quickly dispossessed of vaunted sense of ownership and historical pride they had held as custodians of the 100-odd temples across the state. The pride of ownership arose mainly from temple wealth. The wealth was not merely riches in terms of tangible commonwealth (land, property, gold, jewelry etc.) but also more valuable intangibles i.e. cultural heritage, social gravitas, and enormous influence on shaping societal values and institutions.
It was that enormous tangible and intangible wealth of the Church which the State now began coveting and seeking to wrest from the hands of traditional communities and trustees… all under sanction of law, of course.
********************************
A cursory look at some current statistics found in Prof. G.Ramesh’s policy working paper (ibid) on the temples of Tamil Nadu clearly reveals the reasons and motivations for why the State in Tamil Nadu would not let go of its iron grip on the nature and extent of control over Hindu temples that colonial-era British government had exercised. Temples had always been fabulous revenue-generating machines for the British. For the Dravidian Movement too temples were that and much more! Moreover, temples also served as perfect targets to fire ideological salvos at in the great “culture-war” that the DK and DMK had launched against so-called “Brahmin hegemonic social domination” in Tamil Nadu. If removing the Brahmin presence and influence in Tamil/Dravidian society was the major goal, then wresting from them their control over temples was indeed the most powerful strategy that could realize it.
A quick look first at an estimate of the tangible wealth of temples: (ibid. IIM-Bangalore Prof. Ramesh’s working paper):
Out of the total number of temples, religious shrines, muttams, brindavanams, aadheenams, etc. estimated to be 79,154, the government itself claimed control over 38,652 of them through its statutory Authority, The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Commission (HRCE).
Out of the above, by its own account, the HR & CE Authority administers:
•36,425 temples
•56 Mutts
•47 temples belonging to Mutts
•1721 Specific endowments and 189 Trusts
Classifications of Temples as per Policy Note – 2019-20
Annual Income No. of Institutions (%)
A. Having annual income under ₹10,000 (Non-Listed) 34,099 (88.2%)
B. Having annual income over ₹10,000 and under ₹2 lakh
(Listed) 3,550 (9.2%)
C. Having annual income over ₹2 lakh and under ₹10 lakh
(Listed) 672 (1.8%)
D. Having annual income of ₹10 lakh and above (Listed) 331 (0.8%)
Total 38,652
(Source: TN HR&CE Dept. Policy Note 2019-20)
The temples under the control HR & CE of Government of Tamil Nadu (GoTN) are
categorized as below:
— State level temples which are large or historic or heritage temples with
significant resources, and surplus. These are temples which are famous
throughout the nation or the state, and have huge tourist traffic and potential for
regional development. These are the main resource generators in the temple
sector but these will not be more than a dozen in each state. In TN these could be
Madurai, Palani, Tanjore, Rameshwaram, Kanchipuram, Tiruchedur, Thirunnalar,
Srirangam, etc.
— Sub – Regional level temples which are popular not just in their
respective district but at a regional level, and command resources that can sustain
themselves but do not enjoy large surplus. These temples can be , Parthasarathy,
Srivilliputthur, and Navagraha temples in Tanjore, temples of Muruga,
Vaitheeswaran, etc. These are temples with potential but underleveraged.
— Village level and neighbourhood temples which can barely sustain
themselves, and are managed with local support. These temples account for 90% plus of the temples in the State. The temples will gain a lot and the Government will gain a lot from freeing these temples and handing it over to the local community or village.
Less than 1% the temples earn more than Rs.10 lakhs and less than 3% of the temples earn more than Rs.2 lakhs per annum. Very large temples may be around dozen. Very large temples like Madurai temple will not be more than a dozen.
Unfortunately, Government administrative system being what it is, temples earning less than Rs.10,000 per annum are subject to the same control as largest temples.
The temples under HR & CE, TN put together own 4,78,284 acres of land-holding and 22,600 buildings.
******************************
The above information begs the question: How are the temple revenues and assets of the State, Regional and Village/Neighborhood-level temples being husbanded and utilized by the State Government through its statutory authority, the HR&CE Commission?
The answer has been provided by two credible, competent and doughty authorities who are activists that have been for several years crusaders for cause of freeing temple administration from the hands of the State. Hence they are eminently qualified to opine on it: (a) Dr Subramanian Swamy, Member of Parliament and (b) Mr. T.R.Ramesh, a lawyer who is the leader of a non-profit organization in Chennai, the Temple Worshippers’ Society. Reproduced below verbatim is what each of them has said respectively:
QUOTE:
(a) “….. the government is in illegal, unethical and unfair control of these temples. apart from being answerable for innumerable acts of dereliction of duty, defiling of temples that has resulted in loss of several thousands of crores of rupees to the temples and to their antiquity….. In this Dravidian movement background, it is not difficult to understand the views of those who believe that Hindu temples ought to be managed by the government, and that any deviation is a social, ethical, moral and legal sacrilege!….In fact, what is scandalous is the corruption after takeover of temples by the Tamil Nadu officials, MLAs and Ministers by looting the temple wealth, lands, and jewels, and the reckless diversion of donations of devotees to non-religious purposes. .” https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/freeing-temples-from-state-control/article5594132.ece
UNQUOTE
A catalogue of the “innumerable acts of dereliction of duty” and the “corruption” that Dr. Swamy mentions above can be found elaborated and corroborated on the official website of the Temple Worshippers’ Society, Chennai http://templeworshippers.in/hr-ce-rogue-department-of-the-government-of-tamil-nadu/:
QUOTE:
Frauds committed by HR & CE in appointing Executive Officers to Hindu Religious institutions
In 1970, a division bench of the Hon’ble High Court of Madras came down heavily on the practice of HR & CE in not following natural justice while appointing an Executive Officer for a temple. If one imagined that the Department would have corrected itself and adhered to the principles of natural justice after this judgment one could not be more wrong.
To this day, the practice of the HR& CE is to begin by issuing “an order” appointing an Executive Officer to a religious institution. If the institution receiving the “order” does not seek any legal remedy, the Executive Officer takes over immediately. If the Trustees file a suit or writ against the arbitrary takeover attempt, HR&CE would state in the Court that this memorandum can be treated as a notice and the trustees can reply to it. Trustees and institutions naïve enough to fall for this stratagem would accept this in the Court and start replying to the HR & CE Dept to the “notice”. HR&CE Dept. would usually pass a “final order” appointing an Executive Officer while the purported “enquiry” is still on.
If the trustees file a case against this “final order”, HR&CE Dept’s stand in the Court would be that there is an alternate remedy available to the petitioners by way of review petition to the Government. Courts usually are inclined to tell the petitioners to avail this alternate remedy, which in reality is no remedy at all as the Government is known to uphold all the illegal and unethical orders of the HR&CE Dept.
There have been instances in recent times where HR &CE officials demanding bribes to cancel takeover proceedings were arrested. In 2009 a Joint Commissioner of HR & CE Dept was caught accepting bribes for this purpose.
UNQUOTE
Dr. Subramanian Swamy further goes on to write (ibid):
QUOTE:
Tamil Nadu temples, under Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department, has control over more than 4.7 lakh acres of agricultural land, 2.6 crore square feet of buildings and 29 crore square feet of urban sites of temples. By any reasonable measure, the income from these properties should be in thousand of crores of rupees. The government, however, collects a mere Rs.36 crore in rent against a ‘demand’ of mere Rs.304 crore — around 12 per cent realisation. How much is under the table only a court-monitored inquiry can reveal. In any corporate or well-managed organisation with accountability, those responsible would have been sacked. Yet, we have people rooting for ‘government administration’.
The Srirangam Ranganathar Temple paid the government a (yearly) fee of Rs. 18.56 crore (2010-11) for ‘administering the temple’; for employees rendering religious services, like reciting Veda s, Pasuram s during the deity procession, no salary is paid’. There are 36 priests in Srirangam who perform the daily poojas — they are not paid a monthly fixed salary. They are entitled to offerings made by devotees and a share in the sale of archana tickets. Yet the temple pays a monthly salary ranging from Rs.8,000 to Rs.20,000 for the temple’s government-appointed employees, like watchman, car drivers etc. who perform no religious duties.
The HR & CE takes away annually around Rs.89 crore from the temples as administrative fee. The expenditure of the department including salaries is only Rs.49 crore. Why does the government overcharge the temples– literally scourging the deities – for a sub standard service?
UNQUOTE
The sordid tale of venality continues to be told in more graphic detail by T.R.Ramesh on the Temple Worshippers’ Society’s website:
QUOTE:
Temples in Tamil Nadu also own about 22000 buildings and about 33,000 sites. These buildings and sites are leased out at values much below the market value. The corrupt HR & CE officials and Tamil Nadu Government officials and Ministers pocket huge sums for favouring leaseholders. These buildings are also leased out to non-Hindus especially Christian missionaries and charities which carry out their anti-Hindu activities from these places. This is against the intent and dictum of the people who had donated these places to the temples.
Huge corruption money flowing out of such transactions is the main reason Government does not want to give up its hold on Hindu Temples and institutions. Highly inflated project costs are another way by which HR & CE officials loot temple moneys. For example, Podu Dikshitars of Chidambaram had dismantled the Paniya Nayagam temple dedicated to Lord Subramanya, within the Chidambaram temple precincts, as the roof and pillars were bound to cave in due to loose soil in the basement. This was done as per advice of engineers and stapathis; a new construction plan drawn at a cost of Rs. 90 lakhs and work begun. The Executive Officer after assuming office in the Chidambaram temple stopped the sponsors from continuing the work. He has now given a proposal for the same work at a cost of Rs. 10 crores!
A luxury Toyota car was bought for Sri Maasaniamman Temple near Pollachi at a cost of Rs. 11.5 lakhs. The first question that comes to mind is why a luxury car is required for a temple. It has come out in newspapers and through RTI queries that this car was used for private purposes of the HR &CE Secretary in the Tamil Nadu government. It is also now known that the monthly petrol bills of this corrupt official were taken from Temple funds.
Funds accumulated in fixed deposits in the accounts of rich temples would suddenly be transferred for flood relief, tsunami or Chief Minister’s relief fund. Funds were repeatedly taken from Tiruverkadu Mariamman temple to conduct free marriages by the Tamil Nadu government. This temple which had huge deposits of money became almost bankrupt.
Since the HR & CE stopped having external audit from 1985, it is almost impossible to gauge how many antique and valuable temple jewels have been looted. There is widespread belief that valuable diamonds and stones in jewels have been removed and replaced by ordinary stones in many temples. Missing Maragatha (emerald) lingams (shiva idols) worth thousands of crores have not been recovered. Jewels from 215 temples have been stolen and this rogue department does not even reveal the actual value of the jewels stolen. In many cases the loss of jewels is not known to the outside world at all.
More than 400 antique metal icons have been stolen from temples under the administration of the HR&CE department, which has not taken any credible follow up actions to recover the valuables.
Prasadam stalls are amongst the biggest frauds openly committed by this rogue Department. Only food prepared piously in the temple kitchen and offered to the deities in the temple in traditional manner can be termed as prasadam. However, Prasadam Stalls are auctioned by the Department (needless to say many improprieties are committed in these auctions and allotments) to the public and supposedly the stalls are allotted to the highest bidder. This means the Department openly allows third parties to produce food items to be manufactured outside the temple premises and packages them to be sold at temples. This is an act which is at once blasphemous and anti-religious besides being a huge fraud on devotees visiting the temple.
“Hundies” (donation-boxes) kept at temples serve the Department in two ways. One, they generate income which the Department fails to realize from the properties of the temple it is administering. Two, they are the easiest source of income that can be looted. In most temples, the real amount generated by hundies is never accounted for. The only exception to this story is the tale of the Hundies illegally installed in Chidambaram Shri Sabhanayagar temple… In the first place, the Hon’ble Division Bench of Madras High Court in 1951 had clearly ruled that the Podu Dikshitars are justified in not having any Hundie in the temple and further stated installing Hundies and introducing archana tickets commercialiszs the temple.
But after assuming office in the Chidambaram Temple, the Executive Officer came with a posse of policemen and installed Hundies in the temple that never had Hundies in its entire history. This is against the law, temple tradition, and in contempt of the Hon’ble High Court of Madras.
UNQUOTE
On 18 December 2022, in what was clearly a sting operation conducted in secret by Madras High Court Judge, Mr S.M.Subramaniam, the rampant corruption racket in sale of temple-admission tickets to the general public at the Vadapalani Murugan Temple was uncovered https://www.livelaw.in/amp/news-updates/madras-high-court-judge-directs-commissioner-of-hrce-to-take-action-against-temple-staff-for-financial-irregularities-and-misbehaviour-217112 .
QUOTE:
Justice Subramaniam, who had visited the temple along with his wife and daughter witnessed that the woman staff in the counter issued two 50 rupees ticket and one 5 rupee ticket in exchange of 150 rupees. Noticing that some others were also similarly issued 5 rupee tickets, the judge thought of informing the Executive Officer about the financial irregularities for appropriate action.
For this, he went to the office of the Executive Officer but was met with lukewarm response from the staff. The staff not only failed to provide the telephone number of the Executive Officer but also rejected that any such incident had happened in the temple. “They acted unbecoming of a public servant and dealt us in a rough, rude and arrogant manner,” the judge said. Since there was no other option, the judge called upon the Registrar of the High Court for seeking police assistance.
Even with police assistance, the temple staff refused to provide the number of the Executive Officer and merely asked the judge to give a complaint and leave the place. Thereupon, the judge asked the Registrar to ask the Executive Officer to be present in court for registering the complaint.
Therefore, the court has directed the Commissioner to take all appropriate action against the staff members and conduct an enquiry about the supervisory lapses against the Executive Officer and in case of any lapses, initiate action against the Executive Officer and report the same to the court.
UNQUOTE
Finally, Dr. Subramanian Swamy pointed in his article (ibid) out that the State HR&CE Commission was in unlawful possession of and illegal controlling various temples in Tamil Nadu:
QUOTE:
“…… the Supreme Court, in the 2014 Chidambaram (Sabhanayagam) case has held that the government cannot arbitrarily take over temples, which is what has been happening in Tamil Nadu under the Dravidian movement’s influence.
In the case of Trusts and Societies, takeover of temples can happen, the Supreme Court held, only on establishing a clear case of mal-administration and that too the takeover can be for a limited period, and the management of the temple will have to be handed back immediately after the ‘evil has been remedied’.
There are several large temples in Tamil Nadu under government control for several decades. If the Supreme Court judgment is applied, then the government is in illegal, unethical and unfair control of these temples”.
UNQUOTE
In the next Part-47, a brief account of how the intangible commonwealth of the temples of Tamil Nadu — especially those of the Sri Vaishnavas — over the years was sought to be slowly ferreted away too by State actions through the stratagem of political polemics devised by Dravidianism.
(to be continued)
Sudarshan Madabushi