Managing Our Religious Institutions

                                                                                                *Saumitra Mohan

            According to a recent study, some of the Hindu temples like Tirumala Venkateswara Temple at Tirupati, Siddhi Vinayak Temple at Mumbai, Sai Baba Shrine at Shirdi and Kashi Vishwanath Temple at Varanasi together have combined assets of more than 1.32 lakh crores, much more than the asset value of India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani. These four temples together are said to receive more than 3000 crore rupees every year. The Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Kerala with a wealth of more than 20 billion dollars is India’s richest temple. These few temples together have the capacity to tame India’s developmental deficits.

            It has been suggested by the critics that only two percent of the total earnings go to the upkeep of temple and the deity. Around 40 percent of the temple revenue is alleged to go to the priestly classes and the Governing Board members. The story is not very different for the donations and charity received by the famous religious institutions of other religions including the Golden Temple at Amritsar or the Azmer Sharif Dargah. The latter is said to receive Rs 200 crores every year as donations which is allegedly shared by the 5000 khadims who are said to provide voluntary service to the Shrine.

            As most of these religious institutions have no system of financial and social audit, people like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Swami Agnivesh and Baba Ramdev recently appealed to people against donating any money to the religious institutions. After all, one who could create such a mind-bogglingly humongous cosmos is definitely capable enough to take care of Himself and not require any charity from the people He Himself created. If we are all children of one Almighty, why would he demand money or material from His children to grant their wishes? Are we not trying to bribe our way through our problems or spiritual evolution?

            The critics have also been screaming blue murder about the gods and deities taking thousand and thousand acres of prime land when still billions don’t have a decent shelter for themselves. While problems of the homeless relate more to the realms of poor policy execution and administration, it’s also true that many of the temple trusts utilise the donations received towards the benefit and welfare of the underprivileged including making provisions for shelters, food and health for the disadvantaged. Generally, none remains hungry at such places because of the unceasing flow of compassion from the devotees. As such, these places have huge functional value for being centres of care and welfare for the poor and deprived.

            The temples, shrines, places of pilgrimage or religious institutions in themselves may not be useful as mere buildings and structures, but most of them are important as the carriers of our architectural and cultural heritage. They are also important as centres which attract devotees from all corners and strata of our society, thereby affording an opportunity for strengthening of societal bonding, consolidation of collective consciousness and inculcation of nationalist feeling. The places of worship, thus, have functional value for the human society by rendering socially relevant functions. The many charitable works and welfare activities some of these religious Trusts carry out also underline their social relevance.

            More than the inherent miraculous powers of these religious places, it is the positive feelings and emotions that the devotees carry to these places which are more important. The positive vibrations at all these places are very powerful because almost everyone who visits leaves his/her negative thoughts behind. Usually, all are charged with positive and uplifting thoughts. That’s why, one experiences inner peace and elevating human behaviour while visiting such places. However, devotees have often recounted depressing experiences of very disgusting demeanour from the authorities and priests at some of these religious places.

            The human wish to share and care is greatly fulfilled by such places as people don’t feel any qualms to donate to the Gods and Deities rather than to some shady and unscrupulous NGOs whose credentials remain ever questionable. Common people’s craving for a creditable channel to show compassion to fellow humans or to wash away their sins is greatly served by such places. Tapping on the same, the religious places attract huge donations in cash and kind. As such, the religious places come across as socially institutionalised arrangement for compassion and care for one another.

            Moreover, all the religious places and institutions are important parts of our economic system. They, because of different related activities and functions as religious tourism, are huge source of employment not only in the multifarious works associated with the management of these institutions, but also in the ancillary activities of provisioning and supplying required materials and manpower. Lots of manufacturing and services as well as related economic multiplier effects shall suffer if people were to stop visiting and donating to these places.

            So, it could be no one’s argument to dissuade people from indulging in donations and charities to the religious institutions. The question is how to make the functioning and management of the same more transparent and accountable. All the donations including cash and kind should be duly accounted and audited, as done for many of the bigger temples including Tirumala Tirupati. Some of these religious institutions have become so gigantic to require direct Government control and management as already done for temples like Triumala Tirupati or Guruvayur Devaswom. Coming from people, the donations and charities should go back to the people. So, there must be clearly laid out policies to productively utilise the funds of these places on public welfare. Recent Supreme Court direction to all religious institutions for giving annual account of their income and expenditure is a milestone in this regard.

            There have been Supreme Court interventions in recent times to ensure that article 14 and 15 of the Indian Constitution relating to Right to Equality and Non-Discrimination are also extended to places of religious worship as in case of Haji Pir Shrine in Mumbai or the Sabarimala Temple in Kerala. But, there are still many places where such direct or indirect discriminations are noticed. The Temple Entry Movement, as launched during India’s freedom movement, needs to be taken to its logical conclusion through further such interventions. The hereditary dominance of certain communities and castes over the affairs of these religious places should also go, with specific attempts to induct and recruit priests from all classes and castes depending on the fulfilment of the required qualifications specified for the purpose. A uniform Govt policy framed in wider consultation with all stakeholders should ensure the same.

            If utilised properly, these religious places could become an instrument for promoting harmony and concord in the country. As the society evolves and humans go beyond their primary needs of survival, they start looking for nourishment to their mind and heart. So, with the societal affluence growing, people turn to become more religious as is happening in this country. The rise of so many religious cults and sects under the leadership of different religious leaders is an index to the same.

            If all such well-meaning leaders were to come together and all such places of worship were to become centres for facilitating societal dialogue with the people of the same and other communities, the insidious societal discord, as noticed these days, could be reasonably resolved and fixed. The same would also take care of the human alienation and stress which have become the cause of all the discord and friction in our society today. With the policymakers and societal leaders coming together, one is sure that these places of religious worship could actually turn into places of societal harmony than discord.