“Liberate Temples” movement in Andhra Pradesh

Dr Duggaraju Srinivasa Rao

Huge turnout, on the newyear eve, of Hindus to the call of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in Andhra Pradesh surprised everyone as that state has never showed any Hindutva signs post Ayodhya temple movement and L.K. Advani Rath Yatra. Perhaps such a turnout of people of different age groups from both the genders was never witnessed during the last three decades on any religious issue including the latest adulteration of prasad with animal fat in the highly adored Tirupati shrine. During the earlier regime, headed by Jagan, there were many incidences which hurt the Hindu spiritual sentiments like the burning of temple chariots, breaking of the head of Rama idol, theft in the properties of temple deities and illegal occupation of temple lands. But at no time the Hindu society held any massive protest barring some BJP organised once. This time around the call of the VHP to save and liberate the temples from the clutches of the governments’ saw spontaneous response from the Hindu society. One sees it as the result of pent up feelings of the Hindus over the years which finally found a way to vent out openly. As speaker after speaker castigated the ill motives of successive rulers in formulating the Hindu Endowment Act and converting the temple administration as the political rehabilitation way for the ruling parties to accommodate their own men and holding control of the temple lands, using the religious funds for schemes which are politically beneficial to the ruling party and thus denying the money to the temple rituals and denigrating the pundits, associated with the temple daily poojas, and other festivals were received with loud cheers and raised their fists expressing their resolve for fighting with the governments and take back temples into their own fold.

Irony is the Hindu temples which were under the control of the maths and peethams for over centuries including during the periods of foreign rulers were taken over by the ‘secular’ governments across the country under their pseudo-secular policy despite the constitutional clarity of leaving the religious administration to be with their respective religious people. That constitutional mandate was followed in case of Christian churches and Muslim mosques, Sikh Gurudwaras but surprisingly but not for Hindu temples. While all other religious people were given the freedom to run their religious places as per their religious customs why the Hindus are denied that right to administer the temples was denied was the question which cropped up in the minds of the people in Andhra Pradesh. The governments are not ready to answer this question and even judiciary is not answering in totality though some high courts in bits and piece judgments gave some relief to the Hindu temples.

The specific complaint of Andhra Pradesh Hindus on the state government pertains to the misuse of the power taken through Endowments Act. Non Hindus are appointed as the chair persons of the temple, Christians and Muslims are appointed on the staff of the temple service despite the specific bar on such appointments in Act. The Hindu pundits who were the sole custodians of temple traditions are relegated as subordinate employees of the politically appointed chair persons. Under those not so religious or irreligious political heads the temples are looted. The Endowment Act which when was brought in 1987 to set right the irregularities in temples and to protect the temple lands became a tool for the government to sell away the temple lands or do politically connected businesses to make huge profits. Temple funds, all of them came in the form of donations of the Hindu devotees, are used for the vote bank enhancing freebie schemes. The temples in Andhra Pradesh are declining in the maintenance as the government has given up the maintenance of temples which has less revenue. The temples in this state are divided into categories basing on the income it generates and not the history or the religious sanctity of that temple. Thus successive governments wilfully destroyed the well established temple culture around which the Hindu religion spread and reduced them to mere structures of no significance and not so important. In fact there were many instances from many areas in the state where the Hindu temples were targeted by the Christian and Islamic activists and when Hindus resisted and complained to the authorities the successive governments stood by the non-Hindu aggressor because of the strong vote bank which the minorities command.

The Hindus in Andhra Pradesh are hurt and frustrated as their temple rights are taken away by the governments. They feel cheated as the very Endowment Act which was brought to benefit to temples is being used to eat away the temples and all things associated with it. Their stressed and worried minds responded to the simple call of VHP, the organisation which has not much strength in Andhra Pradesh, could muster such a huge Hindu gathering on the temples issue one can imagine what kind of movement it can build if it takes up temples issue at the national level. It is a wake up call to all those state governments where Endowment Acts are in place and where temples are mismanaged by the government appointed committees. In Ayodhya Ramalaya trust the Hindus got a model for running their own temples in spiritual way protecting the sanctity of the temple rituals which they can replicate as and when their liberate temples movement get success.

(Author is retired professor. The views expressed are personal opinion of the author. He can be reached at duggarajusrinivasarao@gmail.com)