Temple Worshippers Society for the Hindus, by the Hindus
Our goal is to retrieve, restore & rejuvenate temple sanctity, divinity & practices.
And empower the community to manage the temples as they have been for several centuries.
Our Goal
- Restore the sanctity of our Temples
- Restore & preserve the wealth of our Temples
- Restore the practices and traditions of our Temples
For over one thousand years our lives have centered around temples. A village was inhabitable only if there was a temple.The emperors and kings of yore, wealthy men, the man on the street donated huge resources for.....
Six Sacred Roles
The are six core functions that must be performed, diligently, faithfully
- Worship as per agama shāstrās and traditions of the temple
- Anna dhānam
- Veda pātashala
- Goshālās
- Facilities and dignified livelihood for priests & other temple sevaks
- Chatrams for worshippers & pilgrims
Temple Wealth
The dynasties that ruled Southern India, thePallavas,Chozhas, Chalukyas, Pandiyasand the Nayaks of the Vijayanagar Kingdom, between 550CE and 1450CE for a continuous period for almost 1,000 yearswere great temple builders. Each dynasty not only built new temples, they also expanded and embellished existing ones. Over time, temples became the cradle for culture, arts, crafts, knowledge and education.
Retrieving Temples
Freeing Hindu Temples from clutches of Government
We are fighting Government on four fronts:
- First, and most important is at the Supreme Court
- Second, at the State Level to prevent loot of Temple Money
- Third, cases in High courts to protect temple properties
- Fourth, question and nullify the illegal appointment of Executive Officers
Retrieving Temples: Case by Case
Freeing Hindu Temples from clutches of Government
We are fighting Government on four fronts:
- First, and most important is at the Supreme Court
- Second, at the State Level to prevent loot of Temple Money
- Third, cases in High courts to protect temple properties
- Fourth, question and nullify the illegal appointment of Executive Officers
Major Transgressions
Each temple has a unique set of rituals, norms of worship defined by agama sastras. Even the upkeep, maintenance and expansion are guided by age oldsatras. Our ancestors, kings, emperors and other devotees all adhered to agama sastras while constructing temples. All of our ancient temples have been expanded and renovated at some time after they were originally built. It is difficult for the untrained eye to spot the additions, for they blend harmoniously into the whole.
Major Transgressions
Each temple has a unique set of rituals, norms of worship defined by agama sastras. Even the upkeep, maintenance and expansion are guided by age oldsatras. Our ancestors, kings, emperors and other devotees all adhered to agama sastras while constructing temples. All of our ancient temples have been expanded and renovated at some time after they were originally built. It is difficult for the untrained eye to spot the additions, for they blend harmoniously into the whole.
What has been preserved and tastefully embellished over centuries are now being destroyed by the crass babus of HR&CE.
- Ancient granite / stone pillars are dismantled replaced by concrete columns.
- Entire floors of mandapams, ancient eco-friendly granite, are removed and cement/mosaic floors laid.
- Temple walls with priceless inscriptions are plastered over
- Bathrooms tiles are used as a backdrop for the sacred icons.
- Pictures of Mother Teresa, RamasamyNaicker, and an atheist Dravidan politician CN Annadurai are stuck on the doors of Sanctum Sactorum door
- Ugly cement concrete constructions, steel tresses with fiber canopies without any sensitivity to the magnificent architecture.
- Whole temples are demolished under the guise of ‘rebuilding’ them – with bricks, cement, steel and concrete.
- Unseemly shops, and ‘offices’ within temple premises.
Are the nithyapoojas, worship conducted? Here too there is total and complete neglect.
- Temple lamps are unlit, unwashed
- Worship is corrupted for populist practices
- Sanctum sanctorum is violated by persons without the required training and learning to conduct poojas
- Not even one percent of the income of the temple is spent for daily poojas and rituals in most big temples.
There are no facilities for ordinary, poor worshipers – the Kings of Yore built Dharmashalas and Chatrams for devotees. To-day there is not even a rest room in the vicinity of any temple. It is disgusting to see passers by urinating around temple tanks.
The archakas, kurukkals, ‘poosaris’ and other temple sevaks are paid a pittance, if they are paid at all. All major temples have maniyams – land donated for specific purposes like remuneration of archakas, kurukkals, ‘poosaris’. Such lands have been usurped under the ‘control’ of HR&CE
Who are we?
Temple Worshippers Society is a group of concerned Hindus. Our goal is to retrieve the temples from the unholy clutches of a ‘secular’ government, restore their sanctity and once again make temples the center of our life and culture. As intended by generations of our forefathers over many centuries.
Our strategy is to expose the mismanagement and desecration of temples by a ‘secular’ Government, confront them by legal means.
We intend to help restore the management of temples and their properties to the local communities. Provide them with sastric, agamic and historical research and information on individual temples. So that they can be preserved and passed on to posterity.
Support
Temple Worshippers Society,
Indian Bank Thousand Lights Branch Chennai
Account No. 6021203312
IFSC IDIB000T020
History of Government control of Hindu Temples
1817
Madras Regulation 1817 – Taking over temple lands
1863
Religious Endowments Act 1863 – handing control back to ‘trustees’
1927
Madras Hindu Religious Endowments Act 1927
1951
Madras Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act 1951
1959
Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Act 1959 (TN Act 22 1959)
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