For us, Hindus, temples are a place of veneration. We bow before the deity in obeisance. Temples are an emotive part of our existence. We visit temples on festivals, to celebrate happy moments and equally during challenging times.

Our temples मंदिर,are the foundation of our culture. Adi Shankaracharya discovered the holy Kedarnath in the 8th century, a temple believed to have been built by the Pandavas.
Our faith transcends generations and this faith is trampled upon by none other than the govt.

A hindu majority community has to suffer, as our temples are owned by the Government.
In a secular state, the govt has no business to interfere in religious matters. Indian govt follows this very diligently in matters of Islam and Christianity.

But for Hindus, The Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowment Act of 1951 allows the state govt to take complete control over the temples and its properties. The govt can even sell these properties and use the money to build churches and mosques, as has been claimed.

The mosques, the state wakf boards, the churches and trusts have no such interference, infact the govt grants 100% finance to the wakf boards to build schools etc.
Out temples have been doing charity and social work since long. Consider the Tirupati Balaji Temple trust,

Its activities are manifold from education, health, food for the poor and managing other temples. Its annual income is about Rs3500 crore. It recieves only 7% ie Rs245 crore for maintenance the state govt takes away the rest. The allocation of the huge chunk is decided

by a board set up by the govt, which would have members belonging to all faiths. Why should people outside the hindu faith decide upon our religious matters? Are hindus allowed the same rite? Emphatically no!

About 4 lakh temples are controlled by the state govts across India, out of the estimated 9 lakhs.Andhra Pradesh alone has 36,425 temples under its control. All our temples, the custodians of our Sanatan Dharma, be they, Kedarnath, Badrinath, Vaishno Devi, Jagannath Puri,

Siddhivinayak Temple, Sabarimala are under state control. The money offered by devotees for the deity through hundis or donations goes to the govt and not the temple. This ignominy of faith must be stopped.

Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution uphold religious beliefs. A25 allows everyone to practice their religion freely and A26 allows everyone to manage their religious institutions freely.
The temples under state control infringes this right of the hindu community.

The SC on Jan 6, 2014,in the matter of the Chidambaram - Nataraja temple has passed judgement, that the state cannot take over the administration of the temple. This is a landmark judgement. Even so no other temple has approached the courts.

As most people associated with these large temples are either politicians or associated with govt bodies. Vested interests as always, abound. The recent Padmanabhswamy Temple verdict has restricted govt intervention to an extent only.

It is said that while passing the HR&CE Act Sardar Patel was opposed to it but Nehru overrode his view. One more mark of abjectness to the Congress.
The Sanatan Dharma which means Eternal Faith is not bound by a single book, or a set of laws.

It is the collective wisdom of our vedas, upanishads, our Ramayan & Mahabharat and the teachings of our rishis, an inspiration of thousands of years that we hindus uphold and follow. Our temples are the torchbearers of our religion. We need to set them free.

The Govt must pay heed to the majority sentiment and the court must look into the various PIL's to free our temples of state encroachment. The hindu community must enjoy its religious freedom in a democratic nation.
Jai Shree Ram

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