Why are our temples so dirty?
This is a post from more than three years ago but bears repetition…I was harshly reminded of this in the course of a recent conversation with someone about the trek to Mata Vaishnodevi’s shrine in Jammu & Kashmir….It is also very topical in the context of land for conveniences/facilities for pilgrims to Amarnath-ji.
***
A few weeks ago, I came across a thought-provoking commentary on Hinduism and Bharat by Shri P K Kulkarni titled, “Ek Aswastha Hindu Man(a)â€
Amongst other things, Shri Kulkarni put forward some suggestions regarding how Hindu temples and pilgrimage sites can be kept cleaner, better-maintained and in general, made more welcoming.
Even the holiest of our shrines today are often islands of squalor, disorder and lacking even basic facilities (such as clean toilets and clean drinking water).
This is matter of great shame.
There is absolutely no reason why places of worship could not be clean and hygienic. They are in this state only because we tolerate it – and more often than not, we turn a blind eye to it. We don’t complain often enough – and loudly enough- as with the other ills pervading our society and polity. All to often, we blame it on someone else or believe it is someone else’s problem.
Here are Shri Kulkarni’s suggestions, paraphrased to some extent (to make them more readable in translation). I’ve added some comments in italics.
Some suggestion for improving Hindu temples and places of pilgrimage
1. One of the biggest obstacles to keeping our temples and holy places clean is the nature of prayers and offerings that we have at these places. Is it not possible to insist on cash/cheques instead of milk, oil, ghee, kheer, cut fruits etc. that is the custom today? Cash/cheque donations will be helpful in maintaining and enhancing these places and can also be used for addition of amenities (not to mention proper accounting).
2. There should be a complete ban on any “private viewings†or “private aarti†(I find this practice particularly repelling & odious. Many years ago, while in Tirupathi, I deliberately avoided going for a darshan because I just could not bring myself to be respectful of an institution that treats devotees differently based on who is prepared to pay what). Why should anyone be treated differently in a temple?
3. A temple or a sacred place is a site where people come to relieves their stresses, anxieties and worries and to find solace in the atmosphere of the place and the peace that pervades most such places. In this context, keeping a temple closed for large parts of the day under the pretext of “God is taking rest†or “God is sleeping†is antiquated and regressive practice (which may have originated when only Brahmins could become priests and the priests wanted some time for themselves). Today, there is no valid reasons for continuing with this custom. All temples should be kept open for as long as practically possible.
I would go to the extreme of suggesting that major places of pilgrimage (particularly those that are well funded and have no scarcity of funds) should be kept open for 24 hours – a place of worship should never be closed and should not dictate the time when people can come and pray – people should not be constrained by “timings†whenever they want to be near God.
4. Discipline – there needs to be some sense of discipline and decorum in such places. Most holy places are chaotic and there is no attempt made to maintain even a semblance of order. Just because we are in a temple, should we abandon all restraints of a civil and disciplined society and forget all our civic sense? This extends also to maintaining a sense of cleanliness around the place – for some reason, we find it acceptable to “dirty†a place of worship (e.g. throwing a banana skin on the grounds) even though we would never do the same in/near our homes or houses.
5. Instead of seeking donations for decorations and ornamentation of the deity, if money is instead sought to maintain the building and the premises, that would help in better upkeep and maintenance of these places. In temples and institutions that already have enough money for maintenance and upkeep, at least 10%-15% of all the collection should be earmarked for special projects that could involve community education, social health or money set aside for scholarships for needy students etc.
6. Amenities and facilities for maintaining personal hygiene – In India, people often come from far and away to visit places of pilgrimage and temples. Such places are often lacking in even basic facilities for personal hygiene. This is extremely inconvenient – particularly to old people, children and women. Some responsibility for this should also be taken by devotees – people should make an effort to keep the place clean and this should be done out of a sense of devotion – considering this a part of paying homage to the deity.
***
I would like to conclude by mentioning something that I have been doing for sometime now…Whenever I visit a holy place/temple these days, instead of offering “donation” to the priests/in the donation box, I try and find someone who is cleaning the place and give him/her the money…These people are the ones who are true “sevaks” and they deserve our respect and gratitude for the work they are doing.
Comments and thoughts welcome, as always…
I completely agree with point 2, 4, 6.
1 & 3 are very much related to Bhakti baava (or baavam in Tamizh).
Eg –
I will consider Guruvayoourappan as my own child and perform Bhakti – will my child not require some rest?
Will I not adorn my child with the best of jewels possible?
Will I not bathe my child with the best of oil, soap, etc…? (And for The Murthy – fruits, flower garlands, etc…)
For point 5 – If temple administration is taken care (or taken over) by the government, it’s their responsibility to appoint staff to take care. Most of the “private” temples are so clean and well maintained.
I also wish that we wear our traditional dress when we visit temples. Also, I wish to state that temples are not places to meditate, they are places to get blessings from the presiding deity there (or the power that is manifested there), unlike the “temples” of other religions, which are mere places of congregation for prayer.
– RS.
Excellent suggestions which should be followed by all true Hindus.
>>> Cash/cheque donations will be helpful in maintaining and enhancing these places and can also be used for addition of amenities
Hi ,
The cash cheque donations will be pocketed by the government and used for “minority upliftment”… Funny that 60 years of minority upliftment have failed to have any impact, instead we are being rewarded for it with bombs !!
I agree with rest of the points..
Our temples are overcrowded.. we have limited temples since many of them were destroyed by “minorities”. What we have remaining now attract crowds.
The solution is to have more temples to distribute the crowd… But then, its easier to build “minority places of worship” than temples..
You may have “minority places of worship” bang in the middle of the roads or railway station parking lots.. but our pseudo-secular govts have problems in allotting land for temples.. sickening indeed…
An interesting post.
1) Regarding donating money, I would agree if that money goes for the hindu purpose, improving spiritual growth, maintenance of the temple, organizing classes in our arts and religious text etc. However if its been used to promote our governments minority appeasement, i would rather see a dirty temple:)
2) Agree, temple should be a place where anyone politician, star or not is given special privilege to be with God.
3) I believe this was started when the temple was not safe without presence of someone. We have heard of statue vandalism, and all that. One solution is to have rotational shifts for priests so that this thing can be taken care off. Technology can also be used for keeping surveillance.
4) Agree
5) Well I wouldnt interfere with the devotee and deity. The act of devotion is expressed in different ways. We can encourage devotees and officials to use donations for other purposes too. One way devotees can express their devotion is to do seva in the temple and help in maintenance and cleaning, like they do in many US temples.
6) Agree.
With respect to your point on giving donations to the priest, it might be right in a temple like tirupati where the priests are rich. However you will see that many temple priests are in poverty, and manage on the small donations of the devotees. Even in large temples we can see lot of brahmins who are doing other duties but in very poor conditions. Helping them would be good.
@ Ram: Interesting point about “temples” not being “places to meditate”. That may certainly be true but in this day and age, when a peaceful, quiet place is at such a premium, should we not be responding to the changing times? Just a thought.
Also, re. wearing our traditional dress, I am in favour of that but I would not like to be barred from a temple just because I am wearing Jeans. What do others think?
***
@ Srinivas: Thanks…I am glad you liked the ideas…but it would be wrong of me to take credit for all of them…most of them belong to Sh Kulkarni.
***
@ Shadows: I agree with you…we do need to build more temples..I recall once receiving an email about an intiative in TamilNadu (I think) to “reclaim” old, disused and/or neglected temples by renovating them using modest amounts of money. Does anyone know more about this? I would like to sponsor one or two such temples, if possible.
***
@ Vidhya: Thanks for your thoughts…Using technology for surveillance and “seva” are both excellent ideas… Thanks for sharing them.
On the point of dress:
as a place of religious worship it goes hand in hand with outward expressions such as dress, and rituals (or places of congregation) but ‘Hindu’ temples would also be catalysts for spiritual journeys – the turning inwards part. Insisting on dress here would be silly and pointless.
I know of our spiritual guru’s openness to meeting persons who come in any sort of clothing but the hangers-on around him still insist on dhoti and shawl thus keeping many of the younger generation away
No need to do all those things.
Only thing is temples need to get the income from the temples own property.
Anybody will be surprised to know how rich the temples are and the money that is spent on the temples.
If the temples can manage their properties they can not only keet them clean they can also afford to keep the whole surroundings clean.
Dear Sir,
The opinions expressed by Shri. Kulkarni are very thought provoking. Though I would like to immediately agree with all the provisions of this mail I have my reservations and would like to put it across.
At the outset it is not because the Brahmin Priests wanted to sleep and go about their worldly acctivities that the temples were closed citing that God was sleping or otherwise.
It was for a singular purpose of safety and protection. The temples closed for a short time so that the guards good go for their meals and the temple premises were cleaned by the persons employed for the same and the temple was emptied of all vagrants and all visitors and the sanctum sanctorum was closed with all the jewellery adorning the deity in place.
If the temple is kept open throughout the day the cost of the upkeep will be enormous and the security will become a problem.
With regard to the question of jewellery and celebrating the deity by dressing it, we have to addres a fundamental point which will against the spirit of the argument of TEMPLES themselves.
The Brahman of “the way of life” DOES NOT NEED A TEMPLE, he is THAT and hence resides in everyone. So then there is no GOD and then where is the question of a temple!!
It is because the understanding of many, including me, of this thought of the Brahman is difficult to understand and comphrehend one has introduced GOD and then one brings GOD in his own likenes and then structuring the activities as one sees in daily life!!
That is the reason we pray, dance, recite slokas, play music, dress the GOD in jewellery etc.
Paying for a darshan is stupid and the most abnoxious practice and one needs to get rid of it. One question arises within me; How does one pay for the upkeep of the temple in that case? We Hindus are not known for great munificence as regards donations, I will stand corrected if there is another opinion, but from all the schools and hospitals and poor homes and conversions one can derive my answer!!
As he has prescribed we can keep the environment and the surroundings clean. We can set examples by not taking anything plastic into the temple and also see that all biodegardable items are put in the proper place for bio mass production.
If one looks keenly at the items used in temples all of the items used in it are all 100% biodegradable. If we assist in the maintaning the surroundings clean I am sure we can create a clean surrounding very easily.
Let us take the first step towards it.
Today many temples are providing for toilets and other facilities for the yatris. OOPS from LAND BELONGING TO THE TEMPLE!!!
There are so many temples and millions of pilgrims and it will take time to spread around. Today’s pilgrim likes to see GOD in comfort otherwise GOD may be forced to start using the YOUTUBE for their convenience. Time will assist in bringing it to a stage when we will understand that in all times cleanliness IS next to GODLINESS.
Regards,
vck
Hrishi, Venku, vck: Thanks for your comments…I am a little tied up but will respond in more detail in a day or so.
A few thoughts:
1. Hindu temples are the only religious institutions which are controlled by government. In other words, money you leave in donation box goes to Govt, not to the temple. Furthermore, this money is usually distributed to subsidies of other religions. All other religious groups in India have custody of their shrines, except hindus.
2. HIndus are not known for donating large sums of money for temple upkeep (and in light of No. 1, it may be argued that they shouldn’t).
3. Hindus often won’t religiously allocate an hour or so a week for local temple service such as cleaning etc. I usually devote about 5 hours per week to local temple cleaning etc. But I started this only recently.
All the above are action items – we need a movement to free temples from Govt. control so the money there can be used for hindu works. And we need to ask hindus to spend man hours at their local temple, cleaning up etc.
Excellent post and very knowledgeable.
I admire suggestions by Shri. Kulkarni.
Jai Hind!
Courtesy Dr Godbole’s newsletter #62:
Shevagaav (Samaadhi of Gajaanan Mahaaraaj)
* Railway timetable is displayed for convenience of residents who want to travel by train.
* When people hire cars there is no consideration for the drivers. They sleep in cars at night. But at Shevagaav there is a dormitory for drivers. This is much appreciated by them.
* Accommodation is flexible, i.e. rooms for 2/3/4/5 persons. So the families do not get split up.
* A doctor is available during day time for minor ailments like indigestion, headache, muscular pains, twisted ankles, cough and cold.
* While departing you will be asked to fill in a form and can register any complaint and can also suggest improvements.
* In the visitor’s book Godbole remarked, “If other temples also followed this example, it will be paradise in Hindusthan.â€
So true.