MORTGAGING THE LORD HIMSELF FOR POLITICAL DIVIDENDS

No one can approve of the misdemeanour of the poor priest of Sri Kodandaramaswamy temple in Tirupati who mortgaged the jewellery of the presiding deity of the temple. Obviously, he seems to have done if out of penury. What is unfolding subsequent to this revelation is that Tirupati temple alone is not the victim of official callousness and mismanagement of Hindu temples and their movable and immovable properties. There are hundreds of temples in the state whose land has been appropriated by unscrupulous elements parading themselves as “bigwigs” in the society.


To be precise, there are 37,602 temples in the state which have 4.33 lakh acres of cultivable land. Out of this, only 1.2 lakh acres are under proper lease. According to one estimate, more than 50,000 acres of temple land have been encroached. Only 18% of the revenue generated from these properties are given back to the temples for maintenance. 82% of the income is misused by the government for purposes other than the Hindu religious interests at its own discretion.


There was a scandal not long ago which exposed the manner in which officials of the HRE department itself were abetting the sale of temple lands in and around the state capital. As usual, the government ordered an enquiry and one does not know what happened to the enquiry and whether those involved in the scam were punished. The priest of the Tirupati temple will undoubtedly be punished because he is a hapless soul without any godfathers to bail him out whereas the bigger sharks enjoying political patronage are getting away with the loot of the temples.


Be that as it may, the focus now is on the Balaji temple in Tirumala and the way the government has been meddling with the affairs of the temple through its political appointees. Right now, the culprit is the chairman of the TTD Board, D K Adikesavalu Naidu, a liquor baron whose only qualification to head the TTD Board is that he saved the Congress government last year, when its existence was threatened and he simply ditched the TDP. So much for his political and moral integrity. It was a highly immoral appointment steeped in dishonesy and Yogaguru Baba Ramdev rightly pointed this out while in Hyderabad. The government, without any compunction, simply insulted millions of Balaji devotees by inducting an arrack contractor to be the chairman of the Board.


But then, the malaise has a long history. Whether it is the TDP government or Congress government, the temple has been treated as yet another tool to dispense political favours to the chosen ones and thus to extend their political influence. Tikkavarapu Subbarami Reddy ruled the roost for a longer time, but in comparison with the present chairman and his immediate predecessor, Karunakar Reddy, he looks like an angel though his only job as Chairman was to issue letters for cellar darshan.


The allegations against the present chairman are quite serious and they are not levelled by the Oppostition, but emanates from within the Board itself. Besides diversion of funds according to his whims and fancies, Adikesavalu Naidu seems to be treating the most sacred and popular temple of the Hindus as his personal estate. Just a couple of days ago, he took the APCC chief D Srinivas and 30 other Congress workers through the Mahadwaram, defying the well established protocol. The reason proffered by him for such a violation is ludicrous. D Srinivas was reportedly sick. He elaborated the sickness to say that he was suffering from arthritis and he can’t be expected to climb the steps at the queue complex. Will he extend this “facility” to all devotees who suffer from arthritis?


Further, he gave an astonishing definition for the physically challenged who are now extended the facility to enter via Mahadwaram. According to him, any person who suffers from heart ailments, high fever, blood pressure and pain in the knee joints can be allowed under the disabled category. Whoever goes up the hills on foot will have knee pain and they should be allowed as per this new definition. Atleast 30 to 40% of the devotees will have blood pressure or heart ailments and they can queue up before the main entrance. What Naidu has to do is to post a doctor with BP monitor, thermometer, at the Mahadwaram to allow the devotees inside.
Let’s give the devil its due. Not only politicians, but seers from Vellore and Bangalore were also extended this “Maha” privilege along with other liquor and mining barons – a sort of social justice, shall we say? This is the allegation of Bhaskar Reddy, TUDA chairman and a proxy of erstwhile chairman Karunakar Reddy. But then, Karuanakar Reddy who is a look alike of our chief minister, had his own share in exploiting his position for advancing his political career though Balaji willed otherwise and he had to bite the dust in the elections. He defied all agama sastras and established traditions of the temple for cheap popularity. He was the one to make a trip to Delhi to meet Sonia Gandhi to apprise her of his achievements as the custodian of the richest temple in the world.


Coming back to Naidu, his “activities” did not stop with allowing VIP darshans to his acolytes, allowing quotas for the arjita seva tickets and the like, but liberally permitted his colleagues to make use of the TTD guest houses for booze and sex. They were caught with pants down in the TTD guest house in the state capital and till now no one knows what happened to the enquiry that was ordered.


Well, Bhaskara Reddy is not a paragon of virtues when it comes to the illegal diversion of funds from the TTD. Naidu’s henchmen allege that Bhaskar is building a temple in his native village Tummalagunta at a cost of Rs 20 crore drawn from the TTD.


When all these Johnnies are mortgaging the Lord Himself for their political dividends, why blame a poor priest for mortgaging the jewellery. Well, he has to be punished for what he has done. But who will punish these political plunderers? We can only pray to Lord Venkateswara to save Himself before saving His devotees!