One of the main issues the Hindus face in post-independence of Bharat is taking over total control of their temples by the various state governments and looting temple wealth, particularly in the southern states. This loss of freedom and control by Hindus and traditional administrators resulted in the gradual decline in the observation of traditions and customs in the temples and the looting of a large portion of temple assets by political leaders and others. Nevertheless, somehow our political leaders across party lines believe they can control religious affairs of Hindus, loot temple wealth, but also claim to be a secular administration at the same time.

As the political leadership of all parties got corrupted over a period and became dependent on the minority vote bank, and mastered dividing the Hindus into caste lines to win elections, the politicians need to listen to Hindus vanished completely. Further, a large section of the political space was and continues to be occupied by political parties which are ideologically anti-Hindu. The net result of this control is total mismanagement of temples, looting of temple wealth, impoverishment of Hindu priests and severe curtailment of religious freedom of Hindus.

Temples are seen as sources of revenue for governments of all political parties. A piggy bank to be plundered at will to fund the secular and appeasement agenda of political parties.

Disease spreads to North India

Unfortunately, this craving to control temples has now spread to the north, and the latest state government that does that is Uttarakhand. While the so-called minorities were allowed to have complete control of their religious institutions, the same was not allowed explicitly for Hindus in the Constitution. This lack of specific provision resulted in Hindus becoming second-class citizens as a religious community in their own nation. Sadly, this loss of control over their temples is a manifestation of the second-class status of Hindus in Bharat.

Even in the case of BJP, the party that used to swear by ‘Hindutva’, there is no clear national party policy on temples.  Ironically BJP decided to take over temples in Uttarakhand while demanding the freeing of the temples of Tamilnadu at the same time. The fact that it was caught like a deer under headlights when the Sabarimala Judgement came late in taking the Hindu side shows that they had not even studied the issue of temple management and the role of the government and courts till then. There is no serious effort from BJP to internally discuss this to evolve a national level policy even today.

No political party cares about Hindu issues

Unfortunately, BJP still considers the Hindu identity a cultural and geographical one and not a religious one. As a result, the party finds it unable to advocate for any traditional Hindu religious activities effectively. While other political parties openly support religious activities of non-Hindu religions, BJP leaders, like the erstwhile health minister of Bharat, were ready to act very woke and ask Hindus not to celebrate Deepavali by bursting crackers etc. While this writer does not subscribe to the western idea of left-wing and right-wing division of political ideologies, BJP leaders, barring a few leaders like Yogi ji and Himanta Sarma, desparately seek approval from the same leftist media and "intellectuals" that hate them and Hindus. This weakness makes them hesitant to come out in support of any serious religious issues of Hindus. Even in the case of Ramajanmabhumi, BJP always said that its support to the issue is a civilisational one. Not a religious one. As such, ironically, there is no political party interested in the religious interests of Hindus today.

Hindu society is fighting for temples but a robust temple management model is needed

In this background, the demand for freeing the temples from the state governments' control is mainly led by nonpolitical personalities.

How do we manage our temples once they are free of government control? How do we ensure that all Hindu stakeholders concerns are addressed? What alternative models for temple management can we chose from? These are the questions that require serious debate and discussion.

If we don’t come up with a comprehensive and robust model for temple management, then there is a severe danger of the state governments taking half measures and pretending to "free temples” from their control without doing so in reality. Therefore, it is imperative that the people asking for the freedom to the Hindu temples from government control also chart out an alternative to the government control so that there is a seamless transfer from the government control to the Hindu management of the temples.

Many questions and issues need to be answered and sorted out correctly to ensure that political leaders do not justify interfering in the temple administration at any later stage under one pretext or another. Therefore, there must be well thought out principles put in place for smooth governing of the proper administration of the Temple.

Who should be allowed to manage our temples?

Once temples are taken out of state government control, the first natural question is who shall be considered Hindus to administer the Temples. There are many Hindus like Arya Samaj who do not believe in temple worship. Should such Hindus be allowed to have management of the Temples? Obviously not. Should well-known atheists or agnostics or Communists be allowed to manage temples and at the same time talk of being atheist political parties?  Of course not. Should we allow politicians and their families to hold power over our temples directly or indirectly? Of course not, as they always will have vote banks in mind. While it may be tough to keep the political leaders out, the same must be ensured. It must be noted that most political leaders, including many in BJP, have shown they do not care about Sanatana Dharma in a religious sense.

Our temples need to be entirely free and independent of not only the administration and government but of all political leaders and parties.

Further, there is also the question whether people who were earlier not Hindus but became Hindus in the recent past be allowed to participate in management of temples immediately after they became Hindus. Or should there be a time gap for some years before allowing them to become eligible to be for temple management or be part of any state-level Hindu body?

While we can have a more liberal approach towards allowing the recently converted people to take part in the individual temples in villages and towns, in case of the significant and religiously important temples and state-level bodies, or any significant Hindu body we should have clear rules on who can take part in elections as voters and who can contestant. There needs to be some time gap between adopting Sanatana Dharma and taking part in the Management of prominent temples and state-level Management of temples.

Sampradaya rights, traditions and shastric rituals must be fully protected

There are also various sampradayas of Hindus with their temples. Should Hindus of one sampradaya be allowed to manage temples of other sampradayas?  If such things are allowed, then there may be disputes. Even if Hindus themselves decide to do it, no administration should have any power to interfere with any sampradaya. No secular or even Hindu religious authorities should be allowed to impose their will to change or modify any age-old sampradayas of any temple. That should be an absolute condition.

It is imperative that the actual religious administration of temples in respect of the various sampradayas, traditions, rituals, customs, and other things are done correctly and as per the age-old traditions that are often unique to the sampradaya of any particular set of temples or even individual temples. The aim of freeing temples is not to bring them into any mould but to ensure the unique sampradayas of groups or sets of Temples or individual temples is followed without fail. There may be a need to have a body of religious leaders/experts to oversee each Temple and ensure that each Temple follows their respective sampradayas, shastras, customs and traditions, etc.

Many temples are managed by one particular community as per custom and tradition. It is one thing to allow all people to worship in such Temples, but quite another to allow outsiders to manage such temples. Therefore, such customs and traditions should not be interfered with for whatever reason.

Administration of temple assets needs reform too

The administration of assets of temples, notably immovable assets, also needs reform. There should be clear cut rules which can apply to all the temple assets. Before doing anything, the administrators of Hindu temples should take possession of all temple assets, prepare an inventory of the same and take steps to earn the maximum possible revenue from the said assets.

Hundreds of thousands of acres of agricultural land are owned by the temples. Proper management of these assets will ensure there is no financial difficulty for temples. Significant number of temples have liquid assets like gold, precious stones, gold and silver armaments, bank deposits, and other assets. Unfortunately, today, there is no transparent audit or record of how much gold and other armaments are owned by temples and how much is looted by the government and state. It is therefore imperative to take over all such movable assets and list them correctly.

Once we take a detailed inventory of all the movable and immovable assets owned by all the temples, take steps to take possession and secure the same, and achieve maximum revenue from all the immovable assets by renting/leasing them transparently and professionally.

There shall be an absolute bar on sale, long term lease or any such transfer of rights etc., on the immovable assets of the temples.

A waterfall mechanism for spending temple funds

There should also be clear cut plan for running the temple. Any surplus income, can be utilised to run Temples of the same sampradaya or even other sampradayas. A clear waterfall mechanism needs to be prescribed to ensure that all temples are appropriately maintained. Hindus should not accept any government's support or special treatment as seeking help invites political and government interference.

The salaries and remuneration of priests and others directly involved in the temple activities are not commensurate to statutory minimum wages. This makes living conditions, economic status, and status of the priests very low. Many poojaris and archakas are given just 700 Rs a month while Maulvis are given 20,000 Rs. While endowment staff and other religious department staff get their salary and other remuneration as per the government scales, the same is not even considered for the poojaris and archakas. This clearly shows the anti Hindu bias of our rulers. If this situation continues, no one will be willing to take up the priesthood. Therefore, it is critical that the remuneration of temple priests should be on par with state government employees of specific grades. The same can be paid from the revenue earned on the assets of the temples or from the state level pooled fund.

Ensuring participation of entire Hindu Samaj

Temple committees/ boards must be structured in a way to ensure broad participation of all Hindus in temple administration. Freeing temples from governments will not achieve the desired purpose without active involvement of all the Hindus'. Therefore, there must be a standard membership open to all Hindus who believe in temple worship at a very low membership donation for each Temple. Hindus should be encouraged to become members of temples in their respective localities. Annual elections must be held for temple committees.

These temple committees shall be entrusted to organise temple festivals, raise donations, look after all the upkeep of the temple, and do other general administrative work. Except for prominent temples that can afford to have administrative staff from their funds, no administrative staff usually shall be employed for any temple. There can be State-level Temple Management Committees to safeguard and manage assets, earn optimal reviews, and arrange and control the spending as per the predetermined rules.  All Hindus who are members of temple committees can vote online to elect a State Committee. There is a need to prohibit political leaders' involvement.  Political leaders, family members, and close relatives should not be allowed to contest in any temple committee or state committee elections. This will ensure that temple management does not become a political affair. 

There is also a crying need to make Temples the centres of religious activities and Hindu society. Therefore, every effort shall be made in the direction once the Temples are freed.

Image source: One India