With all talks in recent weeks on Unaccounted Money, here is a story on how contributions from devoteesgo unaccounted at the Parthasarathy Koil in Thiruvallikeni
I just finished watching PM Narendra Modi’s Mann ki Baat thsi morning and moved by his passionate speech felt it appropriate to narrate a 3month old story relating to the Parthasarathy temple in Thiruvallikeni. Writing this story (as with the two previous stories on photo menace and high court case) on the Parthasarathy Koil does not give (has not given) any joy for the temple is historical, one that probably has the best recital of the Divya Prabhandham and where the street processions and festivals are organised with great sincerity and devotion. And yet, right in the heart of the city just a few kms away from the headquarters of the HR &CE, affairs are not so straightforward with the officials.
The Samprokshanam of four Sannidhis at the Parthasarathy Koil was slated for Monday August 22, 2016. Leading up to the Samprokshanam was the presentation of all the 4000 verses of the Prabhandham over a four day period. At the conclusion of one of those sessions, at 11pm that Thursday (18 Aug) night, one of the participants in the Prabhandham recital and one who has been bringing together donations for the temple from various quarters came up to me and asked if I could contribute 1+ 6 ceiling fans for the Anjaneya temple opposite the tank on the East side of the temple to be fitted that weekend in time for the Samprokshanam. This was intended to be for the devotees who recite Vishnu Sahasranamam among other slokas at the temple every day.
(Just as a background this person ( who works with a leading air-conditioner company) claimed that he had put together contributions worth over Rs. 50 Lakhs a year ago for the Samprokshanam of the Parthasarathy Sannidhi that took place in mid 2015)
The next morning I checked with a devotee with whom I had been working together on temple support for the last many years on contributing the one fan. She agreed and I decided to contribute the rest of the six ceiling fans myself.
These fans were bought and handed over to him at the Anjaneya Sannidhi on Saturday (20 Aug) morning.
He also asked me to hand over the original bill to him so he could get me the receipt for the contribution. I handed him the original bill that same week. For almost two months, I followed up via text messages, voice phone calls and face to face meeting regarding the receipt. The answer was always ‘give me a day or two’.
And then I decided to meet Smt. Jothilakshmi, the DC of the Parthasarathy Koil (she had taken charge a year earlier). When I met her at her office last month, she claimed ignorance about the installation of any new fans at the Anjaneya temple. She called her assistant to go and inspect the fans at the Sannidhi and to hand me the receipt the very next day.
Many reminders (all face to face with her at the temple) later, the receipt is still not forthcoming. Sources at the temple told me last fortnight that there have been no receipts given out for much larger contributions relating to the Samprokshanams including for any of the electrical fittings or the air conditioners or for any other equipments handed over by devotees. And that it was unlikely that I would get a receipt.
It looks like none of these contributions is ‘accounted’ for at the Parthasarathy temple. At the time of the Samprokshanams and other events, donations are solicited for but rarely do these come into the books or are accounted for. And when a new donor comes forward with an interest to contribute, these old items are just taken away (by whom?) and the new ones installed.
And the clear message is that when receipts are not handed out for contributions (even in the form of physical items) running into several lakhs, why follow up on a miniscule contribution of a few thousands.
And on Wednesday (21 Nov) night, the Moolavar Sannidhi was being re-opened muchafter all the Sannidhis had closed for the night. In the renovation activity leading up to the Samprokshanam, in June 2015, of the Parthasarathy Sannidhi, Rama Sannidhi and Ranganatha Sannidhi among others, improper and hurriedly carried out works had led to leakages in the Parthasarathy Moolavar Sannidhi and Rama Sannidhi.
(In one of the earlier rain spells, the idol of Lord Rama had to be 'kept' in another Sannidhi for a night!!!)
And last quarter, while writing the story on the high court case relating to issues on renovation in temples, I had brought this up issue of leakages in Sannidhis with Smt. Jothilakshmi, the DC of the Parthasarathy temple. She seemingly with all sincerity rejected that there were any leaks and that she herself had inspected the Sannidhis in the recent rains (the brief spell in June), there was nothing noticed. I did not make a mention of that issue in the story I wrote then.
But earlier this week, the HR &CE officials made an entry into the Parthasarathy Moolavar Sannidhi well after 10pm. The news leaked through different sources from inside the temple and many from the media had made it to the temple by mid night to enquire as to what the HR & CE officials were doing inside the Moolavar Sannidhi after mid night when the temple had closed after the night pooja couple of hours earlier.
Many devotees have called me in the last 48 hours after reading the media reports and asked as to how the archakas of the temple could allow the Sannidhi to be opened that late in the night and how they could allow HR & CE officials into the Sannidhi well past mid night. They opined that they could understand the pressure from the Government officials but at the end of the day (and night), the powers to perform the pooja and to follow the agamas rest with the archakas. Should they not have sensitised the officials on the downsides of waking the Lord from sleep at such an unearthly hour of the night.
Many devotees have called me in the last 48 hours after reading the media reports and asked as to how the archakas of the temple could allow the Sannidhi to be opened that late in the night and how they could allow HR & CE officials into the Sannidhi well past mid night. They opined that they could understand the pressure from the Government officials but at the end of the day (and night), the powers to perform the pooja and to follow the agamas rest with the archakas. Should they not have sensitised the officials on the downsides of waking the Lord from sleep at such an unearthly hour of the night.
To the lay devotee, it was darshan as usual the next morning at 6am. And life has carried on since without anyone battling an eyelid on the events of Wednesday night.
It does seem that the petitioners in the temple renovation case have a point on the quality of repair works undertaken in temples and how lot more care needs to be taken in preserving the centuries old temples in Tamil Nadu.
(Last week, the roof that had come up in front of the Varadar Sannidhi was removed - had written about this as part of the renovation issues story in September this year- now providing for a beautiful full view of the Sannidhi and also allowing a lot more natural lighting to come into the Prakara)