Why must Temple Collections be controlled by Indian Government

suchandra · August 29, 2008

Could be that this is the reason why in India there's no state religion - the state doesnt see temples as religious institutions but as any other liable to pay taxes business.

Why must Temple Collections be controlled by Indian Government

http://www.esamskriti.com/html/essay_index.asp?cat_name=why&cid=1084&sid=177

A couple of months ago the India Today magazine carried an article stating that in Karnataka state temple collections did not become part of the Temple Fund corpus but were credited to the State Treasury. Further the article stated that of the 70 odd crores collected in 2002 a meager 3-4 crores was used for temple maintenance.

A friend of mine from London, Jayant, always complained that we had such beautiful temples but did not maintain them well. I always blamed the temple management for being inefficient till I read the articles below. I then realized that in most cases temple collections became part of the State Treasury. And we all know how difficult it is to get the Governments to act!

I was shocked! When a Hindu goes to a temple and makes an offering to the Deity of his choice he assumes that the money/gold he donates to the temple would be used to maintain the temple or used by the temple trust to support poor Hindus, open schools & hospitals. BUT, in India it is different.

The following table gives you the Karnataka story. I quote Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (Art of Living Foundation) from Arsha Vidya Newsletter of Dec 2003). He said "There are as many as 2,07,000 temples in Karnataka and the total income of these temples amounts to Rs 72 crore only a sum of Rs. 6 crores is being spent by the Government for their upkeep. On the other hand, the Government spent a phenomenal amount of Rs.50 crores for the madrasas and Rs.10 crores for the churches, and for the Hindu temples only a partly sum of Rs.6 crores is being spent".

Statement of Temple Collections & Utilization 1997-2002. (data received from the Revenue section of Tourism & Temples, Govt of Karnataka, excerpts from an article by Anjali Patel dated 29/10/2003 (anjali_patel111@). Figures in Crores.

<table width="636" border="1" cellpadding="7" cellspacing="1"> <tbody><tr><td valign="top" width="8%"> Year

</td> <td valign="top" width="11%"> Temple Nos

</td> <td valign="top" width="11%"> Temple Revenue

</td> <td valign="top" width="12%"> Temple Expenses

</td> <td valign="top" width="13%"> Madrassa, Haj

</td> <td valign="top" width="11%"> % of Revenue

</td> <td valign="top" width="10%"> Church

</td> <td valign="top" width="9%"> Others

</td> <td valign="top" width="16%"> Others Description

</td> </tr> <tr><td valign="top" width="8%"> 1997

</td> <td valign="top" width="11%"> 2,64,000

</td> <td valign="top" width="11%">

52.3

</td> <td valign="top" width="12%">

17.3

</td> <td valign="top" width="13%">

9.3

</td> <td valign="top" width="11%">

18

</td> <td valign="top" width="10%">

3.0

</td> <td valign="top" width="9%">

22.8

</td> <td valign="top" width="16%">

Rural,women development.

</td> </tr> <tr><td valign="top" width="8%"> 1998

</td> <td valign="top" width="11%"> 2,67,073

</td> <td valign="top" width="11%">

58.3

</td> <td valign="top" width="12%">

16.5

</td> <td valign="top" width="13%">

14.3

</td> <td valign="top" width="11%">

25

</td> <td valign="top" width="10%">

5.0

</td> <td valign="top" width="9%">

22.6

</td> <td valign="top" width="16%">

Health Rural.

</td> </tr> <tr><td valign="top" width="8%"> 1999

</td> <td valign="top" width="11%"> 2,67,000

</td> <td valign="top" width="11%">

67.3

</td> <td valign="top" width="12%">

15.0

</td> <td valign="top" width="13%">

27.0

</td> <td valign="top" width="11%">

41

</td> <td valign="top" width="10%">

8.0

</td> <td valign="top" width="9%">

17.3

</td> <td valign="top" width="16%">

N.A.

</td> </tr> <tr><td valign="top" width="8%"> 2000

</td> <td valign="top" width="11%"> 2,62,038

</td> <td valign="top" width="11%">

69.9

</td> <td valign="top" width="12%">

13.7

</td> <td valign="top" width="13%">

35.0

</td> <td valign="top" width="11%">

50

</td> <td valign="top" width="10%">

8.0

</td> <td valign="top" width="9%">

13.2

</td> <td valign="top" width="16%">

Haj Victims

</td> </tr> <tr><td valign="top" width="8%"> 2001

</td> <td valign="top" width="11%"> 2,54,038

</td> <td valign="top" width="11%">

71.6

</td> <td valign="top" width="12%">

11.5

</td> <td valign="top" width="13%">

45.0

</td> <td valign="top" width="11%">

63

</td> <td valign="top" width="10%">

10.0

</td> <td valign="top" width="9%">

5.1

</td> <td valign="top" width="16%">

N.A.

</td> </tr> <tr><td valign="top" width="8%"> 2002

</td> <td valign="top" width="11%"> 2,51,012

</td> <td valign="top" width="11%">

72.0

</td> <td valign="top" width="12%">

10.0

</td> <td valign="top" width="13%">

50.0

</td> <td valign="top" width="11%">

69

</td> <td valign="top" width="10%">

10.0

</td> <td valign="top" width="9%">

2.0

</td> <td valign="top" width="16%">

N.A.

</td> </tr> <tr><td valign="top" width="8%"> Total

</td> <td valign="top" width="11%"> </td> <td valign="top" width="11%">

391.4

</td> <td valign="top" width="12%">

84.0

</td> <td valign="top" width="13%">

180.6

</td> <td valign="top" width="11%">

20.7

</td> <td valign="top" width="10%">

44.0

</td> <td valign="top" width="9%">

83.0

</td> <td valign="top" width="16%"> </td> </tr> <tr><td valign="top" width="8%"> $Mill

</td> <td valign="top" width="11%"> </td> <td valign="top" width="11%">

87.0

</td> <td valign="top" width="12%">

18.7

</td> <td valign="top" width="13%">

40.1

</td> <td valign="top" width="11%"> </td> <td valign="top" width="10%">

9.8

</td> <td valign="top" width="9%">

18.4

</td> <td valign="top" width="16%"> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> $ are in Million Dollars exchange rate Rs 45 to a dollar.

I asked a few lawyer friends how the Government could transfer temple offerings to the Government Treasury. They brushed me off by saying that the matter is too complex. Thereafter I tried hard to get some information on the legal provisions that make government control of temples possible but for now, my efforts have not born fruit. Thereafter I contacted a few friends who forwarded me some interesting articles on the subject. I have reproduced them for you. The chapters are -