There are many illegal places of worship, springing up in public/streets public places, across India, which is causing lots of inconvenience to the average common man. In Thiruvananthapuram as well, one could find many such unauthorized places of worship, some under construction while some already in ’service’, in crowded localities and residential areas.

If to mention couple of such encroachments of public space, there is a temple being constructed on the roadside, near the Cliff House, the place of residence of the Chief Minister of Kerala. Yes.. right under the nose of our Chief Minister, and none seems to take notice of the same..truly ‘God’s Own Country’ we live in! Not to mention the temple that sits on the middle of the road at Kumarapuram Junction, or the place of worship, again at the middle of the road, near Chenthitta. There are more.. there is an ‘althara‘ on the road to Regional Research Laboratory, near Pappanamcode, which has a huge potential to get upgraded to a full fledged place of worship in the near future.

Interestingly, while the State of Kerala is doing everything to attract ‘temple investments’ across the state, the Honourable Supreme Court of India on 31st July, 2009 made this observation. The bench comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Mukundakam Sharma asked the central government to ensure that there was no unauthorised construction of temples, churches, mosques and gurdwaras on public streets/public places. The bench observed that “As far as the existing religious places are concerned, we can understand that demolition or removing them may create some law and order problem. But why don’t you consider preventing such constructions in future across the country?”

When the apex court had made such an observation, which even though is not an order to any particular individual, what is preventing our State Government, purportedly rooted on rational and ideology, to act suo moto against such illegal constructions? Or are they promoting temple trade as an investment option for the unemployed youth in the state to emulate, wherein there is no risk of hartals or strikes? Or is it that for our Chief Minister, encroachment of land is something that happens only in Munnar or the reserve forests? Definitely there are more questions than answers!

Prasanth S Divine affairs, Life and Liberty, Nature and Environment

Author : JEMILA SAMERIN                                                             Source :  THE HINDU Opinion

For thousands of years, religion has been a dominant force in human society. History does not record anywhere and at any time of a religion that has any rational basis. The greatest vicissitude of things among men is the vicissitude of sects and religions. All religions, with their gods, demigods, prophets, messiahs and saints, are the product of the fancy and credulity of men who had not reached the full development and complete possession of their intellectual powers. They focus on specific supernatural, metaphysical, and moral claims about reality (the cosmos and human nature) which resulted in a set of religious laws, ethics, and a particular lifestyle. We have enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.

RECORD OF EXPLOITATIONS

Religion encompasses ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology, as well as personal faith and religious experience. Religious persecution down the ages has been done under what is claimed to be the command of God. God is always associated with those things that we do not understand. Criticism of religion is discouraged and stifled. It remains socially unacceptable to point out the main objections which sceptics and freethinkers have about religion.

History is replete with recorded abuses and savageries of organised religion when it comes to power. Live burials, beatings, burnings, cannibalism, buying and selling of human beings, and the chopping off of heads, hands, feet, ears and plucking out of eyes all fill the pages of the Holy Books. Human sacrifices to appease the gods. The Crusades. The Inquisition. The suppression and the execution of millions of women. Pogroms against Jews. The Holocaust. Jonestown, Guyana.

Believers are indoctrinated to ignore the bloody history of religion, and to pay effusive lip service to belief in God and God’s holy representatives on earth. Ordained ministers and priests are “men of God,” “God’s holy instruments,” a race apart, anointed. It is no wonder that these men who wish to misuse power and betray trust are in a unique position to do so. Newspapers are full of reports of financial exploitation, sexual transgressions, the criminal and sexual abuse of children, and women by these ordained men.

Havelock Ellis wrote: “In all countries, religion or superstition is closely related with crime.” Religious doctrine encourages power inequities toward women and children, and such inequities invariably lead to abuse. “The primary epiphenomena of any religion’s foundation are the production and flourishment of hypocrisy, megalomania and psychopathy, and the first casualties of a religion’s establishment are the intentions of its founder.”- Emily Brontë.

It is reason not imagination, that determines what is probable and what is not. A man’s ethical behaviour should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary.

We no longer need to be threatened with eternal torture or tempted by eternal bliss in order to form a civilised society.

Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death. Like dandruff, most people do have a religion and spend time and money on it and seem to derive considerable pleasure from fiddling with it.

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Author :  J. Venkatesan                                                                            Source :  THE HINDU

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the States and Union Territories to formulate, within eight weeks, a comprehensive policy on removal, relocation and regularisation of unauthorised religious constructions.

A Bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and K.S. Radhakrishnan pointed out that in its December 7, 2009 order the States were asked to prevent unauthorised construction of temples, churches, mosques or gurdwaras in streets, parks or other public places. While the States filed affidavits stating that steps had been taken to prevent any future unauthorised construction, in respect of formulation of a policy for the existing unauthorised structures, most of them had not framed the guidelines.

Therefore, the Bench said, it had become imperative to direct the States and the UTs to formulate a comprehensive policy and to identify all unauthorised structures. The State should spell out within what period it would demolish/relocate/regularise the structures. The Bench directed the Chief Secretaries to file affidavits in this regard.

Tamil Nadu stand

In its response, Tamil Nadu said it had evolved a strategy for removing unauthorised structures at public places without hurting people’s sentiments. This “includes the process of identification, to relocate the said structure.” A high-level committee had been constituted under the chairmanship of the Revenue Minister to deal with eviction as well as to monitor the progress of eviction proceedings. The court’s orders had been communicated to all District Collectors and they were directed to strictly comply with the directions.

Andhra Pradesh said that as per a preliminary survey “there are about 647 religious structures on footpaths and road margins in the area of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation; 25 temporary structures which have recently come up and have low potential of creating a law and order problem and can be removed; 55 structures that can be removed by convincing the managements and local people, and 496 structures which are old, permanent and have a high potential of creating a law and order problem.” An action plan had been finalised to conduct a detailed survey and to take action as per law.

Both Karnataka and Kerala said strict instructions had been issued to the Collectors to strictly comply with the court direction that no unauthorised construction of any kind be carried out or permitted on public land. Similar affidavits were filed by other States.

The matter has been listed for further hearing on April 6.

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Author :  Prachi Wagh Source :  mumbaikar.com

No free laddus at Tirupati from next year

Balaji will no longer bless you for free. Now the Tirupati laddu, that delicious prasadam received by every hand that was raised to praise the lord will have to be bought. Also those who wanted a ‘take away’ version of the blessing will have to pay double the price for each laddu. Now that’s what it means when they say ‘there are no free lunches’. Not even in God’s kitchen.

If you ask me, I say this is reformist. Just last year a family member returned from Tirupati, with a frown instead of flowers. The tale of how temple staff pushed those who greased their palms close to the Lord’s feet, and shoved other unsuspecting devotees away through the queue made my devotion plunge into doubts. Then my naïve relative recounted how some people got more laddus while she was handed just one. Obviously she was unaware of the Cash for Laddu routine. I was horrified. How do you feel spiritual or close to God if you buy your way to Him? How can you pay for blessings?

At least now the price tag on faith is official. It will get documented, accounted and verified. We can hope that the money collected will be well spent on charity or security. This is Kalyug, so let us not hope for everything ideal. Buying legal blessings is still better than bribing for better ‘bhakti’.

Other related Articles

The heat in the religious sweet

‘worship cafes’ mushrooms on public roads and streets; It’s a serious concern for secular India

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Festivities and the religious elements apart, the Attukal Temple and the Pongala Mahotsavam has sort of become a religious brand today, which attracts lots of commercial attention from all over Kerala, and the neighboring Tamilnadu and Andhra. While it offers an excellent business opportunity for pottery wholesalers and mom and pop shops, for bigwigs, the pongala congregation provides a suitable platform to advertise their products and services. No wonder, corporate majors and big brands are making a beeline to sponsor various events/activities at the temple during the course of the 10-day festival. The market potential of the event is thought to be in the tune of many crores of rupees.

Realizing the brand potential of ‘pongala’, now many small temples in and around the city (in other parts of the state as well), which until now had only local patronage, have jumped into the pongala bandwagon of late, and started promoting their own ‘pongalas’ to attract women folks from various parts the city and beyond. Stickers advertising ‘pongalas’ in these temples can be spotted inside many KSRTC buses plying within the city limits and beyond. Interestingly, some of these places of worship have witnessed a spurt in the number of lady devotees after they started offering pongala festivals. This is the pongala magic, originally pioneered by the Attukal Temple Trust (ATT)!

No wonder, the Attukal Temple Trust, wary of the growing competition, had gone on to apply for trademark for the picture of the deity of Kannaki, and the caption ‘Sabarimala of Women’ or ‘Sthreekalude Sabarimala’ in their name, and surprisingly (or not so surprisingly) succeeded in getting the same. They just don’t want its competitor temples to cash in on the growing ‘Pongala economy’, that easily runs into tens of millions of rupees.

While, as to whether the deity is trademarkable is a contentious issue that is subjudice now, what is appalling is the apparent callousness with which the temple trust had made the deity, worshiped by millions, into a commercial object, and went on to secure the exclusive rights of its commercial use as well. Equally bewildering to the rational mind is the fact that the Indian Patent Office did not see anything wrong in the commercial intent of ATT, and had straightaway issued the trademark sans raising any questions, even to themselves. Finally, completing the dots, the Kerala Government, which is supposed to be the guardian of everything lawful in the state, did not see anything unlawful in the temple trust’s move. What is more interesting is that the honourable ministers of the state had participated in the grand function in the capital city, arranged for announcing the trademark certification possessed by the trust and their exclusive right on the deity picture.  Now the Goddess is the temple trust’s own property, and not that of her millions of devotees’!

Looking ahead, it can be said that a court directive in the near future might put an end to this contention. But what our devotee folks must realize is that such a directive alone is not going to clean up the malice in the system. Crass commercialization will not only ruin the spiritual element of Hinduism, but also would deride its values to a point of no return, a horizon that we are fast approaching. If the believers still don’t look inwards, and take a hard perspective of how their faith is being misused by the religious institutions in this country, and at a very basic level, what they themselves are doing in the name of faith during such festivals without giving it a second thought, it won’t take long before the cultural and moral bankruptcy slowly corrupts virtually all fibers of our society. It is already running at a negative balance!

Prasanth S Divine affairs attukal pongala, Attukal Temple Trust, City, Kerala, Kerala Government, Kerala High Court, Thiruvananthapuram

Source : http://shaolin.org.au/

This article is from the Beijing Review, vol. 49, no. 21, May 25, 2006 (pp44-45).

Shaolin Temple, synonymous with kungfu and Buddhism in China, is making mega media headlines with the recent of its plan to host an international TV kungfu competition. Partnered with a local television station, the grand showdown is set to offer martial arts practitioners from across the globe a chance to become the next Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee.

The first round of competition began in May in Shenzhen, Beijing, Zhengzhou, Shenyang, Chengdu and Shanghai and in the United States, Germany, Russia, Italy and Australia. The finalists have the opportunity to sign contracts with the Shaolin Temple’s acting agency and land a role in new movies and TV dramas about Shaolin. The competition committee secretary-general Fu Min estimates that, during the six month-long competition, as many as 20,000 kungfu enthusiasts will take part in the first round. As the organisers are looking for actors to be the next generation of international stars, contestants are required not only to be skilled, but also have the charm and good looks to sizzle on the silver screen.

Established on Chan philosophy and famous for its martial arts, Shaolin Temple is being publicly questioned and criticised by many for taking something considered sacred into the world of entertainment. They claim that Shaolin Temple has deviated from its core disciplines of meditation and spirituality. If the trend continues, say detractors, the temple’s function will become nothing more than an ego-driven operation for movie production.

According to historical records, Shaolin Temple was built in the late fifth century at the behest of the emperor of the time, to accommodate an Indian monk who came to China for missionary work. The monastery was built in Shaoshishan Mountain’s lush woods, in central Henan Province. The name Shaolin Temple was derived from the Chinese character ‘lin’ meaning ‘woods’. In the year 527, another Indian master, Damo, arrived at the Temple, where he meditated for nine years and created the Chan philosophy and Shaolin martial arts. Since then, Shaolin has become world-renowned for its kungfu.

Its golden years were between the 13th and 17th centuries. Since the beginning of the 18th century, Shaolin had been forgotten until a movie changed its fortunes. In the early 1980’s, the temple had only 12 monks and one hectare of farmland, a sharp contrast with the hundreds of hectares of farmland and more than 2,000 monks in its heyday. A 1982 movie Shaolin Temple became a blockbuster soon after hitting the screen, turning the temple into a household name overnight.

It began to open to the public in September 1974 and by the end of 1978 it had received a total of only 200,000 tourists. In 1982 alone, however, tourist numbers surged to over 700,000 and climbed to a record high of 2.6 million in 1984. Even today, around 1.5 million tourists are attracted to Shaolin Temple every year to look for the traces of the movie settings there.

Besides tourists, martial arts fanatics, mainly youngsters, come to the temple from every corner of the country. Their demand was soon met by martial arts academies, which sprang up adjacent to the temple. Dengfeng City, where the temple is located, has nearly 70 kungfu schools, of which the largest has 15,000 students. The local economy has been greatly boosted by tourism and the martial arts academies.

It is the first time in its 1500-year history that the temple is so closely combined with commercial interests. The bustling business of souvenir stores, restaurants and kungfu academies seems to have submerged the core disciplines of meditation and spirituality.

The commercialization path is now deeply embedded. Shaolin Temple now has its own welfare foundation, magazine, movie and TV company and martial arts promotion agency.

Moreover, Shi Yongxin, the present abbot of Shaolin, travels around the world in a jeep with a chauffeur and goes abroad frequently to socialise with Hollywood celebrities. In the process he has earned he has earned the nickname in the media of the ‘CEO in a cassock’.

Confronted with queries about the commercialisation of Shaolin Temple, Shi, the first Chinese monk with an MBA degree, said; “Our focus is not on increasing the revenue, since that from the tickets is enough to sustain the expenses of the monks. We expect to preach Buddhism far and wide.”

She also explained that against the globalisation backdrop, Shaolin Temple is expected to respond to the economic and cultural dominance of the Western world. Otherwise, Shaolin would not be able to maintain its social influence, which would fall short of the expectations of Shaolin’s ancestry, he said. Since Shaolin was born and has grown through international cultural exchange, it is aimed at becoming the global centre of the Chinese Chan Buddhist sect and a venue of international communication, said Shi.

Shaolin embraces market economy
Qi Jiashan (columnist at China Youth Daily): Shaolin Temple is no longer the same temple in an inaccessible mountain. Instead, it has been developed and promoted as a tourist resort and even its name Shaolin has been commercialised.

The movie and TV drama production company under Shaolin Temple is to produce future kungfu movie stars while another company is engaged in promoting vegetarian cakes and tea under the brand name of Shaolin. A ridiculous on-line game called Shaolin Legend has been developed, which market observers said is all about tapping the huge market potential of online games and nothing about promoting Shaolin culture.

It seems the temple has become the cash cow of the local government and is firmly entrenched in the market economy. I have heard that Shaolin has applied to be on the world heritage list of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation), and my concern is when that day comes, all that is left will be the body of an ancient temple without its glorious spirit.

While Shaolin tries to catch up with modernisation, it is losing its distinctive nature. There is no peaceful place for Buddha in the Temple shrouded by the chaotic martial arts teachings, vendor stalls and entrepreneurship. Instead of a spiritual paradise, the temple is becoming a money-making machine manipulated by some people. The recent trip to Shaolin by Russian President Vladimir Putin has thrust it under the spotlight.  An interesting detail is that the abbot, Shi Yongxin, shook hands with Putin instead of traditionally greeting with palms together, something his critics were quick to pounce on.

Even if the earthly evolution of Buddhism is to some extent acceptable, associating Buddhism with entertainment is rather intolerable. As we know, “Super Girl” is a pure entertainment venture. If people create a “Super Monk” by imitating “Super Girl”, it would have nothing to do with preaching Buddhism.

The commercial tapping of the Shaolin brand has become excessive. What will happen when all the components of Shaolin, including its martial arts, teaching, kungfu books, food and medicine, are developed and consumed?

Chen Ming (associate researcher at the Institute of World Religions, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences):
Influenced by the social environment, the purity of Chinese temples has now become part of the marketing strategy of local governments to promote their economy.

I suppose mind cultivation should be the focus of Buddhist temples, particularly Shaolin Temple, an ancient Buddhist shrine. A person should not sacrifice the essentials for economic interests.

Moreover it seems improper for Shaolin Temple to engage in too many commercial activities and operations.

Chinese society now does need the influence of Buddhism, but what can temples like Shaolin provide us today? I feel Chinese religious culture faces an awkward situation in its current trend of development.

Commercialization beneficial

Yao Weiqun (philosophy professor at Peking University and Buddhism expert):
Since a large number of temples are located in downtown areas, they are hardly cut off from modern society. But viewing the issue from a different perspective, Shaolin monks can make contributions to charitable causes by donating income from their performance tours to natural disaster relief or to poor school dropouts, which is consistent with Buddhist philosophy.

What needs to be remembered is that martial arts are after all not the core value of Buddhism. Only by combining the essence of Buddhist culture with philosophical thought and Chan wisdom can Buddhism be widely disseminated around the world.

Wang Zhiyuan (researcher at the Institute of World Religions, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences):
I have known Shi Yongxin for seven or eight years. He has been devoting great effort to the development of Shaolin Temple.

The affinity between temples and modern society is somewhat unavoidable. The vitality of religions in Hong Kong and Taiwan comes from its combination with the earthly world. Certainly, the combination must follow a principle – the essential emphasis on meditation and spirituality of a religion can never be neglected.

Shi Yongxin is not an exception since great monks are always social activists. They have greater responsibility to shoulder. Anyway, Buddhist doctrines cannot be totally alleviated from earthly virtues. Asceticism and self-isolation of emotions advocated before were due to the limitation of conditions.

Shi Yongxin is wise enough to balance his practical and spiritual life and is an excellent organiser. As an old friend I would urge him to spend more time meditating and practising martial arts and looking after his health, as he appears to have put on a lot of weight in recent years.

Liao Baoping (columnist at Guangming Daily):

Generally, people have the conventional views that monks should always be a sanctuary of purity in an otherwise materialistic world.  Therefore, it is unacceptable to many people that Shaolin Temple is polluted by money, commercial activities and entertainment. However, in my view, these comments are to outdated to be true.

Buddhism is essentially a type of culture. Culture evolves with multiple factors of modernity, so has Buddhism. Monks are not gods. They are humans with flesh and blood. The global TV competition for selecting new kungfu stars is essentially about the commercialisation of a culture in a globalized world.

It was not until the late 1990’s that the cultural industry became a recognised economic sector in China. While the cultural industry yields a handsome share of GDP, there is still a fierce debate going on over the viability of the industrialisation of culture.

The real focus of the problem behind Shaolin’s kungfu contest is, in fact, whether Shaolin culture should be commercialised.

If the answer is no, then as Shi Yongxin mentioned, the income from tickets is sufficient to meet the expenses, and monks can wholeheartedly devote themselves to routine work. But in that scenario, Shaolin would not be able to sustain its social influence. If the answer is yes, probably sooner or later the temple will lose its basic function of helping to enlighten others.

Personally I suppose that Shaolin Temple’s culture should be carried forward and some elements of the culture, like martial arts, can be industrialised, while some, like Chan-sect philosophy, should not be commercialised. Shaolin Temple should therefore differentiate elements of its culture in its commercialisation efforts.

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News Source IANS (Date - March 10th, 2009)

An estimated three million women devotees from Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu converged on streets leading to the Attukal Bhagavathi temple here Tuesday and cooked rice offerings on thousands of firewood stoves for the goddess in one of the largest religious gatherings in southern India.
The offering is made on the penultimate day of the 10-day-long Attukal Pongalafestival, which is often referred to as the equivalent of the Sabarimala pilgrimage for women.

The Guinness Book of World Records listed it as the world’s largest annual gathering of women in 1997, when 1.5 million devotees converged here on Feb 23.

“This time the number of devotees has crossed three million. The women are seated on roads. This year several more roads have been occupied compared to last year,” Sreekumaran Nair, the temple superintendent, told IANS.

Attukal Bhagavathi is believed to be an incarnation of Kannaki, the central character of the Tamil epic “Silappathikaaram”.

According to legend, Kannaki destroyed Madurai in Tamil Nadu after the king of Madurai wrongfully imposed the death penalty on her husband. After that, Kannaki travelled to Kerala, where she rested for a while at Attukal and women are said to have cooked pongala to appease her.

Devotees arrived here early Tuesday with earthen pots, bricks, firewood, rice, jaggery and coconut to cook the rice offering.

About 20 sq km area around the temple was choc-a-bloc with women and only those who had reached three days ago managed to get a place to cook near the temple. They lit their stoves after the chief priest lit the main stove in the compound at about 10.30 a.m.

The event, where poor people rubbed shoulders with filmstars, ended at about 2.30 p.m. after the rice was ready and the priests had sprayed holy water from the temple on all earthen pots.

Miss World Parvathy Omanakuttan said this was the second she was offering pongala.

“Last time I won the Miss India crown and became the Miss World runner up after I came here. Amma is really powerful and one really experiences a feeling of satisfaction after doing this pongala. I am really happy I am here,” said Omanakuttan.

“This is the tenth time I am offering pongala. I believe Amma is really powerful. One has to be here to experience the goodness,” said film and TV actress Chippy.

Malayalam superstar Suresh Gopi, who is present alongside the priests when the main stove is lit every year, said that he feels fortunate to be able to participate in the event.

“I keep aside all other work to be inside the temple for the lighting of the main stove. Despite the massive crowd, everything takes place with absolute calmness,” he said.

Sukanya Devi, a resident of Kollam who had come here with her daughter, said: “We attended this festival for the first time last year. Soon after, my daughter got married. We are here this time to give thanks to the goddess.”

Commissioner of Police Ravada Chandrasekhar said 2,000 policemen and 500 women constables besides 15 deputy superintendents of police and three superintendents had been posted for security during the festival.

The day of the Attukala Pongala was a holiday in the district except for IT firms.

The railways ran special trains and added additional coaches for the devotees, while hundreds of stalls put up by social organisations supplied free food and drinking water to the devotees.

After the sea of humanity dispersed, municipal corporation employees took to the streets, clearing away the hundreds of thousands of bricks and earthen pots as well as other debris.

“The whole city seems like a holy place during the festival. I will do my best to see that this is turned into a national pilgrimage centre,” said Lok Sabha secretary general P.D.T. Achary.

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