As you all know, through this blog, we were able to support the setting up bore well for ambal to address water problem for Her abishekam etc. It was all Her blessings and your kind contributions. There was a long silence from Brahmasri Raja Gurukkal’s side and I was also busy with other things. He contacted me few days back. He listed the following three projects:
Here is his audio:
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- Annadhanam for Navarathiri – It appears that they have a procedure where they feed sivacharyars, Gurukkal’s and patasala kids during the navarathiri days for all 3 times a day. Estimated cost is roughly 1.5 lakhs
- To do cooking for Anna padayal (a famous thing in this temple – see the 2nd photo above), apparently they rent kitchen vessels from outside. He is not comfortable in doing that as we aren’t sure what was cooked in those vessels before. He would like to purchase vessels for the temple. To me, this is #1 priority. He has not mentioned the amount – will find out and from KGF, we will do our best for this purpose.
- Nettu-kan – I dont know the meaning of this word – apparently – this is the picture – swami ambal are kept and taken around the town. They have been somehow managing by carrying the swami on shoulder and last year, they dropped Lord Subramanya Swamy on the floor. He plans to make at least 3 of this. Total estimated cost is 5 Lakhs. To me, this is a big project – we are too small to support this fully. However, we can do our best.
I know Sri Raja Gurukkal – he is very genuine. Having said that, if you intend to contribute, please work with him directly and get status from him. If he sends me the updates, I am more than happy to post it here…He can be reached at +91 94443 50759. His bank details are here: He is not running any tax-exempt organization etc – so your contribution made to him will NOT be tax-exempted. Since Navarathiri is approaching, this may be an opportunity to participate in ambal-related kainkaryam.
Aum Shri Matrey Namaha!
Categories: Announcements
Dear Mahesh Bank name not given please Regards M P
Sent from my iPad
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From the IFSC code,it looks ICICI bank..
As for as the. Requirement of. Vessels it is very genuine and one can do his help for the same we need not analyse much. It is God’s will
All,
I see lots of questions/doubts. Unfortunately, I do not have answers for all and suggest you all call the Gurukkal himself to get those answers if you’re considering donating. This temple comes under some aadheenam – dont know which one it is….Regardless, any kainkaryam is normally supported by devotees only
This kind of fear in doing philanthropic activities is exactly what they want to create and to some extent they have achieved that going by the above posts. Let us all think of Periyava’s Padha kamalam and continue supporting our temples, Gho Shalas and Veda Patasalas for MahaPeriyava.
Yes, your views on Ghoshal or Veda parassala are OK as they do not come under the control of HR&CE. But temples and their properties are different. Even some temples that started off as efforts by small associations (as in the case of Nanga nallur Anjaneyar temple, Beasant Nagar Vinayagar temple, Ayodhya Mandapam, etc) were later taken over by HR&CE just because they earned quite a bit of revenue by devotees contribution. While they will argue that it is to prevent misuse of public funds, there are untold reasons also. Who knows! If we continue to elect ‘secular’ governments, they may bring even Veda Patashalas and Goshalas also under HR&CE – because they are against ‘secularism’ as defined by the government.
I don’t think anyone expressed fear in doing philanthropic activity.
The issue was whether one Gurukkal in a temple can collect public donations to add assets to the temple.
Collection for annadhaanam is okay.,
But how the vessels and the Neetu-Kan are going to be handled?
Will it be handed over to the temple management or will it be maintained privately by the Gurukkal himself?
If someone wants to contribute to the personal account of a person, as in this case, well it is their choice.
But I believe that whatever we donate should not only be properly utilized but also properly accounted for.
It is very easy for vessels. Just enquire from the Kurukkal regarding his requirements of vessels for special occasions and then give him in kind. He can keep them under his personal custody and use them on special occasions only. No need to enter them in temple account. It should be taken that we entrust with him as our contribution to the temple – just like we put money in the hundi without asking for a receipt or account.
I completely agree with Sri Balakrishnan,
I appreciate your feelings to help the temple.
Somehow I feel that this is not the proper way to improve the infrastructure of any temple, by giving donation to an individual however honest he or she may be.
This temple is under HR&CE and managed by Dharmapuram Adheenam and I am not sure whether he is permitted to collect such donations especially for procuring & repairing temple properties.
I have made my point earlier also.
I know that many, including you, will not accept my view.
But I thought that I should put my view on this platform.
Your concern for improving the infrastructure in this temple is really commendable. Due to your efforts, I understand that the water problem is somewhat solved. But as a blog reader I would like to know, if this temple comes under Hindu Religious Endowment Board. If that so, then you can anticipate unwanted interference in future. The recent case of Tamilnadu government listing Sri. Venu Srinivasan of the TVS Group as one of the accused in the replacement of a peacock idol in Mayilapur Kapaaleeswarar Temple is a case point. He is a well known philanthropist who has spent a lot of his personal wealth in renovating temples. But he was conveniently accused by the political class, that while renovating the temple he could have replaced the original idol. So, hereafter we should consult a legal expert if individuals or associations want to carry out any infrastructure improvement if the temple comes under HREB. In future, if any untoward incident like theft happens, then the Kurukkal will have to answer. In case of vessels, he can keep them under his personal custody and should never bring it under temple inventory. But other items have to be accounted for, even if they are genuine contributions by devotees.