I was a little skeptical when I started writing about this as a prickly feeling ran through my mind that I am going to write about the temple in India which still attracts major crowd, probably second to Tirupathi. I was born, brought up, educated in the city of Trichy and had been regularly going to the temple at an average of once a week (till I was in my college). Looking now at the increasing malpractices being committed by the temple authorities, I have to admit that the temple is being grossly mismanaged with its funds.
It is sad that the deity which is the only one to have been worshipped and sung in praise by 11 azwars (Tirupathi is next with 10 azwars) is in such a bad state that it has become a VIP temple and not a temple for common man. For the millions of devotees and rupees that are poured in by the people, the temple can be managed in a much better way.
One needs to have special rapport with the temple authorities to get to worship the main deity, Lord Ranganatha, more than his / her devotion. It will be a rare occasion if an individual gets to worship by paying the nominal fee as specified.
During the Vaikunta Ekadasi festival, apart from the indiscipline that people exhibit, acting with little common sense and throw an artificial display of bhakthi, the ad-hoc arrangements by the temple to regulate the queue adds woes. On this day, people who couldn’t get to go in the early morning auspicious hours, tend to go in the afternoon. A special fee of 50 is charged (which might increase next year without any reason) and without any mercy, the people will be asked to wait coolly even for 2-3 hours to catch the glimpse of the deity. Two years back, on this same occasion, four of us went to experience the vaikunta ekadasi by paying up 200 Rs per head. The funny part was that the temple authorities didn’t had a clue on the number of such tickets issued. We were asked to be in by 1 AM (early morning) and without planning and foreseeing the number of people who can be accommodated in the small enclosure, they kept on allowing the people who had the tickets. It was almost 4.30 AM and almost after frantic crying and shouting by the people in our section due to suffocation, they opened the gate to allow us inside. The cruelest part is that people who buy this ticket is supposed to go through a pain-less worship!!
The above is not just a one-off incident, but a regular feature of Srirangam temple. You have to be a VIP and then you get all the respects. If you are able to pay a huge amount (in terms of lakhs probably), they might even bring the lord to your house for a special worship. The temple has become a business house and sadly, unlike Tirupathi, there is no accountability and responsibilities for the atrocities being committed. When large number of people would be waiting for hours in the queue, a VIP (of all the reasons, he will be cine actor) will walk in casually with his brigade and he will be accosted by the authorities themselves ignoring the poor people. One can accept the reason if the VIP is a religious scholar or a great personality, but why on earth the temple should allow someone because he happens to be a cine personality?
I feel that the recent flood alert is just a warning from the deity himself on the growing atrocities in the temple. The day of punishment is not too far away for those who had been earning the hatred of common public. Srirangam is no more a temple for the public, but becoming a private temple with no one to question the management.
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