SrI: Dear Sri Sadagopan Mama, I really enjoyed your excellent write-up. It is indeed sad to know about the way the Bhattars are after money. ArchakAs in many temples (including divya desams) are wallowing in poverty; from what I heard, the Government is just paying them Rs.150-Rs.300 a month, which is not even $20. Unfortunately the Dravidian Governments in the state have only usurped the temple properties, making the temples' administration totally dependent on the government. I guess the government of Tamilnadu should increase the wages of these poor priests, whose chances of growth through academic means are also stunted because of reservation politics. Honestly, even if we try to, we cannot provide for the financial support for all the bhattars in all the temples. I could recall when I visited MannArkudi 7-8 years ago - our family of 4 were the only pilgrims in the whole gigantic complex. The Bhattar was utterly poor, to make matters worse, two of his sons were deaf and mute, and my sensitive mind was terribly affected. When we go down south, we can even see Bhattars openly begging for money, which makes us feel guilty. A weekend dinner at a nice restaurant for us means 3-4 months of wages for those financially poor Bhattars. Perhaps, the Lord compensates for their lack of money by giving them the most superior enumeration instead: kainkaryam to his lotus feet. But still, the guilt does pinch me at times.............................................. adiyEn dasan. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/XUWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Oppiliappan/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: Oppiliappan-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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