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Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00054 May 2003

 
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{Moderator's note:

The following email by srI rAma rAmAnuja AchArya is, I believe, questions
that he has regarding srIperumbUdUr. In correspondence with him, I believe
that these questions are honest questions he has regarding things that he
has observed in srIperumbUdUr. When we respond to his questions, I request
our members, particularly those who have knowledge of srIperumbUdUr, and
connections with srIperumbUdUr to focus on the larger issues involved -
accountability of temple property, srIvaishNavAs uniting to defend our
temples when there is a need to, etc. Please keep in mind that srI rAma 
rAmAnuja AchAryA may not have the access that many of us have to gather
information and decide. So, please treat his questions as honest questions
and not as some accusation/flaming.

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,
varadhan
}


Facts About Sripermubudur

I¹ve been visiting Sriperumbudur and my acharya¹s matham for about 15 years.
I have with my own eyes seen and been shown appalling things. I last visited
2 years ago and so am happy and delighted that things have improved since
then. I am truly happy that superficially the alankaram is beautiful - but
again I stress about the state of the vigraha underneath the alankaram.

1. The gold from the Vimana was half removed and had been substituted with
yellow paint ­ simply raising your eyes will reveal this.
2. Upon entering the temple one can also notice that the gold from the base
of the dhvaja-stambha has been removed.
3. There is a mandap that was presented by the maharaja of Mysore on the
left hand side as you enter the temple. This mandap had been covered with
gold ­ if one can gain access to the rear one sees that all the gold at the
back has been stripped off.
4. There were many houses in the village that belong to the Matham ­ these
houses are now either delapitate or occupied by families that do not pay
rent to the matham. They now own these houses!
5. When the jiyar took over the pitham many years ago he requested an
inventory of all the temple property and jewels of the gods ­ all these were
found to be inadequate or tampered with or falsified. The jiyar was then
told by certain individuals that he should keep his mouth shut and only
attend to his duties of receiving prathama tirtham and sathari and should
not enquire into the financial and property arrangements of the temple. The
jiyar is a military man (tagadajiyar) and was not easily daunted by these
threats and proceeded to file cases against the culprits to regain the
temple property.
6. The questions can now be asked: who is it that has access to the temple
vimana and dhvaja-stambha and has the time and leisure to remove the gold?
Who is it that had access to the locked mandapa of the Raja of Mysore and
had the opportunity to strip the gold? How is it that has control of the
temple property and could have falsified documents to be able to sell the
property and land to the families who now live there? Who had control of the
temple jewels that could have tampered with them or relieved the lord of his
burden of caring for his own jewels?
7. When the Congress party wanted to appropriate temple land upon which to
build a smarak for Rajiv Gandhi the jiyar fought back through the courts and
was threatened with death by certain individuals ­ the courts appointed a24
hour police guard to protect the matham.

In all these tribulations and difficulties the jiyar stood alone ­ none of
the alankari srivaishnavas came to his assistance ­ in fact everyone told
him to shut up and let things be. He himself has financed everything
regarding the recuperation of the temple property through his own pension
money. No-one came to his aid. Because the jiyar stood up for what is right
and refused to budge he was vilified and harassed. 

I am not accusing anyone ­ simply raising questions which need answers. Ido
not know who the perpetrators were ­ but I am entitled like every other
follower of Bhashyakara to ask the questions ­ when there is evidence of
wrong-doing. The gold quite evidently has gone, where has it gone? Who has
unrestricted access to those parts of the temple? Why were proper records of
all the temple interests not kept? Why are the people living in the houses
belonging to the Matham not paying rent? What has happened to the wet-lands
belonging to the Matham in Tanjore district? What has happened to the Matham
land in Nepal? Why have Srivaishnavas neglected Sriperumbudur for so long?
Why was the Matham and Bhashyakara¹s house delapidated for so many years?
Why was the jiyar marginalised and insulted and neglected for so many years?
Why was he threatened with death on many occasions ­ even by srivaishnavas
themselves? The jiyar has many of the answers and also many documents to
prove his case ­ anyone who is interested in helping can approach His
Holiness and receive a detailed account of all these atrocities ­ HH is an
honest, copassionate and open man who is afraid of no one and will present
his case clearly, lucidly and openly.

If someone points out the faults in a family ­ it is not to insult the
family but only to indicate where improvements can be made.

The same questions can be raised about many Srivaishnava holy sites. Why are
so many of the shrines and sannidhis in Srirangam locked and presently only
housing rats, cockroaches, spiders and weeds? Why are voluntary kinkaras not
given access to clean and refurbish? I known many who have tried and failed.
Why? When Sriranganatha was desecrated a few years back by students why was
not a hue and cry made. Why was no support given to those pious prapannas
that protested? But we speak much and do even more alankara and have no
snanam.

Adiyen ­ a concerned srivaishnava who seeks only to uplift srivaishnavism
not to depreciate.

Sri Ram







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