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temple improvement efforts - followup on recent discussions

From the Bhakti List Archives

Varadhan T A • August 9, 2002 


srImathE rAmAnujAya namah

dear devotees,

In the past couple of weeks, there has been some
renewed discussion regarding our temples, the 
current state of them, and the need to help those 
temples in need. The discussions were centered 
arounda couple of examples - kapisthalam, 
maNdangudi and thiru-k-kUdalUr.

There is a group of volunteers who have worked
on this issue for a few years now. I am part 
of that group, and hence I am sending this email 
to share information regarding our efforts.

Sometime ago (in 1999/2000), we started the concept 
of "adopt a divyadEsam", where a committment of about
3000 rupees per divyadEsam was sought. With this money
the daily expenses needed to perform thiruvAradhanam, 
cook prasAdam, light lamps etc. would be met. With 
some money left over, once in two months or so, 
vasthrams would be bought for the Lord and thAyAr in
the temple. The funds were routed through a trust in 
India to a few temples, and this went on for a while. 
Though there were many improvements to be made in this
mode of operation (local involvement etc. was 
lacking), this went on for a while.

In the past 18 months, we evolved another model that
seems to work better. We have 4 temples under this 
project now, and the goal obviously is to expand the
list. The four temples are

1. thiru maNi-k-koodam
2. thiru-k-kAvalambAdi
3. thiru arimEya viNNagaram and
4. thiru-k-kUdalUr (Aduthurai-p-perumAL kOvil)

The first three are in the thirunAngUr area, and the
last one is near kuMbakONam.

The approach we tried was more local. We formed a
comittee and had a local third-party (someone 
unconnected with the temple management structure of 
the concerned temple, but knowledgeable about temple 
affairs) coordinate the effort.

First, we tried to find out the key need of these 
temples. In thirunAngUr, for a group of 7 temples, 
there were only 3 archakas. Obviously, they were not 
able to spend enough time in each temple. So, we 
arranged for one dedicated person in the three temples
mentioned above. They are performing both the archaka 
duty and the paricharaka (helper) duty in the 
temple.In thiru-k-kUdalUr, the archaka was already 
there for the temple.

We then arranged for a monthly steady income for these
archakas. The aim was to make sure that they get 
atleast 2000 rupees in steady income every month. In 
thirunAngUr, we are funding Rs.1500 per month for each
temple (Rs.500 is given by a trust run by 
srI.muralidharan svAmi directly to the archakas; 1000
of the 1500 is given as salary, and another 500 is
given as remuneration for prasAdam distribution), and 
in thiru-k-kUdalUr, we provide Rs. 2000 per month as 
salary. In return, the temples are kept open for 
specified timings every day (usually around 7 - 11 in
the morning and 3:30 - 7:00 or so in the evening) and 
the archaka is present at those times at these 
temples. Obviously regular thiru-ArAdhanam with
prasAdam is done as per the custom in these temples. 
In thiru-k-kUdalUr we also provide a monthly salary to
the watchman (500 rupees).

We also arrange prasAdam distribution on some days in
each divyadEsam. The goal is to have local people
involvement in the temple. In thiru-k-kUdalUr, every 
saturday, there is a prasAdam that is offered to the
Lord and distributed to the people who come (around 
50 - 60 people come and receive prasAdam). In 
thirunAngUr, this specific aspect has been less 
successful and there is no regularly scheduled day 
where it is done.

In thiru-k-kUdalUr, the state of the temple is very
dilapidated, and a lot has been written about that. 
In the past 6 months, more people than ever have 
visited the temple, and devotees have graciously 
contributed the following to the temple -

1. a set of vessels for thiruArAdhanam and prasAdam
cooking and distribution
2. a nice bench for thirumanjanam
3. multiple sets of vasthrams for perumAL and thAyAr
4. a devotee has promised the archaka to get a pearl
crown for the utsava moorthy
5. additional prasadam distribution on fridays in this
month (tamizh month "Adi")
6. cleaning up of the well
7. funding to buy material required to clean up the
weeds and stray plants all over the temple (outside
prAkAram has been cleaned partially now,.,. inside 
needs to be cleaned)
8. 2 very beautiful lamps that are lit daily
9. oil for the lamps whenever devotees visit so far.
10.committment by a devotee to help with the
electricity repairs in the temple.

We have set 2 things as a priority for this temple now

1. cleaning up of the weeds and plants ON The walls
and the vimAnam
2. patching up the flooring in the temple so that it
does not peel off - this is a temporary measure only

>From a organizational perspective, we have formed a
group called VEDICS in the USA and in India to co-
ordinate these efforts. We do have regular accounts 
maintained and receipts and vouchers being issued for 
every donation and expense. This keeps things straight
and overboard since there are so many people involved.

Some great ideas came up during these discussions.
srI.diwAkar kaNNan has been very gracious to take 
leadership on this issue and he called me regarding 
these efforts. His idea of having a sponsor for 
thiruArAdhanam for each day is wonderful. The cost can
be as little as Rs. 150 per day. This will allow us to
buy flowers, curd, and other essential ingredients for
everyday use. {Even now, for example, due to the lack 
of money, the prasAdam being cooked is just plain rice
except for saturdays}. In dollar terms it is around 3 
dollars only. A fixed deposit in a post office (as 
suggested by srI. diwakar) of about 1700 rupees will 
provide a yearly interest of Rs. 150 that can be used 
for a day. 

We are at a stage now where we believe we can expand
the above model to many other temples in need. Though 
there are a lot of politics involved and it takes a 
long time to set something up that is overboard and 
has local involvement, we have seen it work in these 
temples. 

We request everyone to be a part of this effort and
lead us from here to our ultimate goal of making each 
and every temple self-sufficient. If you are 
interested, you can contact any of the following:

1. Mukundan Pattangi danp@uic.edu
2. TCA Venkatesan vtca@yahoo.com
3. Diwakar Kannan diwakark@yahoo.com
4. Varadhan tavaradhan@yahoo.com

There are some nascent efforts being done at
kapisthalam in conjunction with other 
organizations,but due to the nature of that divyadEsam
and the local setup, it might be months before 
anything happens there on a sustainable basis.

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,
varadhan

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