The COVID-19 pandemic had various implications on the economy and society, and temple priests in Tamil Nadu were among the most severely affected. Temple priests largely depend upon the donations made by devotees as their source of revenue. With temples closed for almost more than a year, these priests struggled for a livelihood.
Priests across temples in Tamil Nadu continued to carry out the daily rituals meant for the deity, both morning and evening, even without the presence of the devotees. For example, for the very first time in April 2020, the Chithirai Thiruvizha in Madurai, a month-long festival of the Meenakshi Sundareshwarar temple, was conducted without any devotees at all. A research paper showed that due to the cancellation of scheduled festivals during the lockdown, almost 50% of 27,000 temple priests in Tamil Nadu under the Tamil Nadu Poosarigal Peramaipu, who were aged above 50 were struggling to meet their day-to-day expenses.
When the lockdown was imposed in 2020, the AIADMK was ruling the state. Keeping the livelihood of priests in mind, the HR&CE department of the Edappadi K. Palaniswami government first brought in monetary assistance of ₹1000, in April 2020, for all village temple priests, who were registered under the Village Temple Poosarigal Welfare Board of the HR&CE. The amount was to be deposited in the account of the priests by the government. However, the problem with this scheme was that only priests from remote village temples were covered under it. Priests from bigger temples, especially in cities, were not eligible for this allowance.
Further in May, many temples also started requesting a power bill waiver because they could not afford to pay electricity bills. “Our monthly income heavily relied upon the contributions made by well-wishers as well as some Chief of Mutts and other trusts. They gave us what they could afford. It was indeed a very tough time for us,” said Prasanna, Dikshithar (priest) of Mannargudi Rajagopalaswamy temple.
When the DMK government came to power in May 2021, HR&CE Minister P. Sekarbabu, announced a scheme that was to provide the priests with ₹4000 one-time relief assistance, along with a 10 kgs rice bag and 15 other grocery items. When asked if this relief reached the priests, Prasanna said, ” I heard from my contacts in Kumbakonam Vaishnavite temples that they were given this assistance. Mannargudi is somewhat considered a village, but our priests did not receive the allowance both under DMK and AIADMK rule. This is because the government makes an announcement of such a scheme and then asks the respective temples to pay the priests from the revenue that they receive. How will the temple management pay us, when the temple itself has been closed for a year, and they have not been having any revenue? This is the lapse between what the government announces, and what we receive in reality.”
In September 2021, CM Stalin announced another relief assistance of ₹1000 for all priests who were performing at least “One Kala Pooja” at temples. Many priests from temples in Chennai received this allowance from the CM’s himself, but it is still a question whether priests across Tamil Nadu received the same. When asked whether the priests came together to petition the government to provide for their livelihood, Prasanna replied, “What is the use of asking any government? Whichever government we ask, we are not going to get much help. We will continue to do our service at temples, no matter what, because we are serving the deity, and nobody else.”
While this is the case for temples that come under the government itself, temples that are privately owned had nowhere to go and request financial support. For example, the Chidambaram Nataraja temple is one such important temple, where daily festivities continued to take place despite the lockdown. Nataraja Deekshithar, a priest at Chidamabaram temple, said, “As we are a privately owned temple, we cannot go and petition the government to support us. Our support majorly came from Saivaite devotees who were well-wishers and philanthropists, who decided to help us priests out. Apart from that, our Lord Nataraja took complete care of us.”
Spiritual tourism is another major source of revenue for temples in Tamil Nadu. The donations made by foreign tourists to temples acted as a huge source of income, with which the temple management could afford to pay the temple priests. However, due to the travel ban during the pandemic, this source of income was also curtailed. This affected even the livelihood of petty shop owners who sold pooja items and temple souvenirs near the temple.
When asked about how he managed for a livelihood during the lockdown, Ganapathy, a retail shopkeeper who owns two correspondent shops next to Parthasarathy temple, said, “We had no income at all, and yet, we were asked to pay rent for our shops. How is it fair to ask us to pay the rent for our shops, while they haven’t been functioning for nearly half a year? We had no source of income whatsoever because the temples were closed and there was no influx of devotees. Mine is a joint family. We had to compromise on certain necessities to pay the rent. But this wasn’t the case for most of the small shopkeepers as they were pushed to worse conditions during these times.”
While priests and shopkeepers are the two most relevant parties when it comes to temples, the third most relevant would be the chefs who prepare Naivedyam (offering) for the deity in temples. The sale of Prasadam often acts as a major source of income for big temples. The Madapalli (temple kitchen) chefs continued to do their service during the lockdown, as no pooja for the deity concluded without an offering. But, just like the priests who had a little source of income during the lockdown, many Madapalli chefs also suffered.
When asked about the income of Madapalli cooks during the pandemic, Srivatsan, head of Madapalli, Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam, said, “Generally, the pay for all those working in temples under the HR&CE including Madapalli chefs and priests receive a stable income. However, this is not the case for smaller temples, especially those in villages. Even during COVID, the madapalli cooks of Srirangam temple did not face much trouble, because they come under the HR&CE and are therefore government servants with steady pay. However, smaller temples and Madapallis in villages would have been affected the most.”
“There is no relation between the Prasada stall at Srirangam temple and the Madapalli kitchen. There is a different kitchen that prepares the food items for the stall. The Madapalli is only used for preparing Naivedyam for the deity. So, the proceeds of the sale of Prasadam do not reach the Madapalli cooks, whatsoever. However, there are some Temples, like the Thiruvellarai Divya Desam temple, where there is no separate stall for the sale of Prasadam. There, the Madapalli cooks or priests distribute the Prasadam to the devotees, as soon as the offering is made to the deity,” he added.
Most temples have returned back to normalcy with the reduction in COVID cases. Now that temples are fully opened, devotees have started flocking temples in masses, catching up on what they missed in the past two years. The financial situation has largely improved for priests across Tamil Nadu now. However, what they largely dread is the lockdown time, as they all wish that the government could have been more efficient and helpful in providing the priests with financial assistance.
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