Hindu Munnani condemned the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments department for extorting collecting money from devotees allegedly in a cunning way at the famous Arulmigu Arunachaleswarer temple in Tiruvannamalai.
In a press release by Hindu Munnani’s state general secretary Muruganandam, he said,” The Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department aims to collect as much money as possible from temple visitors and has turned the temple into a place of business. The spirituality of Hindu Dharma is that all are equal before God. However, temples charge various types of darshan fees, such as special darshan, quick darshan, and VIP darshan. Hindus in Tamil Nadu are forced to pay to worship god.”
The press release added,”We have learned that ₹50 is being collected as a fee for the quick Dharshan at Tiruvannamalai’s famous Arulmigu Arunachaleswarar temple. It has been reported that brokers are extorting money from devotees traveling from various locations and that HR&CE officials are complicit in these incidents.”
He further said,”In this situation, when these brokers approach HR&CE for support, HR&CE sells temple calendars, Sthalapuranam (history of the temple) books, and other items to the brokers in bulk in exchange for special permission from HR&CE officials to take their client devotees through the Vaigundam quick route. In this method, HR&CE has introduced a new method to collect money from devotees.”
He concluded by saying,”We strongly condemn the HR&CE department for charging devotees in novel ways and subjecting devotees to hardship. Hindu Munnani demands that all darshan fees are canceled immediately and that appropriate action be taken against the authorities who allow the broker system for darshan.”
Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.