The incident in which Mother Teresa’s image was printed on packets to distribute sacred ash from the world-famous Tiruvannamalaiyar temple has caused quite a stir among devotees.
Every day, thousands of devotees flock to Tiruvannamalai’s famous Annamalaiyar temple. Given that the week was jam-packed with holidays, devotees from all over the state turned to the temple for darshan.
Mathew Garments, a well-known clothing manufacturing company, donated ‘Vibuthi’ (sacred ash) packets to the temple.
However, the packets were printed with an image of Mother Teresa on one side and Mathew Garments on the other, which sparked an outrage. According to reports, the donations were made directly to the temple Archakas without the knowledge of temple management.
After learning of the incident, Hindu Munnani leaders arrived at the Tiruvannamalai temple in large numbers and demanded that the temple’s Joint Commissioner Kumaresan take strict action against those responsible.
Claiming that it was a conversion attempt, Hindu Munnani staged a protest in front of the temple, demanding appropriate and immediate action.
Kumaresan, the temple’s Joint Commissioner (JC), who investigated the matter, has now ordered the suspension of two priests, Somanatha and Muthukumaraswamy, for six months. He also stated that during the suspension period, neither Archakas are permitted to enter the temple or perform any poojas or rituals to the deity.
In a statement released on May 2nd, JC Kumaresan said, “On May 1st, two Archakas in the Arulmigu Arunachaleshwarar temple in Tiruvannamalai, Somanatha Gurukkal and Muthukumaraswamy Gurukkal, have brought disrepute to the temple administration by distributing the controversial Vibhuti Kunguma prasada cover without any order from the court or higher officials of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department. Disciplinary action has been taken against two Archakas, who have been suspended from work for six months and are not permitted to perform any pujas.”
(With inputs from Vikatan)
Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.