Temple of learning or temple for monkey?
By : Eshwar S
Death of a monkey inBU campus has raised demands for a temple to be built
It may have been the site that spawned eminent scientists likeC V Raman or intellectuals of great renown. But today, the Bangalore University appears to be preparing to build a temple for a monkey that died accidentally about 12 days ago, in the cause of 'Vidya-Anjaneya .' All that remains is a nod from the 'higher-ups,' who could also be bypassed, if need be.
The name Vidya Anjaneya has been conveniently coined by staffers and some students of the university, who want to revere the dead simian as lord Hanuman. They have prefixed Vidya — education — to make it acceptable to the university and in an effort to rationalise it for the non-devout. Typically, most suchtemples come up as preclude to land grabbing.
What was amazing was that professors and students stood in line to pay obeisance to the dead monkey and partook in a Shradda — the 11th day death ceremony — for it, on Tuesday. A whopping 1,500 people are said to have participated at the event in Jnanabharathi (kingdom of knowledge) campus. Bhim Rao, another BU employee, told Mirror, "There was a fight between two gangs of primates in the vast green expanse of BU a few days ago. During the fight, one of the monkeys had an accidental fall from a tree. As the grievously wounded monkey was lying on the ground, it was attacked by a pack of dogs. The scene moved us so much that a huge gathering came to pay obeisance to the deceased monkey.’’
The monkey was given an official burial. “Then, we consulted a priest who suggested that we go for the 11th day post ritual rites. As it is a custom to offer free food on the 11th day, we pooled in money and invited all the varsity staffers, students and faculty for the programme,’’ Rao said.
The students had their own excuse to join in the event. One student said, "I was told by my friends about the monkey shraddha. I was excited like many of my friends. How many times do we get a chance to do something like this for an animal? So, we turned out in large numbers and also distributed the food for those who had come."
However, the idea of constructing a monkey temple in a university has confounded some people. “Coming from a varsity that teaches us scientific rationale, is there any need to construct a temple for a monkey that had an accidental fall?’’ a student asked.
“We had heard similar stories about a place near Hosakote where a monkey had died during the widening of the National Highway 4. The villagers had gathered in large numbers and immediately built a small temple there. The road construction project got delayed due to this issue. Then ministerEss Enn Krishnaiah Setty too had visited the place to pay obeisance,’’ another student recalled, adding: ‘’There , it was the villagers who had gathered in large numbers. How rational is it to construct a temple inside the varsity campus?”
A former vice-chancellor, who declined to be named, criticised the move very strongly. “It is nice that we love animals, but planning to construct a temple for deceased monkeys inside the campus is really illogical. If these kinds of things happen inside a varsity, then we are bound to send a wrong message," he said.
The BU officials did not want to comment on the temple initiative. Some professors, who opposed the idea, kept quite as they feared that it might take a caste-turn.
Death of a monkey in
It may have been the site that spawned eminent scientists like
The name Vidya Anjaneya has been conveniently coined by staffers and some students of the university, who want to revere the dead simian as lord Hanuman. They have prefixed Vidya — education — to make it acceptable to the university and in an effort to rationalise it for the non-devout. Typically, most such
“We are demanding that the varsity higher-ups consider our demand seriously. If we get sufficient funds, we will construct the temple anytime soon. We hope they listen to us," said Anand, a BU staffer.
What was amazing was that professors and students stood in line to pay obeisance to the dead monkey and partook in a Shradda — the 11th day death ceremony — for it, on Tuesday. A whopping 1,500 people are said to have participated at the event in Jnanabharathi (kingdom of knowledge) campus. Bhim Rao, another BU employee, told Mirror, "There was a fight between two gangs of primates in the vast green expanse of BU a few days ago. During the fight, one of the monkeys had an accidental fall from a tree. As the grievously wounded monkey was lying on the ground, it was attacked by a pack of dogs. The scene moved us so much that a huge gathering came to pay obeisance to the deceased monkey.’’
The monkey was given an official burial. “Then, we consulted a priest who suggested that we go for the 11th day post ritual rites. As it is a custom to offer free food on the 11th day, we pooled in money and invited all the varsity staffers, students and faculty for the programme,’’ Rao said.
The students had their own excuse to join in the event. One student said, "I was told by my friends about the monkey shraddha. I was excited like many of my friends. How many times do we get a chance to do something like this for an animal? So, we turned out in large numbers and also distributed the food for those who had come."
However, the idea of constructing a monkey temple in a university has confounded some people. “Coming from a varsity that teaches us scientific rationale, is there any need to construct a temple for a monkey that had an accidental fall?’’ a student asked.
“We had heard similar stories about a place near Hosakote where a monkey had died during the widening of the National Highway 4. The villagers had gathered in large numbers and immediately built a small temple there. The road construction project got delayed due to this issue. Then minister
A former vice-chancellor, who declined to be named, criticised the move very strongly. “It is nice that we love animals, but planning to construct a temple for deceased monkeys inside the campus is really illogical. If these kinds of things happen inside a varsity, then we are bound to send a wrong message," he said.
The BU officials did not want to comment on the temple initiative. Some professors, who opposed the idea, kept quite as they feared that it might take a caste-turn.
