Stealing from the gods
It is a very simple question. If we are god fearing then why do temple jewels and hundis get stolen?
Does the devotion stop short at the treasure?
Just as there are a number of devotees donating unlimited amount of jewels and land to temples, there is also an equal number of instances of thefts in the temples. In majority of cases, it is the temple authorities, priests and people connected to the temple, who are involved in the heist.
Take for instance the Melkote Cheluvanarayanaswamy. He is one of the richest gods in Karnataka.
Constructed around 1000 years ago, the temple devoted to him has benefitted from the patronage of several kings.
In the early 12th century, Ramanujacharya of Srivaishnava sect arrived at Melkote from Tamil Nadu and stayed there for the next 14 years. It became a major pilgrimage centre for all Srivaishnavaites.
Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana became a follower of Ramanujacharya and donated lands and abundant jewellery to Cheluvanarayanaswamy.
Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagara kingdom too gave enormous donations to this temple. One such gift is a golden crown studded with gems named Krishna Mudi after him. It is also called Vaira mudi (diamond crown).
Like other temples of south India, this temple also was badly affected by the Muslim invasion during the 14th century.
They sacked the town and the temple and took away most of the treasures.
In a strange incident, the main idol itself was stolen in the 15th century. The legend says it was recovered by Ramanujacharya from the river.
But the temple regained its glory eventually. In the 16th century, Raja Wadiyar of Mysore dynasty donated extensive gifts to the deity and one of them was the gem studded gold crown.
It is called Raja Mudi. In 1785, even Tipu Sultan donated elephants to the temple.
Now, for centuries the three crowns are kept in safe custody and taken out only during special occasions. The Melkote Vaira mudi festival has gained global popularity among Vaishnavaites.
Strangely a legend with regard to the Vaira mudi is also about theft. It is said that when Vishnu was asleep on his snake bed in the ocean of milk, (those uninitiated please read some Hindu puranas) a demon kind Virochana stole his Vaira mudi.
Garuda, the eagle deity and a vehicle of Vishnu, was asked to go bring back the crown.
Garuda promptly went to the nether world, fought and defeated Virichana and brought back the crown. However while transporting it a blue gem fell off from the crown at a place called Nachiar Koil in Thanjavur and became a blue stream called Manimuttaru.
Garuda on his way saw little Krishna playing with friends in the hot sun in Brindavan and spread his wings wide to create a shadow for him and also placed the crown on his head. Eventually Krishna gave the crown to Cheluvanarayanaswamy.
Now, why would the devotees steal it from the god? The conch, chakra, gadangi and hastha along with some other ornaments of Cheluvanarayana were stolen and a case was registered in 2012.
Government evaluator Vedamurthachar was appointed to inquire into it and he reported that 31 out of the 41 documented ornaments were missing!
And five of the ornaments were found to be fake!
All the priests were served notices. But nothing happened.
Further, a huge necklace that adorns the deity during Vaira mudi utsava went missing! The Muzrai department also went silent! And the latest scam to be unearthed is that the golden Vajrangi (diamond studded gold jacket for the deity) is made of silver and is only plated with gold.
Murali Jagannath, a devotee, had donated 1500 grams of gold for making the Vajrangi. It was later found that only 400 grams are required to make the said ornament. There is no account for the rest of the gold.
A case was registered against the priest and a he was suspended. But nothing happened after that.
All of a sudden on August 13, some jewellery pieces were found in the hundi. It still remain a mystery who put them there. That reminds me of an incident about the theft of a big emerald necklace from Chamundeshwari temple in Mysuru.
Legend says the priest who stole it and sold it to a rich businessman, lost everything, all his family members died, he became mad and committed suicide.
The businessman who bought it suddenly incurred losses and sold the necklace to another rich man. He too lost his fortunes and on enquiry found out that the emerald necklace belonged to Chamundi. He decided to return it to the goddess and promptly did so.
Now, the moral of the story is not to steal from the gods and not to donate anything to the gods as well.
Just go to the temple, pray, kneel, prostrate and come back with a good feeling.
A small thing you donate today can make a holy priest a thief sometime in future.
At least tempt him. Prevention is better than cure.
Does the devotion stop short at the treasure?
Just as there are a number of devotees donating unlimited amount of jewels and land to temples, there is also an equal number of instances of thefts in the temples. In majority of cases, it is the temple authorities, priests and people connected to the temple, who are involved in the heist.
With fundamentalists fighting over issues of women’s dress, night-outs, sex etc, any god-fearing fundamentalist should analyse why there are criminals in the places of worship rather than spending time and energy in futile moral policing.
Take for instance the Melkote Cheluvanarayanaswamy. He is one of the richest gods in Karnataka.
Constructed around 1000 years ago, the temple devoted to him has benefitted from the patronage of several kings.
In the early 12th century, Ramanujacharya of Srivaishnava sect arrived at Melkote from Tamil Nadu and stayed there for the next 14 years. It became a major pilgrimage centre for all Srivaishnavaites.
Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana became a follower of Ramanujacharya and donated lands and abundant jewellery to Cheluvanarayanaswamy.
Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagara kingdom too gave enormous donations to this temple. One such gift is a golden crown studded with gems named Krishna Mudi after him. It is also called Vaira mudi (diamond crown).
Like other temples of south India, this temple also was badly affected by the Muslim invasion during the 14th century.
They sacked the town and the temple and took away most of the treasures.
In a strange incident, the main idol itself was stolen in the 15th century. The legend says it was recovered by Ramanujacharya from the river.
But the temple regained its glory eventually. In the 16th century, Raja Wadiyar of Mysore dynasty donated extensive gifts to the deity and one of them was the gem studded gold crown.
It is called Raja Mudi. In 1785, even Tipu Sultan donated elephants to the temple.
Now, for centuries the three crowns are kept in safe custody and taken out only during special occasions. The Melkote Vaira mudi festival has gained global popularity among Vaishnavaites.
Strangely a legend with regard to the Vaira mudi is also about theft. It is said that when Vishnu was asleep on his snake bed in the ocean of milk, (those uninitiated please read some Hindu puranas) a demon kind Virochana stole his Vaira mudi.
Garuda, the eagle deity and a vehicle of Vishnu, was asked to go bring back the crown.
Garuda promptly went to the nether world, fought and defeated Virichana and brought back the crown. However while transporting it a blue gem fell off from the crown at a place called Nachiar Koil in Thanjavur and became a blue stream called Manimuttaru.
Garuda on his way saw little Krishna playing with friends in the hot sun in Brindavan and spread his wings wide to create a shadow for him and also placed the crown on his head. Eventually Krishna gave the crown to Cheluvanarayanaswamy.
Now, why would the devotees steal it from the god? The conch, chakra, gadangi and hastha along with some other ornaments of Cheluvanarayana were stolen and a case was registered in 2012.
Government evaluator Vedamurthachar was appointed to inquire into it and he reported that 31 out of the 41 documented ornaments were missing!
And five of the ornaments were found to be fake!
All the priests were served notices. But nothing happened.
Further, a huge necklace that adorns the deity during Vaira mudi utsava went missing! The Muzrai department also went silent! And the latest scam to be unearthed is that the golden Vajrangi (diamond studded gold jacket for the deity) is made of silver and is only plated with gold.
Murali Jagannath, a devotee, had donated 1500 grams of gold for making the Vajrangi. It was later found that only 400 grams are required to make the said ornament. There is no account for the rest of the gold.
A case was registered against the priest and a he was suspended. But nothing happened after that.
All of a sudden on August 13, some jewellery pieces were found in the hundi. It still remain a mystery who put them there. That reminds me of an incident about the theft of a big emerald necklace from Chamundeshwari temple in Mysuru.
Legend says the priest who stole it and sold it to a rich businessman, lost everything, all his family members died, he became mad and committed suicide.
The businessman who bought it suddenly incurred losses and sold the necklace to another rich man. He too lost his fortunes and on enquiry found out that the emerald necklace belonged to Chamundi. He decided to return it to the goddess and promptly did so.
Now, the moral of the story is not to steal from the gods and not to donate anything to the gods as well.
Just go to the temple, pray, kneel, prostrate and come back with a good feeling.
A small thing you donate today can make a holy priest a thief sometime in future.
At least tempt him. Prevention is better than cure.
