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Temple trusts/ boards

Gender and temples

The Times of India, Jan 31 2016

DEVDUTT PATTANAIK

Gender bias in temples as old as the walls around them  Why were temples built in India? They did not always exist. Before temples, people worshipped rocks and rivers and stars: Kumbh Mela is a classic example of Hindu ritual that does not involve any artificial structure. If one goes to the temples of Kamakhya in Assam or Vaishnodevi in Jammu, we realize that what is assumed to be a `temple' is essentially a structure built around very simple natural rock formations. The structure then is the boundary that defines and delimits the sacred space around something very organic and natural. This creation of boundaries is the essence of patriarchy , for with boundaries come divisions and hierarchies, that prop up the privileged. The physical boundaries express psychological boundaries that emerged long ago, before the structures, before gods and goddesses, in the earliest phases of civilization, when humanity emerged out of the animal kingdom and sought meaning. Every village of India is associated with grama-devis and grama-devas, often classified as fertility goddesses and guardian gods. The female divine provides, and the male divine protects. For the female divine, the male minion is just a seed provider. Nothing more. The male divine protects the female divine. Sometimes he is also the seed provider.At other times, he is celibate like Hanuman, Bhairo baba and Aiyanar. Through celibacy these guardian gods express their re spect for the Goddess, their mother. Celibacy , hence semen retention, also makes them powerful.

This notion of celibacy giving supernatural power gave rise to monastic orders. Monks sought to control the natural forces: the ability to walk on water or fly through air, the ability to change shape, be immortal. They also sought control over the mind: freedom from suffering, from fear.These accomplished ascetics (siddhas) shunned all things sensual like the female temptresses (yoginis) who wandered in groups as matrikas and mahavidyas.

Buddha created the earliest organized, institutionalized, monastic order in India. In his monasteries (viharas) women were not permitted. When they were, finally, they were forced to follow more rules than men, as they had not only to control their own desires, they also had to ensure they did not `tempt' men. These viharas were built around chaityas which housed the stupa that contained a relic of the Buddha. These were the first grand structures of India, carved into rocks. Before that shrines (devalaya) of fertility goddesses and guardian gods existed only under trees, beside rivers and inside caves, unrestrained by artificial walls and roofs.

Temples of stone were built to counter Buddhist thought by highlighting the joys of household life.Temple walls and temple customs expressed song and dance and food and pleasure. The enshrined deities got married in grand ceremonies (as in Brahmotsavam in Tirupati). They were taken care of by priests and temple dancers. These complexes were a far cry from the serenity and silence of the vihara.They celebrated power and pleasure and beauty on a grand scale. But like Buddhist monasteries, these temples were controlled by men, the Brahmins.When the devadasis became too powerful, they were kicked out by being declared `prostitutes', with a being declared `prostitutes', with a little help from the British.

Ironically today , temples -that embodiment of household life are controlled by Hindu monks (mahants). Celibacy is seen as the hallmark of religiosity and purity , and embodied as celibate, women shunning deities such as Shani and Ayyappa. In ashrams of mod ern-day gurus, male sanyasis are called `swami' or master, while female sanyasis are called `maa' or mother, thus endorsing traditional roles of man as protector and pro prietor and woman as procreator and provider.

Is celibacy a sign of respect for women, or just a clever form of misogyny? Why do the guardian gods, gurus, monks and male devotees shun the feminine? Is it to retain their semen, hence gain supernatural powers, a common belief in tantrik texts? Or is it because they want to purify themselves, and so stay away from pollut ants, such as menstruating women? These are popular ideas (traditional beliefs? superstitions?) that most activists do not want to engage with, for it will open a huge can of worms.

We prefer the sterility of neo-Vedanta popular ized by male-dominated monastic Hindu `mis sions' in the early 20th century, where God has no gender, or sexuality, hence looks upon men and women equally . Women breaking into men only temples may be dramatic, like storming of the Bastille, but it does not challenge the patriar chal psychology that makes `celibacy' purifying, and `sexuality' polluting.

Maharashtra

The Times of India, Jan 31 2016

Some Maharashtra shrines where protests are on to life the ban on entry of women; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, Jan 31 2016

RadheshyamJadhav

Progressive Maharashtra is dotted with temples and dargahs that keep women out

Knocking at Shani's door? There are many more temples that are shut

There is a long history to the agitation led by Trupti Desai who heads the BhumataRanragini Brigade (BRB) that is demanding an end to the ban on entry of female devotees into Shani Shin gnapur temple in Maharashtra. The first major movement goes back to the 1930s when Dr BabasahebAmbedkar launched a movement seeking temple entry for dalit men and women to the Kalaram temple in Nashik. But even now women don't have unfettered entry to Nashik's Trimbakeshwar temple. “Lots of social reform movements have taken root in Maharashtra since the 1930s and dalits are now allowed to enter any temple. But this is not the case with women,“ says advocate Varsha Deshpande of Dalit MahilaVikas Man dal. In December last year, Deshpande led a group of women to the Shanaish war temple at Solashi in Koregaon ta luka of Satara district. The Shanaish war Devasthan Trust priests immediately “purified“ the temple using `go mutra' (cow urine), which angered women activists. They have filed a complaint against the trust for violating the constitutional rights of citizens. Desphande and other women are , agitating to gain entry into other temples including Ghatai Devi and Sola Shivling in Satara. “These temple trusts have been registered under Trust Act or Society Act which operate as per the Constitution. Religious traditions and fanaticism cannot supersede the Con stitution,“ she says. On the outskirts of Satara is the Abapuri temple of Kartikeya where women are not allowed within a kilometre of the shrine. “There are hundreds of temples, especially those dedicated to Hanuman and Kartikeya, where women are banned. The Maharashtra AndhashraddhaNirmoolanSamiti (MANS) led by Dr Narendra Dabholkar had filed a PIL in 2000 in Bombay High Court seeking permission for women to enter temples where they were forbidden. The Court, despite a prolonged hearing, has not delivered a judgement,“ says MANS head AvinashPatil.Dabholkar championed the cause along with another rationalist, Govind Pansare -both were killed within two years of each other. Says Pansare's daughter-in-law Megha: “We have fought long against the trust of the Ma halaxmi temple in Kolhapur where women were not allowed into the sanctum sanctorum. Finally in 2011, the trust relented. Once women started entering the sanctum, no one objected,“ she says, adding that politicians should support these agitations. But Pansare may be asking for too much. This is state rural development minister PankajaMunde's recent comment on the issue: “These are traditions and cannot be considered insulting to women. The outrage over the woman entering the Shani temple is a non-issue.“ Interestingly, Pankaja herself had broken a taboo by performing the last rites of her father and BJP stalwart GopinathMunde. But then the WaibatwadiMaruti temple establishment in her hometown of Beed is determined not to allow women. Even in an otherwise liberal city like Pune, women are not allowed into the Kartikeya temple on Parvati hill. Just 52 km from Pune, the Mhaskoba temple in Veer village (Purandar) allows women to enter temple premises only during the nine days of Navaratri and another 10 days during the annual yatra. The Muslim community too is debating a similar issue. The Bharatiya Mus limMahilaAndolan (BMMA) has launched an agitation in Mumbai seeking entry into the Haji Ali dargah for women. The gender ban was imposed by the dargah trustees in 2011. “There are many more dargahs -like the one in Shivapur (Pune) --where women are not allowed. We feel that (religious) rights -to perform namaz in a mosque and enter a kabristan -should be given to women,“ says ShamsuddinTamboli, head of the Muslim Satyashodhak Mandal founded by the late reformer Hamid Dalwai.

Moulana Anwar Sohail, attached to a leading Pune mosque, maintains that Islam frowns on strangers of both sexes meeting in crowded places. “They maystart talking and men may look at the women with bad intentions, a sin in Islam. Islam has restricted women from visiting dargahs and kabristans to deter men from committing a sin. They can offer prayers outside the dargah, but not at the mazar (the tomb),“ he says. Hindu traditionalists too rationalize the curbs on women. Says Anita Shete, who was recently elected the first woman on the Shani Shingnapur temple trust: “I believe in tradition and will ensure that it remains intact“. Ask her to explain the “tradition“ she is defending and she wordlessly looks at the male trustees around her.

Shirdi gives away more than Siddhivinayak

Nitin Yeshwantrao timesofindia 2013/05/13

timesofindia

The more generously devotees give, the more they receive too, it seems. The Shirdi Saibaba temple grossed Rs 1,009 crore in cash collections from grateful devotees in the past four years while the Siddhivinayak temple earned Rs 206 crore. The two religious trusts — the richest in Maharashtra — spent 50% and 13% of their earnings, respectively, on charity in the same period, shows a document tabled in the state assembly by the state law and judiciary department.

For perspective, in 2011 alone, the Tirupati Devasthanam in Andhra Pradesh earned Rs 1,100 crore in donations from devotees, in addition to interest earned from fixed deposits in banks. The Vaishnodevi shrine reported an annual income of nearly Rs 500 crore in the same period.

The Shirdi shrine, administered by the Shri Sai Baba Sansthan Trust, spent Rs 540.49 crore of its cash collection on charity while the Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai spent Rs 27.02 crore.

At the Shirdi temple, cash received from devotees rose from Rs 196.7 crore in 2009-10 to Rs 298.4 crore in the eight month period from April to November 2012, a 51% increase. The average annual income of the Shirdi trust for the period worked out to Rs 252-plus crore while the average financial assistance provided by it was Rs 135 crore, a politician familiar with the trust said.

The audit statements of the Sansthan at the end of 2012 showed that close to Rs 150 crore of its money was deposited in nationalized banks, in addition to Rs 50 crore worth of jewellery received from devotees, he said.

Officials said the Siddhivinayak shrine’s average annual cash collection was around Rs 51.5 crore while it spent an average of Rs 6.8 crore every year from 2009 to 2012 on charity. The bulk of its funds are in bank deposits.

The temple trusts say they would spend more on charity but for the many restrictions on imposed on charity spending by the Maharashtra government.

Temple trusts also seat of politics

As much as temple trusts have to do with religious activities and charity, politicians have long jostled for their control, given the generous funds they have and their clout and goodwill. The trustees, who are political appointees, have an important say in how the funds are spent. For instance, the Congres and the NCP have been vying for control of the Shri Sai Baba Sansthan Trust which runs the Shirdi Saibaba temple.

NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad says the Shirdi shrine’s funds should be used for the welfare of the devotees. “Ideally, the Sansthan should give 85% of its collection to the chief minister’s relief fund. The remaining 15% of the funds should be retained with the trust for dayto-day upkeep and administrative work. A small portion from this amount should be used to build shelters for devotees who trek hundreds of miles to reach Shirdi.’’

He added the Sansthan should spend more upgrading the road leading to Shirdi, rather than on fancy projects like building airports.

Trimbakeshwar

The Times of India, April 3, 2016

The Trimbakeshwar Temple authorities here today imposed a restriction on men's entry too into the sanctum sanctorum of the Lord Shiva shrine with an aim to provide "equal treatment" to both the genders, a trustee said.

The decision, which takes effect from tomorrow, comes in the wake of the Bombay High Court verdict giving women equal right to men with regard to entry into temples.

It was decided this morning after a board meeting of the Trimbakeshwar Devasthan Trust under Chairperson and District Judge Urmila Phalke Joshi, Lalita Shinde, one of the trustees told .

The meeting was attended by Secretary N M Nagare as well as Trust members Kailas Ghule, Yadavrao Tungar, Shrikant Gaidhani, and Sachindra Pachorkar.

"The decision was taken to ensure equal treatment to both men and women," Shinde said.

The development comes a day after Bhumata Ranragini Brigade Trupti Desai and 25 other women activists were taken into preventive custody to stop them from entering into the inner sanctum of the famous Shani temple in Ahmednagar's Shignapur village. They were later released.

The ancient temple, located 30 kms from Nashik, is a major Lord Shiva shrine of the country, which has one of the 12 'jyotirlingas', drawing devotees from far and wide.

According to Ghule, a member of the Trimbakeshwar Temple Trust, the ban on entry of women into the 'garbhagriha' is an age-old tradition and not something enforced in recent times. The ban goes back to the Peshwa period.

As per tradition, only men were allowed entry daily between 6-7 AM into the area where the main 'linga' is placed, that too by putting on a specific gear called the sovala (silk clothing).

Women, can, however have 'darshan' from outside the core area.

Some priests in the temple town said most of the women devotees might not want to defy the tradition.

Atheists can't use temple property in Tamil Nadu

B Sivakumar, TNN | Sep 12, 2013

The Times of India

A circular was sent to all temple executives advising them not to rent out properties to non-believers. The circular also banned renting out of temple property to functions in which liquor and non-vegetarian food are served.

CHENNAI: A move by the state Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department to ban 'non-believers' from using temple properties have atheists and rationalists up in arms. The circular issued by temple custodians prohibits 'non-believers' from hiring marriage halls or leasing out shops on premises owned by temples.

The provocation for the circular appears to be a farmers' wing meeting held at a marriage hall in a village in Tiruvarur district in July 2013.

The meeting, which apparently raised pro-rationalist slogans, caused a furore in the district and representations were given to the chief minister's cell and the HR&CE department against leasing or renting out temple property to atheists.

Following this, a circular was sent to all temple executives advising them not to rent out properties to non-believers. The circular also banned renting out of temple property to functions in which liquor and non-vegetarian food are served.

Justifying the circular, a senior official said, "As the property is in the name of a temple or its presiding deity, we cannot allow meetings or gatherings that criticise religion or speak against the belief in God. Such meetings can be held in any other government or private property but not on a temple property. This goes against religious ethos."

The circular specifies that the property either on the temple premises or outside it should be rented out only for religious discourses or for any other spiritual purposed only.