Surely, a nation which has 48 per cent of its children malnourished can find better uses for the treasure than to lock it up in a museum.
There is nothing but water in the holy pools. I know, I have been swimming there. All the gods sculpted of wood or ivory can't say a word. I know, I have been crying out to them.
Sant Kabir
As the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple treasure saga unravels, it takes on more interesting turns. But amazingly, in a society such as ours in which there is so much of deprivation and misery, the consensus in the debate on the treasure has veered towards it either continuing as a preserve of the temple, with the erstwhile royalty as the trustees of the wealth, or the state taking over the treasure but only to display it in public museums, as a part of our cultural heritage.
Temple astrologers have now proclaimed that the treasures should not be assessed or photographed or moved out of the temple, for, it can invite the wrath of the gods. Moreover, the unopened vault, in their view, should not be touched not because it contains riches but it is connected to the sanctum sanctorum and has the sacred presence of the deity. Already, the death of the chief petitioner in the court submission to open the temple vaults gods has been attributed to the curse of the angry gods.
The Travancore royal scion, Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma's statements so far about the treasure and the public debates surrounding it raise very important questions. According to him, the treasures “belong to nobody, certainly not to our family. They belong to god...” He believes, “We are slowly losing our Indian identity. Money has become everything.”
Important question
While the head of the royal family is absolutely right about society being engulfed by materialist values — and to that extent there is a certain ennobling detachment in the family abdicating any claim to wealth — what is curious is that the most important question, that has huge implications for still a largely poor society, remains unasked: Why is it even when there is a call to rise above the attractions of the earthly world, we seek to see the spiritual, or the otherworldly realm as a mirror image of ourselves? Why do we seek to cover our gods and deities with the costliest and the most alluring of metal while we condemn a vast majority of the followers to worship their gods with starving stomachs and tattered clothes? This paradox is at the heart of the current debate about the temple treasure.
The multifaceted and elevating religious experience, which has moved human beings to move mountains over thousands of years, has been systematically hollowed out and reduced to a materialist enterprise in which our places of worship become more magnificent and wealthy with every passing day. That is why we need to guard our temples with armed commandos and insure them for $11 billion, as Tirupati Tirumala temple did recently. As the 12th century religious and social reformer and mystic Basavanna asked: “The rich will make temples for Shiva/What shall I, a poor man, do/My legs are pillars/the body the shrine/The head a cupola of gold”.
Are there not other ways of pleasing our gods than making them wear 18-feet-long golden necklaces? Surely, the gods are not so heartless as to embellish themselves with rubies and emeralds chiselled out of the sweat and blood of the masses who paid for them through taxes for every event from the cradle to grave, including ones like the breast tax (paid for breastfeeding) as in the case of Travancore.
The urge to show our devotion through inanimate objects extends to the secular realm also with examples like that of Mayawati who has spent $569 million on statues and memorials while spending $ 224 million for medicines. Now the Gujarat government wants to build the tallest statue in the world, costing $ 300 million, to honour Sardar Patel.
What is more ludicrous in the treasure debate is some eminent historians and intellectuals' call for the treasure to be displayed for the public. While it is understandable that a representative sample of the treasure should become a part of the pedagogical experience of the people, it would be a crime against humanity to have the entire treasure preserved in museums. After all, we are not talking about the genocide museum in Cambodia where human skulls are preserved to remind us about the barbarity of Pol Pot's regime. Before we showcase our rich cultural heritage, should not all our citizens have the minimum physical and mental capacities to partake equally in the production of a vibrant culture?
For the people
When we are used to stories of royal excesses and decadence, it is exemplary that kings of one of the richest princely states in British India chose to live such Spartan and austere lives. But what they forget in the present is that in a democracy, it is not enough that they remain ‘Servants of the Lord', they have to become the ‘Servants of the People' as well. That is why the custom of the Travancore royal family, which very punctiliously rubs every speck of dust off their feet after a visit to the temple for they do not want to take anything away, including dust, which belongs to the deity, seems ironic. How graceful and just a society would be if its custodians and rulers would be equally fastidious about keeping every morsel that belongs to people, especially the poor and the downtrodden, where it should.
A nation which has 48 per cent of its children malnourished, and spends a shocking 1.1 per cent of its GDP on health, surely can find a better use for the $ 22 billion temple treasure than let it remain locked up to please the gods. For that to happen, we need to recognise what Kabir recognised a long time ago: “The musk is inside the deer, but the deer does not look for it, it wanders around looking for grass.”
Dr. Nissim Mannathukkaren is Associate Professor, International Development Studies Department, Dalhousie University. E-mail: nmannathukkaren@dal.ca
Keywords: Padmanabhaswamy temple, temple treasure
I think the talk should be about the treasure and not deride the God or the faith of human beings, some of whom are devotees. The gist of the article at the top says, ponds and pools are just waters, agreed, but other cultures too have their own favored/well attended well believed ponds and fountains. Example, throwing the coin at the fountain in Italy, Lourdes of France - believed to have curing powers. When there is a blanket statement about the sentiment of one sect, so should it apply for other sects. So called 'mentally elite' people should not just consider their point of view, but to consider the minds of people whose sentiments are of the same value as such as any other faith.
Will the author make the same plea to all the wealth stored up in Catholic church and Islamic mosques to be used for public welfare? I honestly doubt it. Christians will give aid only to those who will convert to their faith. Muslims use their wealth exclusively for Muslims. Why should Hindus give up their wealth so easily?
On first reading, the points raised by NISSIM MANNATHUKKAREN sound virtuous. But on reflection, we may come to a different conclusion. Gold and diamonds have no value to humans except in nano-levels used in electronic integrated circuits and in sensitive instruments respectively. Value is ascribed to gold the same way a piece of paper printed with special symbols and words by governments and called currency. Other than that gold and diamonds are used mostly to beautify rich women and girl-friends of dictators, to adorn the crown of the queen, and as décor on the walls of the wealthy. The ingots of gold in Fort Knox in the US serve no usefulness purpose, but for the assumption of value by the market. We assume that a landlord or a wealthy industrialist can accumulate and own wealth, be it land, cash, grains, or gold but some argue that the Lord, in whom the majority of people believe in, cannot keep His wealth. The poor do not need the gold; they need food and shelter.
If the money belongs to the people then it belongs to the people of old Travancore State & not the present day Kerala State. If it needs to be spent the it should only be spent on them!
This temple treasure is a religious, cultural and historical asset that ought not to be mortgaged and monetized because it has the accrued value of history and culture. It is not mere wealth. Should the treasures of Ancient Egpyt be mortgaged to eradicate poverty in Africa? Should the European museums mortgage and monetize the rubies and diamonds to eliminate urban poverty in London and Paris? Aren't there better ways of uplifting oppressed peoples than through the erasure of local histories? However santimonious arguments, like those contained in this article, are insensitive to the faith and practice of the believers. When faced with self-righteous, insensitive and unreasonable arguments of the sort contained in this article, sections of believers will have no option but to reinvent mythical and astrological arguments as a countermeasure in self-defence of their faith, traditions and practices. Let us be compassionate to others and their beliefs instead of running them down.
So what happens when we have spent all the $ 22 billion? Do we search for new treasures then? Or do we go and ask the Ambanis & other rich business houses? Do you think that rich industrialized nations have no poverty? When the writer says we spend 1.1 % of our GDP on health he also should realise that we spend five times that amount on defence. Surely the solution lies in spending the money in a better way than looking at the riches of this sacred temple.
The whole government machinery should first learn on how to utilize the current grants and funds for proper and appropriate purposes before looking into using (or looting) other treasures. In every year's budget, so many central and state funds revert back to Govt Treasury due to lack of tenders, project execution and mismanagement. The same argument goes for the thousands of tonnes of rotting grains as well. Let us first learn to eat the porridge in hand before making demands for 'take-away' meals from other's houses.
Who can justify the act of Maharajas that the money collected from people on various taxes kept in temple other than spend it for the welfare of the people. Do the Gods love gold and silver or the people. The money kept in temple was not of any use to anybody for centuries and it remains to be so. The wise Marthandavarma exploited the religious belief of the people by donating everything to the deity and by which he can justify the act of introducing 'karams' because the taxes are then being paid to the deity and not to Raja. However it should be appreciated that it was kept safe.
Ah! The self-righteous comments about something -- anything, that is neither yours nor under your purvey. The word temple, or any place of worship for that matter, just as the word god, has been hijacked by a bunch of holier-than-thou masqueraders. The Vatican sits on mounts of Oro (gold) that were looted from some of the greatest civilizations of the world including those of the Central Americas. Violence of the physical kind were tools back then, but now, violence of the psychological and emotional types -- invisible and un-quantifiable, are now employed, robbing much of the native civilization's self-dignity and cultural validation. Preventing an yet-again brazen looting of the 'what's not yours' should be the watch-word, as a nation re-discovers its lost ethos through treasures that survived both imperialistic and religious raids into Bharatam. May dharma be protected.
The argument of pitting a nation's (any nation's, or society's) poverty against its use of resources for causes other than mitigating their poverty just don't stand the test of time or history. From times immemorial, kingdoms, nations and societies, have spent on - opulent palaces, megasize monuments, disproportionate spending of resources on art, culture, jewelry, inspite of inequities in societies - an ugly truth that existed (will always exist) thru ages. All this spending happened both under benovolent rulers and tyrants. It may not make it right, but the fact is, it is universal, it had always been that way. For example, US Mars missions, the Chinese Olympics, the Towers in Emirates, are all expenses that have no tangible benefits to the poor yet have intrinsic value. If Vatican (all art treasures included) is sold for say $50B, and the Pope lives in a 2 BR home, will it eradicate Italy's poverty? Same way, old Temple treasures should be treasures should be left alone.
Sir, The views expressed in this learned article are totally endorsed by every right thinking person. Money is one resource that is ever usable and should be kept in circulation. Taxes are one way of ensuring this. But our country being what it is, most money is in the unorganised sector.The unused portion of such personal income has to be transferred to society in some manner. Piety and gratitude to the divinity is one such. The government should ensure that money and gifts received by places of worship and ashrams are transferred to trusts and employed in providing services for the common man. Perhaps, then, dedicated and more qualified personnel may be attracted to such organisations and there will be less disparity between treatment between the rich and the poor.
India is and has been a rich country and the malnourishment of children are on account of corruption, and inequality in the wealth and it's distribution. One does not have to sell the family jewels and artifacts of heritage value to feed the poor. Egypt has poor children and they are not selling the heritge items to feed the poor! Collecting taxes lawfully and punishing the oligarchs who stash the wealth in tax havens would eradicate the misery of poverty in India. Manegement of wastage of food items is another area the Governments were negligent in their duty if care. Would the author suggest confiscation of gold from all the women in India to remedy the problem of starving children in the country as his next suggestion?!
There is certainly money available for good causes. But there is a lack of good financial stewards: people who are running a well-managed programme, and who will not line with the donations they are receiving. The public does not trust the state and central governments these days, so we must turn to NGOs. Unfortunately, NGOs struggle with management issues. Some NGOs do not have a good programme. Some NGOs have a good program, but do not know how to convince the public to donate money. Some NGOs are mired into the binaries of left-wing versus right-wing.
Although I agree with your most of the points but at the same time I disagree about distribution of the temple's treasure in the public domain. Recently we've witnessed the movement of a layman Mr. Anna against "corruption" and I don't see the utility of that treasure in public domain. You've talked about treasure but what about the treasure which Govt spent as waiver to the loans of farmers and under the NREGA schemes? Under the PDS tonnes of grains is left to rot in the warehouses. I'm sure if these few schemes would have implemented better we won't need the God's money for the human needs.
India has 48% poor children, not due to lack of wealth. Rather, due to lack spending in the right direction. More than 50% of the government budgeted money is stolen/wasted before it reaches intended people. US $22 billion looks big. You have to remember this wealth is acquired over period of time. Assuming kerala had 30 million people(3 crore) people, $22 billion will be $700/head. If you give the all the money to people, half the guys will be getting drunk in one day/one month it will be gone in seconds. If we spend the same money as budget support all the MLA will have a new palatial bungalow within year end. A better model will be administer the money thru a trust some thing like Tirupathi -TDP. Build colleges, medical colleges, hospitals and let it run by the trust and part of the money towards long term management of these newly created institutions.
We have been told a lot of stories where God appears as a human being and helps out the poor and down trodden when they are in a state of distress. The story of Kujelan is an example. Why don't we see this as a sign from the almighty and use this enormous wealth for the upliftment of the poor.
It is a commendable article that depicts all the positive possibilities that can be looked at, in case of such a staggering treasure. But being an Indian, I think if some bureaucrats or politicians initiate the plan for spending it for public welfare, that could lead to a communal problem rather than welcoming a great philanthropic and realistic concern to the poor people. Because at the time of deciding the real beneficiaries of the money or facilities, religion would certainly come into picture and that could lead to chaotic situations..
Let the scholarly professor first understand that even we take away the gold from the temple, we can not melt it and use it. This argument is like as the cost of marble stones are high, we can dismantle the Taj and use it for construction purpose. If 48% of the children do not have enough nutrition, then we need to look at where we have gone wrong with all these five years plans and the billions and billions of money that have been spend for the last sixty five years on eradicating poverty.
Dr. Mannathukkaren should know that accounting for what is in the hidden treasures of the temple is first order of business. It has be done carefully and honestly. These ancient jewellery of the temple must be preserved for posterity in a temple museum for everyone to see. As far as feeding the 48% of the malnourished children, India is today more than a rich nation to afford it without touching the temple jewels. However, political will, honesty and sincerely are in short supply. Just look at the Anna Hazare's campaign. It seems no one can be trusted in the country to touch valuables worth billions of dollars.
Dr. Mannathukaren makes a very passionate and eloquent plea for the use of wealth for the betterment of the poor. However, it is a fact that it was already done with wealth from temples such as the Poornathrayesha temple in tripunithura (seat of the erstwhile Cochin Royalty), the Guruvayur temple (the Zamorin family), etc. So is there any evidence (other than hope) that the use of this wealth by politicians, in the name of the poor has done any good? Kerala still has the highest incidence of suicides in the country, and every family has someone working outside the state to help with the family finances. Those not having anyone outside are at the bottom of the totem pole. So though everyone has their eyes on the treasure, the evidence is that it will be used for the public good is very scant. If Dr. Mannathukaren has any method of assuring that the wealth is used for the public good rather than funding real estate in Switzerland for the public administrator, it will be helpful.
There are solutions to satisfy all parties here. While it should be accepted that the temple treasures belong to the people of the country in general and people of Kerala in particular, sentiments of the trustees should be honored. One way out is to form a 'Temple-Bank (trust)' which should be allowed to raise reserve funds (cash) based on a good estimate of gold/silver/precious stones etc., for functioning as a public bank to give loans at nominal rates (much lower than any Bank in India) to the needy for purposes like: Children education, marriages, to buy seeds/fertliser to raise crops etc. The 'Temple-Bank (trust)' can have reps from State, RBI, Federal gov., etc. to oversee all such lending activity. 'Temple-Bank (trust)' can make profits over the years by such legal lending activity at rates lower than any bank today in India. Rules can be framed as to who should get such low interest loans, how it should be made available, how it should be paid back to 'Temple-Bank (trust)' etc .
I totally disagree with the suggestion. Out of budgeted amounts allocated only fraction reached the needy rest of the disappears through graft. It will be an act of extraordinarily myopia to consider the suggestion of the author to make use of the temple treasure for public welfare in the land. The world bank studies show that in India the % funds trickling down is as follows:
1. Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana: State-run employment programme that provided food and cash for work: 43.4%
2. Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana: Subsidised loans to groups of BPL people: 32.9%
3. Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension: Monthly pension for BPL elderly: 32.8%
4. Annapurna: 10 kilos of food grains for destitutes who are not getting the old age pension: 51.9%
5. Widow pension: Monthly pension for BPL widows: 43.2%
Under these dismal circumstances we better preserve and safeguard the ancient artifacts representing our glorious heritage.
I agree with some part of the article that the treasure should be used for public welfare rather locked up in the temple. A museum will be a ideal setup as far as I know I have not seen a really good museum displaying the artistic and cultural wealth of our nation. It is a pity to say that British museum has a better display of Indian heritage and art than our own.We have to learn to protect our ancestors gift of artistic excellence, at the same time it should be able to make some income for public welfare. Further it would help us to understand our history of our tradition and culture better!
India is only poor because of red tape, bureaucracy and corruption. Adding a few more billions into the government treasury will not solve those problems - the billions will just disappear with the expenses of the Indian Government. We have lost a lot of the nation's legacy to the British when they took a lot of treasures from India to display it in their museums. This treasure should be put in museums to display the heritage, history and culture of India, for the nation to take pride in it. They cannot go to private hands by auction to the highest bidder! This is like selling your family heirlooms to buy peanuts.
the article is well sculpted but when we look back at the history it can be well understood that its better to teach the person how to fish rather than the fish itself.As a citizen of India I find people of India should be made aware and a sustainable plan to be bought in to control the population then at least after 20yrs or 40 yrs we will not be having this much mouths to feed.
I find feeding the poor and freebies just make the people totally lazy.There are many schemes in various states of India Dr.Nissin should have taken the evaluation of those schemes before putting forward this valuable article.
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