Last year, ‘Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust’ which administers the Shirdi Temple declared that its yearly income was 600 crore. This was only the cash earnings; the worth of gold and silver offered at the temple has not been evaluated yet. The Ajmer Sharif Dargah’s annual income is reportedly above 200 crore. According to its annual report, Caritas India, the official development arm of the Catholic Church in India earned in excess of 100 crore in the last financial year.
The richest of all the temples in India, the Padmanabhaswamy temple, is estimated to have treasures of around 130000 crores. Yes, you read that right! The second, Lord Venkateswara temple at Tirupati, is visited by approximately 60,000 visitors daily who donate around 650 crore to the temple in an year. The gold on the deity itself weighs 1,000 kg. Similarly, the Siddhivinayak temple’s dome over the Ganesha idol is coated in 3.7 kilos of gold. On an average, the annual income of the temple is 48 crore.
The income of religious organizations has boomed due to increasing commercialization of religions. Take the popular Ganesh festival as a case. Started by Bal Gangadhar Tilak in 1893 as a festival to knit communities together and mobilize Indians for the freedom struggle, it has today become an exercise in displaying wealth and competitive spending power. The most famous and popular Ganesh festival at Lalbagh, located in what was once one of the poorest localities in Mumbai, has become one of the richest Ganesh mandals with devotees coming from all over. However, people living in nearby chawls continue to remain poor.
In a strange reversal of developments from the West, where religious institutions have seen a decline in income while people have become wealthier, in India, the Gods have become far richer and at a very brisker pace as compared to general public. As times become uncertain and pressures in life cause unbearable stress, more and more Indians are turning to religion for solace. Religious organizations of all faiths are seeing an increasing numbers of devotees. They contribute increasing amounts of money to their Gods in order to placate them. Going by visible evidence of the crowds at such places, a large share of the money comes from lower income groups. These are, in all probability, people going through rough times who hope that a donation to a religious entity will change their circumstance.
However, with all this money going around, has anybody ever read about or seen any substantial contribution made by these institutions towards social welfare, lest some token initiatives or self-promotion. The spend-to-income ratio of our much-revered religious institutions is dismally low in most cases. Isn’t their contribution disproportionate with regards to the influence they have over people? Why should they not be treated like any other profit-making body and be made legally bound to spend a certain amount of their earnings on social schemes? Does it not mean that our expectations from corporate entities are also unfair, if we don’t demand a similar contribution by our religious entities?
Instead of using the donated riches for further ornamenting deities who already have their own superabundance, if religious institutions use the money to support philanthropic initiatives which will improve the lives of ordinary humans, they might garner more blessings for themselves and their devotees.
Let us bring in another angle here. It is alleged that every year the Indian government spends close to 300 crores on more than 100,000 Hajjis. Special flights are run on the national carrier, Air India; air-conditioned Haj houses have been built across the country; and pilgrims are provided free food and lodging during the course of their trip. Even Islamic countries do not give subsidies for Haj. The situation with regards to Hinduism is even murkier. Rarely are questions raised regarding government subsidies to Hindu and Sikh pilgrimages, in temple upkeep, in paying for the salaries of Hindu priests, and for events such as Maha/Ardha Kumbhs, where organizing one such event alone can cost the exchequer around 200-250 crores easily.
The question of whether a secular state should be finance religious activities is part of an extensive debate as to how exactly to define ‘secularism’ in the Indian context. Religion is a touchy subject in India, and the interface of government and religion even more so.
The fault is not limited to government’s rich splurge or institutions making tons of money in the name of religion. Only a fraction of the religious spends of an average middle-class Indian family goes directly through formal channels like temples. There are many other ways, especially in Hinduism, in which you are coerced to spend money to show your commitment towards God. Organizing Poojas, Mangal Path, Rudra Abhishek, Greh Pravesh, Graha Shanti, etc are a few among thousands of such ceremonies, starting from birth till you have gone. There are millions of people from pundits, astrologers, palmists, florists, to gem stone dealers, who are part of a massive and magnificent industry. The sheer size, reach and authority of this industry is staggering.
Making money is not bad at all; everybody in this business of religion is not a cheat. They are people earning livelihoods by catering to people’s beliefs. After all they help give people what they want, happiness and hope. The problem only comes when they over-power the wits of gullible individuals, forcing them in choosing to spend on religion over other necessities. It is when you abuse the faith of the people that it gets dirty.
At the end, everything boils down to the people; as always. It is understandable if you spend on something you trust on, but there has to be a pragmatic limit set. However, most of the people spend money on God, only to derive some sort of benefits or heavenly favours. They are happy to bribe the heavens, but I think that is the only place where bribes don’t work. Others do it for show-off, hearsay, desperation or fear. I think their rich God will only have pity for such poor people!
The Window Seat 