Temples Should Be Handed Over To Devotees, Says Sadhguru

New Delhi: Spiritual leader Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev on Saturday expressed concern over the alarming state of decline of thousands of shrines in Tamil Nadu and said temples were being run as “some kind of business” in India.

Speaking at India Today Conclave South 2021, Sadhguru, founder of the Isha Foundation, said temples are not just places of prayer in India, it is a powerhouse. He also said the Tamil Nadu government should free temples from its control and hand them over to devotees, India Today.in reported.

“We are documenting about 1,000 temples in Tamil Nadu. Tremendous works of art and architecture has been destroyed and vandalised, used to construct other buildings. The UNESCO has said that Tamil Nadu temples are in a state of decay,” he was quoted as saying. “87 per cent of Tamil Nadu population belongs to the Hindu community. Out of the 87%, you can’t find 25 people and form a board responsible enough and competent enough to manage this,” he questioned.

Quoting the Government Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department’s submission to the Madras High Court last year, Sadhguru was quoted as saying, “11,999 temples did not see a single pooja taking place. 34,000 temples are struggli ng with (revenue of) less than Rs 10,000 a year and 37,000 temples have (appointed) just one person for pooja, maintenance, security etc.”

Sadhguru further said that despite owning over half-a-million acres of land under temples and 2.33 crore sq ft of buildings, the revenue generated was only Rs 128 crore per crore. “Out of this, 14% goes for auditing and management, while 1-2% goes for pooja and festivals,” he said.