Gangtok, Sep 25 (PTI) The Shankaracharya of Jyotish Peeth, Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, on Wednesday urged the Centre and the state governments to refrain from interfering in the management and religious affairs of Hindu temples across the country.
He emphasised that Dharmacharyas should be allowed to oversee all temple activities independently.
“The governments should refrain from management and religious matters of Hindu temples like bhog, puja and utsav etc,” he told reporters here.
On the controversy surrounding adulterated ghee used to make laddoos at Tirupati Balaji temple during the former Andhra CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s tenure, the outspoken seer expressed consternation at this development.
He said: “Yeh kya ho raha hai? (What is happening ?).” In an apparent dig at the TDP-led government headed by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for trying to wrest control of the management of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) post the laddoo controversy, the Shankaracharya said that the government formed after taking the oath of secularism should not try to meddle with the management of the Hindu religious places.
“How can a government which has taken the oath of secularism appropriate management of the Hindu religious places ?… The job should be left best to the Dharmacharyas post-laddoo controversy in the Tirupati temple,” he said.
The seer, who concluded his two-day visit to Sikkim as part of his “Gaudhwaj Sthapna Bharat Yatra”, slammed the ruling dispensation at the Centre for treating cows as animals whereas the Hindu believers treat it like a “mother” and worship it.
“The cow has become an animal in India since this government came to power a decade ago,” he said without taking the name of BJP and said that such a view was contrary to the beliefs of the Hindus who treat and worship it like their mother.
The seer said that he is touring the country to spread awareness about the protection of cows, which has been integral to the culture and ethos of Hindus about which the present and future generations must be aware.
The Shankaracharya of the Jyotish Peeth Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati also wondered why Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang gave the lone Rajya Sabha seat to the BJP to contest, though his party, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha, had the majority to win the seat.
The Shankaracharya also complimented Tamang for leading his party to a landslide mandate in the recently held Sikkim assembly polls by winning 31 seats. PTI KDK SBN SBN
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