New Delhi: Did you know that India’s temples own gold worth 2 trillion dollars? Or, temples and pilgrimage sites provide employment to 35 crore people? Such bits of information were shared by a senior functionary of the Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti at the launch of the ‘Know Your Temples’ initiative Tuesday.
Citing an old report of the World Gold Council from 2015, Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti general secretary Swami Jitendranand Saraswati said India’s temples hold 22,000 tonnes of gold which is worth as much as 1 trillion dollars.
He added that now that gold prices are almost double since the report came out, it would contribute 2 trillion dollars and, thereby, could help realise the dream of a 5 trillion dollar economy.
Saraswati also said that the government provides employment to 3.5 crore people through government jobs, while temples and pilgrimage sites give employment to 35 crore people.
“I have data that during a certain year, 3.5 crore tourists went to Goa, while 10 crore went to bow down their heads in the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. When they (pilgrims) go to Kashi, they also provide employment opportunities to several locals. They buy Benarasi sarees which give employment to Muslim weavers also. In a way, one temple runs the economy of a whole city,” the Samiti general secretary said.
While it aims to provide information on all Hindu temples situated in India and access the world, the Know Your Temples (Jaane Apne Mandir) project is starting with documenting some of Haryana’s shrines like Kalayat’s Kapil Muni temple, Chameli Van Hanuman temple in Hodal and Nuh’s Pandav Van temple.
An app and the theme song of the Vishva Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) initiative — spearheaded by Sanjay Mishra, a former journalist and OSD to former Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb — were also launched at an event in New Delhi.
At the event, Deb, who also holds the position of in-charge of Haryana BJP, said for the longest time, under the effect of the Communist ideology, there were constant attacks on Sanatan Dharma.
“The Mughal invaders broke our temples, but couldn’t demolish our culture and religion. Those who used to say religion is opium like the Communists, are going to the temples now,” he said.
“History is a witness that in every state, battles were fought to protect the Sanatan Dharma — whether it was Maharana Pratap, Ranjit Singh or Shivaji Maharaj. The five markers of Sikh identity were worn to protect the Sanatan Dharma.”
VHP general secretary Milind Parande reiterated the Parishad’s long standing demand of freeing Hindu temples from the control of government.
“Hindus donate hundreds of crores in temples. It should be our right to know whether this money is being spent for the welfare of Hindus, or on something else. It is good to remember our history but if we do not learn from it, our geography will change,” he asserted.
“More than 30,000 temples were destroyed in a period of 100 years. We need to introspect why this situation arose, and pay attention to building a society where not even one temple can be destroyed,” Parande added.
In April, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had said that his government was not in favour of having control over the functioning of the temples. The auction of temple land will be done by priests and not by collectors, he said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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