Tirumala: Attending to devotees’ telephone calls during the monthly ‘Dial Your EO’ programme last week, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Executive Officer Dharma Reddy received an unusual request.
Hussain Bhasha from Naidupeta in Andhra Pradesh requested the Tirumala temple trust to permit Muslim devotees of Sri Venkateswara Swamy like him to perform ‘Srivari (Lord Venkateswara) Seva’.
‘Srivari seva’ is the voluntary service rendered daily by about 2,500 enrolled devotees, from across the country, aiding the TTD staff in crowd management, room allotment, distribution of food in the queues, and other duties on the Tirumala hill.
The Balaji temple, one of the most popular and richest Hindu shrines in the world, receives about 70,000 pilgrims a day, with the number surpassing a lakh on certain auspicious days and over holidays-weekends.
The Srivari sevaks (attendants) operate with the motto “Manava seva ye, Madhava seva (service to humanity is service to divinity)”. The trust provides these sevaks, who stay for a week, with food and accommodation at the two huge Seva Sadans near the temple.
The EO, while expressing delight over non-Hindus wanting to take part in Srivari seva, replied to Hussain that he will look into his query.
Reddy mentioned in the call that many devotees belonging to other faiths made donations and offerings to Sri Venkateswara.
Hussain’s request came a day before the start of the three-day ‘Dharmika Sadas’, held by the TTD — a state-government-controlled body, currently under the Jagan Mohan Reddy administration — “as part of its efforts to propagate Hindu faith”.
The Muslim man’s appeal cropped up during this sadas, or meeting, of the countrywide peetadhipatis, muttadhipatis (heads of Hindu religious institutions) and seers presided over by TTD board chairman Bhumana Karunakar Reddy, a legislator of the YSR Congress Party who represents Tirupati.
Some of the seers who spoke at the conclave expressed caution, and said the request needs to be “thoroughly examined”. Even so, they said it was a “righteous development”, adding that all Indians are Hindus or of Hindu origin, “converted (to Islam, Christianity etc) over the centuries for different reasons”.
“Hinduism has been the dharma (religion/way of life) here in Bharat since ages immemorial. Some changes, conversions took place with the advent of foreign faiths,” Sri Siva Swami of Sri Shaiva Kshetram, on the bank of the river Krishna, near Amaravati, told ThePrint, reiterating the views he expressed at the conclave.
“If our brothers, sisters want to reaccept the Sanatana Dharma, or begin by being involved in practices like seva, they are most welcome. But there should be proper initiation, training as any act — knowingly, unknowingly — seen as disrespectful towards our customs, faith would hurt sentiments and could create needless discord,” he added.
Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) national secretary Yakkali Raghavulu, also present at the conclave, echoed the views.
“What could be objectionable if people currently in other faiths are desirous of returning to the original dharma?” he said. “But will they change their customs, show shraddha, bhakti and profess total faith in Lord Venkateswara?” he added.
The tepid response from the seers has apparently put the TTD on its guard, and officials have been circumspect in their statements on the matter.
“The request came from someone who is Muslim by birth but has resolved to practise Hindu dharma,” Bhumana told reporters after the conclusion of the three-day sadas Monday. “It is worth mentioning here that the Ashtadala paada padmarchana, a deifying recital on Tuesdays in the temple, is carried out with the 108 golden flowers gifted to Lord Balaji by a Muslim man.”
“There is no need for any controversy, when our EO said we will examine the request. We will only accept those who will follow Hindu tradition as Srivari sevakulu (attendants),” said Bhumana.
The TTD allows darshan of Lord Venkateswara in the hallowed sanctum to people of other religions after taking their declaration of faith in the deity.
“No one from other faiths made such a request to us earlier. So far, we have been allowing only Hindus for this seva,” Dharma Reddy told ThePrint, adding that the Muslim devotee’s plea needs thorough deliberation and has to be put before the TTD board of trustees for approval.
C.S. Rangarajan, chief priest of the famous “Visa” Balaji temple near Hyderabad, who also participated in the sadas, told ThePrint that “Sheik Chinna Moulana earned a legendary status with his nadaswaram (Carnatic temple music tradition)”.
“For that matter, what is the faith of the temple elephant dedicated in the Lord’s service? Instead of outright rejection, we should examine the sincerity of the individual willing to do Srivari seva.”
Also Read: ‘Strengthening Sanatana Dharma’ — 3-day national level Hindu dharma conclave begins at Tirupati
TTD announces system for ‘ghar-wapsi’
The Dharmika Sadas deliberated on factors that could be alienating some people from the Hindu faith, as well as traditions and steps that could be taken to retain them, guided by the concept of inclusivity.
Several speakers mentioned “ghar-wapsi” — a term employed by some sections to describe the reconversion of people believed to have converted from Hinduism earlier — and the approach to be taken to welcome people “willing to come back into Hinduism”.
“Dharma rakshaks (religion protectors) should be properly trained for man-parivartan (change of heart). We should rise above caste consciousness, and the concept of ‘we are all one family’ should spread for our society to change,” said Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of the Art of Living, one of the speakers at the conclave, who was in attendance virtually. “A bhakti wave should be created everywhere for the people who left our religious path to come back,” he added.
Even as the three-day deliberations were on, TTD chairman Bhumana announced that “as part of its chief mission to protect and propagate Hindu Sanatana Dharma, the TTD will establish a system for proper initiation of persons of other religious faiths wanting to accept Hinduism”.
As part of the process, the TTD will provide a platform at Tirumala where the voluntary conversions, reconversions could take place.
“Hindu Sanatana Dharma is the oldest religious faith in the world that guides humans in a righteous path and frees them from the cycle of birth and death,” he said.
“We welcome people of other religious faiths voluntarily coming forward to practise the Hindu way of life.”
Such people, he said, “will be trained in rituals like poojas, traditions and practices in Hindu Sanatana Dharma”.
“The programme will be initiated and institutionalised at the Venkateswara temple in Tirumala,” the TTD chairman said as the pontiffs at the Dharmika Sadas applauded the move.
The initiation into Hinduism, according to a resolution moved at the religious conclave, would include a ceremony involving the sprinkling of sacred water.
The conference also resolved to end the discriminatory approach towards certain castes, which “has led to religious conversions especially in rural, tribal areas”.
Another resolution was that Hindu religious activities in “Harijan and Girijan wadas (localities within a village/town) should be widespread to avoid conversions”.
Participants of the conference called for the “importance of Hindu dharma to be emphasised in the school curricula”, and sought to underline the need to use social media to “widen the reach of Sanatana Dharma”.
Go-samrakshana (cow protection), preservation of Veda dharma and Vedic sciences, revival of dilapidated temples, and construction of new ones in Dalit, tribal and fishermen villages were some of the other steps urged at the conference.
“Resolutions taken in the Dharmika Sadas should be implemented not only by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams but by all the Hindu religious and charitable institutions present across the globe towards the preservation of Hindu dharma,” Bhumana told reporters Monday.
Not for political, electoral gains: Bhumana
The Andhra Pradesh BJP is asking the TTD administration to walk the talk.
“Such dharmic conferences, resolutions made should not serve as statements for political gains in an election year,” Bhanuprakash Reddy, AP BJP spokesperson and a former member of the TTD board, told ThePrint, referring to the Andhra Pradesh assembly polls to be held this summer along with the Lok Sabha elections.
Reddy described the conclave as “an attempt by Jagan-controlled TTD to earn him some favour with Hindus”.
“If the present TTD regime is sincere, it should prove the commitment by expelling the employees practising other faiths,” the BJP leader said, alleging the continuing employment of some followers of Christianity in the TTD.
Bhumana refuted the “utterly unfair” allegations, stating that there “is no connection between the Dharmika Sadas and the imminent elections or politics”.
“Such a Dharmika Sadas was earlier held under my chairmanship. I had also initiated programmes like ‘Dalita Govindam’, taking Lord Venkateswara’s blessings to the SC colonies, and ‘Matsya Govindam’, to train the fishermen community in priesthood, commenced the Sri Venkateswara Bhakti Channel to spread Venkateswara bhakti through the audio-visual medium worldwide, and also established the SV Vedic University to sustain vedic education for future generations,” said Bhumana, who earlier served as TTD chairman from 2006-08 during Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s government.
“We could execute all these programmes based on suggestions of seers during the previous conclave. The meeting now is meant to further spread our Hindu Dharma Prachara Parishad (HDPP) activities” Bhumana, who reassumed the post last year, added.
Set up in 1969 as the ‘Hindu Dharma Pratisthanam’ by the TTD, HDPP pursues the objective of promoting, propagating and preserving Hindu Sanatana Dharma by organising spiritual discourses, religious and devotional programmes.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
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In my openion its the stupidest faith.These are all the gymics to show of so called secularism, eye on the temple collection with smart diversification and perfolate Hinduism.