Temple Funds for Secular Use: A Debate on Law, History, and Social Justice
UPSC Relevance
Prelims: Indian History (Justice Party, Self-Respect Movement, Chola/Vijayanagara temple endowments), Indian Polity (Secularism, Religious Freedom, Concurrent List - religious endowments).
Mains:
GS Paper 1: Social empowerment, Communalism, regionalism & secularism; The Freedom Struggle - its various stages and important contributors /contributions from different parts of the country.
GS Paper 2: Government policies and interventions; Separation of powers; Mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of vulnerable sections.
Key Highlights from the News
In Tamil Nadu, there's a political controversy regarding the use of surplus temple funds for secular purposes like building colleges.
India has a 200-year legal history of controlling the secular affairs of temples, starting with the East India Company's Religious Endowment and Escheats Regulation 1817.
The British administration continued to control the secular matters of temples, such as land and funds, without interfering in religious practices.
The Justice Party, which came to power in the Madras Presidency, was the first to legally allow the use of surplus funds for other purposes by passing the Hindu Religious Endowments Act in 1925.
The current law, the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959 (Sections 36, 66), also permits this.
Historically, from the time of the Chola and Vijayanagara empires, temples functioned not just as places of worship but also as socio-cultural and educational centers.
Government control over temples, especially in South India and Tamil Nadu, was part of the anti-caste reforms. The Self-Respect Movement played a significant role in this.
The article argues that temple entry laws and the appointment of priests from backward castes were all made possible due to government control.
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