Evangelists want a church in Tirumala

Author: Sandhya Jain

Publication: Organiser
Date: July 31, 2005
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Evangelists are targetting the sacred most site of Tirumala and in a direct
affront to the Hindu community, which has for centuries regarded all seven hills
as holy. They have started gathering on the slopes in groups for public prayers.
Even though an officer of the State-controlled Tirumala Tirupati Devasathanam
(TTD) which manages the world famous Venkateshwara temple has denied that a
missionary society has submitted a proposal to build a church on the hills, there
is widespread disbelief on account of the known biases of Chief Minister, Y.
Samuel Rajasekhar Reddy.
The denials by TTD special officer A.V. Dharma Reddy follow reports in leading
Telugu newspapers such as Eenadu and television channels like ETV, Teja TV, Gemini
TV and Sun TV. Former Chief Minister Chandra Babu Naidu, who was reportedly tipped
off by informed sources in the Secretariat, has strongly condemned the move, as
has the state BJP.
What lends credence to Hindu fears is the despicable statement by the Government
official that the TTD temple owns only 10.33 sq. miles of land on the hills, and
this land is administered by the mandir trust. This is a transparent ploy to deny
the sacred character of all seven hills in their entirety, and restrict the sacred
site of the Hindu community to the formal boundary of the extant of temple of Lord
Venkateshwara.
Should it happen, it will be a desecration at par with that of the Mylapore Shiva
temple in Chennai. Hitherto, there has never been any question of a structure
other than the shrine of Lord Venkateshwara on these hills, and it bears
remembering that it is the hills that are holy and not merely the mandir which
adorns them.
Clearly we are witnessing the development of a major assault upon one of the most
venerated sites of the Hindu community. Should it happen, it will be a desecration
at par with that of the Mylapore Shiva temple in Chennai. Hitherto, there has
never been any question of a structure other than the shrine of Lord Venkateshwara
on these hills, and it bears remembering that it is the hills that are holy and
not merely the mandir which adorns them. For instance, a temple along a busy
thoroughfare would be holy, but the adjacent land would not be deemed sacred.
Thus, the attempt to limit the sacredness of Tirumala to the boundary of the
temple, i.e. 10.33 sq. miles, is suspicious and suggests that the State Government
may be preparing the ground for handing over land to a church body on one of the
slopes. This is consistent with the systematic defilement of Hindu institutions
since the UPA became ascendant in national life, as witnessed in the harassment of
the Kanchi Shankaracharya and Bal Shankaracharya, and attempts to take over
prominent Hindu temples.
What lends urgency to Hindu fears is the fact that six large churches have already
sprung up on the road to Tirumala (Bye-pass road and new Bye-pass road) that leads
to Alipiri, the foot of the hills. It is therefore imperative that the State
Government recognize the entire seven hills as the sacred abode of Shri
Venkateshwara, and ensure that no structure of any other religion is allowed to
come up there.
Hindu activists in the region point out that when Sonia Gandhi violated the rules
and entered the sanctum sanctorum of Tirumala Tirupati Devasathanam some years
ago, without signing the mandatory declaration for practitioners of other
religions; she was facilitated in this outrage by the then TTD executive officer
Ajay Kallam. The activists point out that according to the local bush telegraph,
Ajay Kallam and some of his family members converted to Christianity some time
ago, and this fact may have some bearing on some of their public actions. For
instance, Mr. Kallam sought to auction hundred acres of land belonging to the
Hathi Ramji Matham (Tirumala) a year ago, and it was only with difficulty that the
auction was eventually cancelled.
The point being made is that it is a terrible sacrilege that State control of
Hindu holy sites enables non-Hindus to seize control of major temples and run them
according to an undisclosed agenda. Non-believers have infiltrated critical areas
of these institutions. It is already a matter of considerable concern that the
enormous revenues of Hindu temples in south India are being misused to fund the
Haj subsidy and renovate churches, while temples and priests remain starved of
basic funds. Now more than ever before there is need to expedite the return of the
temples to the community.
According to field activists, an official scrutiny of lands and properties
acquired by evangelical organizations may shed interesting light upon a phenomenon
best dubbed as 'colonization through land ownership.' The value of the properties
and the costs of the gigantic bureaucracies associated with them would be an eye-
opener. It is instructive, for instance, to drive through the Coromandel Coast
from Vishakapatnam to Toottukkudi, and observe the plethora of churches
proliferating along the route; most are new constructions. A journey to Guntur and
Eluru may be similarly instructive.
The Andhra Pradesh Government is a wholly unsuitable custodian of Tirupathi and
must be made to surrender control of this holy shrine. Some time ago it condoned
the demolition of the 550-year old Thousand Pillar Temple for no good reason. A
Government that lacks the sense of the sacrality of the seven hills which have
been regarded as a tirthasthanam and devasthanam from time immemorial cannot be
allowed to preside over its destiny.