Unlike in the West, the young, famous and white-collar professionalsin India are flocking to temples, as is evident in overflowing coffers of these places of worship
As the rest of the world's youth abandon their places of worship, thanks largely to pervasive strides in globalisation, in India, they are flocking to temples, and the overflowing coffers of Maharashtra temples are a testimony to this phenomenon. The streams of devotees that number in the lakhs every month are largely populated by well-educated, white-collar youth. The increased inflow of devotes has resulted in temple trust turnovers burgeoning by crores.
Take these four examples — the Shri Sai Sansthan Shirdi (SSST), Siddhivinayak Temple, Shri Mahalaxmi Chairitable Trust and the Lalbaugcha Raja. Their turnovers illustrate not only the number of devotees, but also the donations made in the way of cash, gold and silver jewelry. Shirdi had a turnover of Rs30 crore in May, Siddhivinayak had Rs2.6 crore, Mahalaxmi gained Rs55 lakh and Lalbaugcha Raja had a turnover of Rs22 crore during last year's 11-day Ganesh festival. More than 60-70% of their earnings is spent on social causes for the poor, including health and education.
Booming spiritual business
SSST is the second-richest trust in India, with an annual revenue of more than Rs450 crore. The trust has also invested huge amounts in property and government bonds, which are valued around Rs450-500 crores.
During the month of May, Siddhivinayak received cash donation of two crores, 47 lakhs, gold donations up to 727kg, and silver up to 11,538kg. The total trust income of the temple is Rs48 crores and 50 lakhs in the financial year 2010-11.
Every Tuesday, devotees visit the Siddhivinayak temple in large numbers to offer prayers, with some even walking the long distance from home, for the Kakad arti; as Tuesday is considered "Ganesha's day". The devotees on Tuesdays number at a daily five lakh. Sasana added, "It's not about blind faith. After visiting us, most people say that the experience has been very relaxing and calming. They feel the positive energies and return refreshed."
Come one, come all
"I see that of the crowds that visit, more than 80% are highly qualified, and many belong to the information technology field," says Jayant Sasana, the chairman of SSST. "They are very well-educated, and are not in the practice of keeping blind faith. However, they have faith in their babas. I even see prominent judges visiting shirdi." Sasana says that on a regular day, over one lakh people visit the shrine, and on holidays and weekends, "the number goes up to five lakh", with festival season garnering "over eight lakh devotees".
These centres of worship see not only the common man, but also the likes of film celebrities, senior politicians and cricketers. The demand for 'VIP darshan' has therefore, seen an increase. It was three years ago that Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan and his son and daughter-in-law, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, walked from their residence 'Jalsa' in suburban India at 2am towards Prabhadevi to attend the morning prayers. A three-kilo silver mouse was the Bachchans' first gift to the temple, apart from the regular cash that Bachchan regularly puts in the daan peti. Sachin Tendulkar is a staunch devotee of the Siddhivinayak temple.
Though most devotees are from Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, a large number come from throughout the country, and from abroad as well. Interestingly, more young devotees are seen at the shrine at this time of the year.
Keeping devotees safe
Lalbaughcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshoutsav Mandal (LRSGM) is the biggest and the most famous mandal in the state. It is also the first mandal that will be insured as a part of anti-terror plans.
"We give a lot of importance to security," says Sudhir Salvi, the secretary of the LRSGM. "Before the annual festival begins, we meet the police commissioner, and according to their suggestions we take appropriate measures. 50 volunteers act as plainclothes security men. We have 3,500 workers, among whom 800 are women, who work around-the-clock during the festival. We have also given fire-fighting training to our volunteers. Every year, we install 40 CCTVs in the pandal, but in the next festival, we will add 20 more."
A respite from the rat-race
"Devotees who visit the temple feel the positivity," continues Salvi. "In every field nowadays, there is cutthroat competition. After working so hard, these people need a place to relax."
Mahalaxmi Temple is one of the most famous temples of Mumbai, situated on Bhulabhai Desai Road. Doing darshan at Mahalaxmi has never been an easy task for devotees. Devotees have to queue up for hours just to have a glimpse of the deity. Every year, more than three lakh people visit Mahalaxmi temple during Navratri, making it the most-visited temple in the city during the auspicious nine-day festival. According to the sources, the temple turnover has gone up by almost 10 crore.
"During vacations, holidays and weekends more than 10,000 believers visit the temple," said Bhalchandra Walawalkar, the manager of the Mahalaxmi Temple Charitable Trust. "It's very interesting that despite so-called 'modernity', some might believe that the younger generation would be leaving the temples. But now, I see more young people in attendance than ever before."
GLAMOUR QUOTIENT
These worship centres see not only the
common man, but also celebrities, senior
politicians and cricketers. Most devotees
are from Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh,
a large number come from throughout the
country, and from abroad as well.
PENANCE BY QUEUING
Doing darshan at Mahalaxmi has never
been an easy task. Devotees have to queue
up for hours just to have a glimpse of the
deity. More than three lakh people visit
Mahalaxmi temple during Navratri, making it
the most-visited temple in the city.
START OF SIDDHIVINAYAK
The Siddhivinayak Mandir evolved from a
small, tiny place of worship to the Grand
Temple that stands today in the later half of
the twentieth century. Siddhivinayak is well
known as “Navasacha Ganapati” or
“Navasala Pavanara Ganapati” in Marathi
FEEDING DEVOTEES
The Shri Sai Baba Sansthan runs a
‘Prasadalaya’ to provide lunch and dinner to
the devotees. Nearly 1,000 devotees can
take prasad at the same time. The kitchen of
the Prasadalaya is equipped with modern
cooking machineries.
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