When forty per cent of the world's severely malnourished children under five are living in India, the treasure trove of Sree Padmanbha Swamy temple in God's own country Kerala refuses to bow down, as the counting goes on, the cumulative wealth reaches well above Rs. 100000 crore, a figure that can put shame to statistics to many national socio-economic schemes combined together. If this wealth is directed towards our national Food Security Act and NREGA schemes, it will almost meet the target. It can even serve the Centre's education budget for over two-and-half years
Shocking. Shamefully shocking. What's even more appalling that no leader in this country has courage to take a stand on the moral high ground that at least a part, if not all, of this huge wealth can be utilized for socio-economic development of underprivileged people. Forget about taking a stand, all political parties, irrespective of ideologies, don't have an iota of courage to come out with a single suggestion as how this filthily accumulated wealth over centuries can be of immense national importance, if streamlined in a constructive manner.
Sree Padmanbha Swamy temple is not the only centre of godly riches. Tirupati comes second with a staggering wealth of Rs. 42000 crore. And this scene goes with many other famous temples in India. The gods and god-men in this country live a royal life like their mundane representatives, the political masters, who in all probability love to accumulate wealth in their lifetime for generations together. And the gullible citizens just vexatiously listen to these facts and forget its significance in the next moment. Perhaps, that's the reason why Indians are still suffering socially and economically even after 64 years of independence.
When will these people awake and fight for their rights? Is there any resurrection for them? Or will they still lead the life of a subject as they experienced during Raj? When so much wealth is being accumulated in various temples and lying unused, why not then the Government of India comes out with a rational measure to utilize the wealth for nation building? What does stop all these people in high places to become change agents in this 21st century? Do they still have the fear for unknown or fear from losing the mandate? How long this political diplomacy and faith-based politics will play havoc to the lives of billions of people?
This is the high time to move beyond the ambit of mass faith. We must internalize the fact that such massive unused wealth in famous temples can be invested in various exciting financial schemes and the profits can be used for sustainable development. In that both gods and their people will leverage the benefits. Shall we think beyond the tradition? Or shall we wait for another intervention from the Supreme Court to act right?
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