Tirupati temple for Hindus only, says Andhra ordinance

 
Indo-Asian News Service

Hyderabad, June 8 (IANS) The Andhra Pradesh government has issued an ordinance prohibiting propagation of any religion except Hinduism at the famed Tirupati temple and also declared the seven hills surrounding the temple as a place of worship.

The ordinance also bans the conduct of local body elections in Tirumala hills surrounding the Lord Venkateshwara temple and imposes prohibition.

Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy made the announcement at a news conference here Friday.

About 50,000 devotees visit Tirupati, India's richest temple, every day and the number crosses 100,000 on special occasions.

The ordinance, signed by Governor Rameswar Thakur May 22, was issued following criticism by Hindu religious heads over propagation of other religions on the Tirumala hills, over 700 km from here.

The ordinance, which makes it clear that all seven hills form part of the temple, sets at rest controversy over the area. Some people were claiming that the jurisdiction of the temple was confined to two hills.

The ordinance also covered 19 other major Hindu temples in the state and prohibited the propagation of other religions in these places.

Reddy said places of worship of other religions would also be covered if specific requests were received by the government.

He said the move was aimed at ensuring that sentiments of religious groups were not hurt and public order at such places of worship was not disturbed. He said a legislation replacing the ordinance would be introduced in the next assembly session.

The state cabinet had in April decided to promulgate the ordinance after taking strong note of evangelical activity around the famous hill shrine.

Anybody found violating the provisions of the ordinance will be sentenced to three years of imprisonment or imposed a fine of Rs.5,000 or both.

Indo-Asian News Service

Guruvayoor temple says no to change in traditions

http://www.southasianews.com/154632/Guruvayoor-temple-says-no-to-change-in-traditions.htm
 
Trissur (Kerala), May 31 (IANS) Days after a panel of Hindu priests decided to discuss the sensitive issue of throwing open the doors of Kerala temples to non-Hindus, the supreme authority of the Guruvayoor Sree Krishna Temple Thursday ruled out any change in the traditions of the famed temple.
K. Raman Nampoothiri, secretary of the Guruvayoor Temple Pramabarya Paricharana Samithy, said that they had a long meeting that ended late Wednesday night and decided that at no cost should there be any changes in the tradition of the Sree Krishna Temple.
'We have a feeling that the devotees of this temple are a worried lot that there is going to be a change in the traditions after reports surfaced in the media after a meeting of the Yogakshema Sabha Monday.
'The Sabha Monday decided to appoint a five-member panel to look into this issue in all temples of the state,' Nampoothiri told IANS.
'We also took part in that meeting and we expressed our opinion that at the Guruvayoor temple there cannot be any changes in the traditions and we are committed to that and we wish to convey this to all devotees of this temple,' he said.
The Samithy consists the tantris and those who take part in the rituals and prayers of the temple while the Yogakshema Sabha represents the entire Brahmin community including priests and temple administrators of Kerala.
When asked if he was not in agreement with the Yogakshema Sabha decision to appoint an expert panel, Nampoothiri said that at the Sabha meeting he had expressed the view that there should be no changes in the tradition of the Guruvayoor temple.
'We wish to reiterate that if there is even a small change (in the tradition), it would lead to a series of changes and that is just not acceptable because this is a temple with a long tradition.
'We can speak only for this temple and the Yogakshema Sabha is free to go ahead with their panel to study if any changes are required in other temples,' added Nampoothiri.
The famed Guruvayoor temple of late has run into controversies. Kearla Devaswom Minister G. Sudhakaran was instrumental in igniting one when he wrote to the temple administrators to see that veteran singer K.J. Yesudas, a Christian, be allowed to sing inside its premises Hindu devotional compositions that he is famous for.
Last week, Guruvayoor priests performed a purification ritual after the naming ceremony of Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi's grandson there. Ravi's wife is a Christian.
After the ritual at the temple, a section of Hindus has argued for a change in entry rules to allow non-Hindus into temples.