South Indian Religious News Update : दक्षिण भारत की धर्म की खबरें
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Andhra Pradesh : Celestial Ride on Golden Chariot for Lord Tirumala
On Vaikunta Ekadasi day, the Lord Malayappa Swamy flanked by His two consorts Sridevi and Bhudevi on His either sides, dazzled on the Swarna Ratham and blessed the devotees.
The richness, majesty and grandeur of Lord Malyappa Swamy is clearly exhibited on the glittering golden chariot procession. The Lord took a colourful ride with His two consorts, Sridevi and Bhudevi on the Swarna Ratham.
All the three deities decked in Pattu Vastrams and precious stone studded gold jewels, took a majestic ride on Swarna Ratham and the beauty of the mighty chariot enhanced when the setting rays of the Sun fell on it giving a new look.
Andhra Pradesh : Temples in the state not to celebrate New Year on 1 st January
Temples in Andhra Pradesh have been asked not to celebrate New Year on January 1 by the state Endowments Department, which is said to be against Indian Vedic culture”. The Hindu Dharma Parirakshna Trust (HDPT), under the state Endowments Department, has issued a circular to all temples in this regard, citing a directive from the Endowments Commissioner Y V Anuradha. “Exchanging greetings on January 1 and celebrating (like a festival) is not Indian vedic culture. Celebrating Ugadi, the Telugu New Year’s Day (in the month of Chaitra), only is appropriate and the best culture,” HDPT secretary C Vijaya Raghavacharyulu said in the circular.
“Though India attained Independence 70 years ago, we are still following the Gregorian calendar introduced by the British. Lakhs of rupees are being spent on decorating temples to celebrate January 1 by ignoring Indian culture and following western culture. The (Endowments) Commissioner suggested this is not right,” it said. “Hence, there should be no special decoration of temples (with flowers and lighting) on January 1 and no festive atmosphere should be created,” the Trust secretary added.
It’s a common practice in most of the temples in Andhra Pradesh to conduct special pujas and darshan for pilgrims on January 1. The rush is particularly more in Tirumala, the abode of Lord Venkateswara, the largest temple in AP. However, sources in the Endowments Department clarified that the order would not apply to Tirumala as it is an independent entity.
Telangana : State Government has sanctioned ₹50 lakh for ancient Shaivite Temple
State Government has sanctioned ₹50 lakh special grant for the ancient Shaivite temple, Neelakanteswaralayam located at Kanteswar on Armoor Road near here for civil works and for the improvement of facilities on the premises. Endowment Deputy E.E. Om Prakash visited the temple and proposed work to be undertaken with the grant sanctioned at the special initiative of the local MLA Bigala Ganesh Gupta. The temple is believed to have been built by the early Kakatiyas about 1,000 years ago.
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Tamil Nadu : Praharam rennovatio started in Tiruchedur Temple
Removal of outer ‘praharam’ of Lord Subramaniya Swamy Temple at Tiruchendur, a portion of which collapsed a week ago leading to the death of a woman buttermilk vendor on the spot, commenced recently. When a portion of the outer ‘prakara’ of the temple collapsed on December 14, the buttermilk vendor Petchiammal was killed on the spot as she was trapped under the debris while two others sustained injuries.
After inspecting the mishap site, Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Minister Sevoor Ramachandran had announced that the entire outer ‘praharam would be removed and built afresh, considering the devotees safety.
Following special prayers, removal of the 545 metre-long and 6-metre-wide outer ‘praharam’, having 196 pillars commenced. The work started from the northern side of the dilapidated structure in the presence of temple, revenue and police officials. The exercise is likely to be completed within five days.
When the roof of two adjoining shops got damaged even as the ‘prakara’ was being removed, it triggered instant protest by the traders. After the officials assured them that only the shops on the ‘praharam’ would have to be shifted to some other place until the structure was reconstructed while other adjoining shops would not be disturbed, the protesting traders disbursed.
Karnataka : Kadiri Manjunath Temple, Manglore gets Noise Pollution complaints
Recently few residents, staying close to the famous Kadri Manjunatha Temple in Mangalore, have complained against the use of loudspeakers, sparking social media debates and tension in the area. Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and other right-wing outfit leaders sought intervention of the endowment department. They demanded the use of loud speakers.
According to sources, residents of an apartment near Kadri temple submitted a memorandum to the city corporation and endowment department against the use of loud speakers in the temple. In the memorandum, they complained about noise pollution, especially during Yakshagana and annual festivals. In the memorandum submitted on August 22, residents said those who reside on the upper floors suffer the most due to noise from loud speakers, reported The Hindu.
Blanny D’Souza wrote on behalf of residents in the memorandum and requested temple authorities to reduce the voice level. He then submitted a memorandum to the city corporation on December 4. Meanwhile, on Saturday, Hindu organisation leaders and a few devotees gathered near the temple, demanding the authorities to continue the use of loud speakers in the temple. Jagadish Shenava, district working president of VHP, along with other Hindu outfit leaders submitted a memorandum to the temple management on Saturday.
Kadri temple executive officer Ningaiah said the temple had not received any direction from the endowment department with regard to loud speakers. “Recently, another resident complained about the issue during a phone-in programme conducted by the Mangaluru City Police. Following this, the city police directed Mangaluru East police to follow it up and the copy of it was forwarded it to us too,” he said.
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Kerala : Syro Malabar Church Land Deal Controversy
There are serious lapses in the recent controversial land deal of Syro Malabar Church. This has been admitted by the Church itself.
The circular issued by Bishop Mar Sebastian Adayantharath to vicars in the Church admits that the Church’s properties were sold without the consent of the Canon committees. “The Church decided to sell five plots, nearly 306.98 cents, to resolve its financial crisis. The land price was fixed between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 19 lakh per cent in various locations. The person, who was entrusted with the land sale, sold the plots to 36 persons in violation of the agreement with the Archdiocese. It was specified that the properties should not be sold to a third person or persons without the Church’s consent.
As per the land sale deed on June 21, 2016, the Archdiocese should get Rs 27.30 crore. But even after one and half years, the Church received only Rs 9.13 crore from the deal,” according to the circular.
The land transactions were done without the consent of Canon committees. It has also been found that 25 acres of land at Kottappady in Kothamangalam and 17 acres of land at Devikulam in Idukki were registered in the name of the Archdiocese. The total land deal is worth Rs 16.59 crore. The land purchase was done without the consent or knowledge of auxiliary bishops. Earlier, the Church has strictly warned against buying land citing serious financial crisis.
The Archdiocese faced deep financial crisis after buying 23.22 acres of land at Matoor near Kalady in 2015 to set up a medical college as part of Little Flower Hospital, Angamaly. A loan of Rs 60 crore was taken from the bank to this effect. But, the Church finance council found it difficult to repay the bank loan, nearly Rs 6 crore per year. “While the Church has a debt of Rs 60 crore from earlier, now the debt has increased to Rs 84 crore after the land deal.
Karnataka : Renovated St Mary’s Orthodox Syrian Cathedral ready for inauguration
The 129-year-old St. Mary’s Orthodox Syrian Cathedral is set to consecrate and inaugurate its renovated church building at Brahmavar in Udupi district on January 11 and 12.
Addressing presspersons here recently, Fr. Noel Lewis, Assistant Vicar of the cathedral, said that the cathedral was founded in 1889 by the saintly and revolutionary Bishop Alvares Mar Julius and nurtured by Fr. R.Z. Noronha. The church had its humble origins in a thatched roof building where the first holy mass was celebrated by Fr. R.Z. Noronha. The foundation for the huge old church with tiled roof was laid by Fr. R.Z. Noronha.
The structure of the old cathedral was completed during the tenure of the Fr. P.G. Koshy in 1960. But with time and growing number of devotees, a need was felt for renovating the cathedral. On August 4, 2013, the Brahmavar Diocesan Bishop, H.G. Yakob Mar Elias, laid the foundation for the renovation. The work has now been completed. The renovated church has a blend of Portuguese, Kerala, and modern architecture. Thus, both elegance and purposefulness are well maintained.
The beautiful front elevation, with a rising in the middle, is a reminder of the Portuguese architectural influence over the Konkani Christians of Mangaluru. The huge blue dome above the altar is the influence of Orthodox Church architecture, found mainly in Byzantine Churches. The consecration of the renovated church shall be led by the Catholicos His Holiness Baselios Marthoma Paulose II, the Supreme Head of Indian (Malankara) Orthodox Syrian Church.
Ramalinga Reddy, Home Minister, K.J. George, Minister for Bengaluru Development and Town Planning, and Pramod Madhwaraj, Minister for Fisheries, Youth Empowerment and Sports, will be the chief guests, Fr. Lewis said.
“The Church will take necessary action based on the recommendation from the Vatican. As per the Canon Law, only the Vatican has the right to take action in case of allegations against persons of eminence like Archbishops,” he said speaking to the media. However, Fr. Paul denied the reports that a group of priests have sent a complaint to the Pope against the incident. Meanwhile, various forums and organisations of believers in the church have demanded a probe by the state government into the alleged tax evasion in the land deal and other irregularities.
Andhra Pradesh: Christmas Gift from AP CM Naidu
Ahead of Christmas, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday announced that the amount allotted for repairing the churches has been increased from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.
The Andhra Chief Minister further averred that the state government is committed to the welfare of Christians. Naidu also termed the celebrations as “heavenly” and “inspiring”. “These celebrations are heavenly. I wish all of you a Merry Christmas. It is time to be happy, celebrate the birth of Jesus. The candle mass is so inspiring. Jesus worked for world peace. His life is a message,” said Naidu.
Naidu also lauded the service provided by Christians, “Christians are service oriented. Their services to the society are laudable. We will build a block in Andhra Christian College in the name of NTR, who was a student of that college”.
Telangana: Sammakka – Saralakka Jatara may be considered as National Festival
Telangana state BJP leaders, led by its president K Lakshman and party’s national general secretary Muralidhar Rao, met several Union Ministers recently to urge them to declare Sammakka-Saralakka (Medaram) Jatara a national festival
After the meetings with Union ministers, Lakshman said they brought to the notice of the ministers that the festival was a favourite of the tribals of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra apart from those from Telangana.
Crore of tribal people would be attending the festival in the interior forest area once in two years and hence the Centre should take a special interest in bestowing a right stature on the festival. The delegation sought development of Buddhist sites in Telangana like Kotilingala, Dhoolikarba, Phanigiri, Nelakondapalli, Kondapur and Gajulabanda as a circuit in its meeting with Union Tourism Minister Alphonse.
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