They are not the spoils of war but the tearful and joyful offerings of devotees , overwhelmed by their devotion either in seeking the fulfilment of some boon or the thanksgiving for the succor received from the almighty enshrined as the deity , down the ages.
Barring a few aberrations even the poorest Hindu will not touch these priceless offerings not out of any fear of the wrath of the god but due to 'Dharma' ingrained in all of us that one does not steal from the all knower, enshrined in the deity.
We may feel envious of our neighbours wealth ,but none of us are envious of a richly decorated deity. The splendour is accepted and appreciated as a matter of course and considered sacred, by one and all.
According to me it is the prerogative of those managing the temple affairs and the king who is said to be the owner to decide on the matter. Since every other person is voicing his or her view onTV,dailies, weeklies and in letters to editor,so am I.
I find even the tabulation of the jewels and so on under full media glare ,itself sacrilegious. Well it is being done and nothing can be done about it.
The ornaments are for adorning the deity ,to add to the majesty and beauty and not for exhibition in glass cases.. Why not simply do that? I mean the former.Like at Tirumalai.
Other offerings like coins and so on can be invested to provide amenities to pilgrims visiting the temple, like free accommodation, food and water, in training priests, taking up renovation works of temples that are dilapidated and crumbling and boost the finances of those temples that are starved of funds and in building prayer halls.
Kulasekara aazhwar the Vaishnavaite saint ,8 th centAD who was also the king of Kerala then,gives equal if not even more respect to devotees of Bhagwan and says clearly in one of his greatly venerated hymns ,
'My eyes have not truly served their purpose unless they see those' devotees'of Vishnu thronging in the percinicts of the temple and praying in total devotion! ..PerumalThirumozhi .............658.
Does one need a better example than he , to follow and emulate ?
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