Save the God Whom Ayodhya Sri Rama Prayed To!  SAVE Srirangam!

We, the undersigned, are concerned citizens of the world, who are outraged by recent legal, moral, and cultural violations taking place at Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple, Srirangam, Tiruchirapalli District, Tamil Nadu State.  These concerns are specifically directed to and identify the following individuals as having key roles in the occurrence of these violations:

P. Jayaraman
Joint Commissioner
Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple HR&CE

Murali Bhattar
Chief Priest
Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple

Nandhakumar Bhattar
Priest
Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple

S Srinivasaraghavan Bhattar alias Sundar Bhattar
Priest
Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple

Muthaiah Sthapathy
HR&CE appointed sculptor

Venu Srinivasan
Srirangam Temple Trustee

The noted violations include:

1.     Lurking trespass, criminal breach of trust under IPC and The Antiquities and Art Treasurers Act, 1972

2.     Changing Moolavar Vigraham during 2013 to 2015 Renovation and conducting the same without the formation of a Committee to oversee the activities.

3.     Removal of Salagramams from temple premises.

4.     Interference of Administrative department in the Agama rules of the temple.

5.     Significant reduction in the quantity of Prasadam offered to Lord Ranganatha and distributed to the people visiting the temple.

6.     Reducing the number of poojas and festivals that were established 1000 years ago by Sri Ramanuja and his followers.

7.     Discontinuing the age-old traditions of offering rituals of respect towards the Acharya Purusha families, who have been caring for the temple as volunteers for over 1000 years.

8.     Publicly beating and assaulting  Mr. Rangarajan Narasimhan inside temple premises for questioning the lapses in tradition.

9.     Filing false cases against Acharya Purusha families, and threatening them with eviction.

These moral and legal violations should be seen in light of UNESCO Reference 5894, filed by the Permanent Delegation of India to UNESCO in 2014, recognizing Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple in Srirangam as a place of historical, cultural and religious significance, and including it under official consideration as a World Heritage Site. This document describes Srirangam as the largest Hindu temple on Earth, and extols it for its unique temple/town environment.  This is seen by UNESCO as a harmonious blend of religious rituals, architectural wonder, historical record, and a vibrant social fabric.

These are not isolated violations. Rather, they are a well orchestrated long term plan to destroy Hindu Sanatana Dharma, Temple traditions and the torch bearers of the 1000+ year old Sri Vaishnava Tradition. The violators are supported by powerful corporate giants having deep pockets. This has led to:

1.     Smuggling of Temple Statues

2.     Theft of Antiques

3.     Looting of rare gems and jewels

4.     Rampant burglary of temple treasures

5.     Systematic plundering of money offered to the temple

6.     Defiling Temple Traditions and Sanctity held sacrosanct over thousands of years

7.     Issuing life threats to protectors of the temple tradition and those questioning the violations.

8.     Filing of false defamation cases against Acharya Purusha families, who have hereditary rights to the temple, as established by Sri Ramanuja, called the Statue of Equality, 1000 years ago.

9.     Issuing eviction notices to the Acharya Purusha families, who have served the Temple as volunteers for generations.

10.  Allowing missionaries of other faiths to proselytize in the Temple premises.

These violations done by the above individuals will be seen worldwide as an attempt to destroy this age-old cultural, religious, and architectural world heritage site.  We, the undersigned call for the following:

1.     The immediate dismissal of the above-mentioned individuals for these heinous crimes and illegal activities.

2.     The formation of a Religious Committee consisting of the representatives of the Acharya Purusha families and the Jeeyars to restore and maintain the proper Agama traditions, prasadam services, and other related activities vital to the running of the temple’s age-old Sri Vaishnava traditions.

3.     The reduction of the Administrative Department HR&CE involvement in temple activities to maintaining temple budget and accounting.

The above must be made with immediate effect to avoid further corrective action.