Gods Receive Compensation for Damaged Crops

As per a report:

Not just rain-hit farmers but gods and goddesses in the district too will receive compensation for the crop losses caused by recent hailstorm and unseasonal rains in the state. The agriculture lands are recorded under names of several gods and goddesses in the revenue land records in the district, said Chandrashaker Chohan, revenue official (Tehsildar) of Hindoli block.Chohan said the names of these gods are sent to the government for compensation.

The amount has already been received under the names of these deities, he added. Compensation for the damaged crops has been received under the names of the temple deities and it will be disbursed on submission of an affidavit by trustees or priests of the temple, said Dhanraj Sharma, revenue official (Thesildar) of Keshoraipatan block. Large swaths of agricultural land in the district are registered in the name of gods and goddesses.

In the erstwhile days, kings and royal families would donate acres of lands to temples under the names of deities dwelling there. Generations of priests and their families, serving in these temples, still earn their livelihood toiling on these lands. Deities of Nolekhaji Maharaj, Sri Kalayanji Maharaj, Raktdantika, Chotmata, Charbhujaji, Devji, Narsinghji, Ragjunathji, Balaji, Chamunda and several other in temples across the district own acres of agricultural land.

Head priest of Keshoraipatan temple, Seshnarayan Sharma, said God Keshoraiji of the temple owns 2,419 bigas of agriculture land across the state. Funds for farmers of 122 villages of Keshoraipatan block have been received and is being distributed among them, Sharma said.

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Gods forbid: India’s Temples guard their Gold from government

India’s temples are resisting divulging their gold holdings – perhaps nearly half the amount held in Fort Knox – amid mistrust of the motives of authorities who are trying to cut a hefty import bill that is hurting the economy.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which has already taken steps that have slowed to a trickle the incoming supplies that have exacerbated India’s current account deficit, has sent letters to some of the country’s richest temples asking for details of their gold. It says the inquiries are simply data collection, but Hindu groups are up in arms.

“The gold stored in temples was contributed by devotees over thousands of years and we will not allow anyone to usurp it,” said V Mohanan, secretary of the Hindu nationalist Vishwa Hindu Parishad organisation in Kerala, in a statement. Indians buy as much as 2.3 tonnes of gold, on average, every day – the weight of a small elephant – and what they don’t give to the gods is mostly hoarded. Jewellery is handed down as heirlooms and stored away with bars and coins as a hedge against inflation or a source of quick funds in an emergency. Read More Here

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