Service to God...

Among various topics where the People express different opinion, the recently read topic on" which gives Peace-- Service to Temples or Service to Human beings" may be shared here for those who want more clarity on this subject. The Magazine which invited opinion on this matter announced  small Prizes for the writers.

Those  who support the theory of "Service to People is service to God"  fail to understand the purpose for which a Temple stands. They should not forget that it is a great platform to unite people regardless of their caste or creed. All are equal in front of God and Temple worship is meant to create this feeling. All services to God are routed through different sections of devotees. In other words, the beneficiary in all services is undoubtably the Human being.

While considering the renovation , the argument goes as if the satisfaction remains for a short period. For that matter, no one can name services which grant Peace  eternally except the one which is offered to God. When the renovation work is taken up, many artisans get jobs and fine arts are thus protected. Temples are known to take care of musicians,dancers, Vedic scholars and the Temple lands were the main source of feeding the poor.

King Raja Raja Chola had nominated 400 dancers, 220 supporting artists and 50 Thevaram oduvars for the Big Temple at Thanjavur. Since the Temple had more than 1000 attendants, the King appointed barbers and laundry men and inscribed the names of those who served  for the Temple. Temples were the breeding point for Arts and stood tall for providing life support to various sections of Public. That is why Service to God is considered as noblest in the world although some professions are compared to this only because some lives are saved while in distress.  On the other hand, Service to Temples is not a short living phenomenon.
Look at the Noon-meal scheme at many Temples. Feeding the poor devotees is considered as the Holiest service in our Puranas.  Even those who wish to feed the poor choose to do it through the Temples as the service can continue even in their absence. By taking the job directly, the exhaustive nature of the noble cause is restricted and becomes selective.

There may be an opinion that planting trees, and  digging tanks are apt in the services of Human beings.  Those who advocate this theory fail to remember that all these activities  are imbedded in maintaining the Temple and its premises. Lands were gifted to create  Nandavanams having different species of Trees  and preserving the water table.        

Rare species of Plants which are not normally grown elsewhere are planted inside the Temples and preserved . Some such plants are given the status of "Sthala Vruksham".

In this context, we humbly state that we are blessed to serve God and during this process, we never missed the opportunity to serve the downtrodden priests and other workers of rural Temples. At the end of the day, all our services reach the Human beings only in the name of God. Developing the Nandavanam,Preserving the Temple Tank,feeding the poor, helping the senior priests for their meritorious service creating awarness about our Heritage are part of our prgramme which,for sure, fall in line with our principles and derive peace.