{"id":108677,"date":"2018-01-13T13:55:49","date_gmt":"2018-01-13T08:25:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/globalpress.hinduismnow.org\/?p=108677"},"modified":"2018-01-13T13:55:49","modified_gmt":"2018-01-13T08:25:49","slug":"no-gold-collected-casting-new-temple-idols-clarifies-hrce-dept-hindu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/?p=108677","title":{"rendered":"No gold collected for casting new temple idols, clarifies HR&CE dept | The Hindu"},"content":{"rendered":"

Contesting the charge of the Idol Wing, the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department has clarified that no gold or any metal had been collected for the casting of new\u00a0utsava<\/i>\u00a0idols of Somaskandar and Elavaarkuzhali Amman at the Kancheepuram Ekambareswarar temple.<\/p>\n

\n

A senior official of the Department said that no donor had come forward to donate gold for casting the idols. \u201cOnly the priests (archakas) who perform pujas donated a few grams of gold and that too at the time of casting them. We have videographed the process of making the idols,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n

Funds allotted<\/b><\/p>\n

The temple had given funds for the idols \u2014 Rs. 2.16 lakh for the Somaskandar and Rs. 1.69 lakh for the Amman idol.<\/p>\n

Questioning statements in the media that gold donated by devotees and donors was missing, the official said the sthapathi, who had cast the idols, had charged Rs. 2,500 per kilo of metal and had left the use of gold in the\u00a0panchaloha<\/i>\u00a0(five metal) idol to the temple authorities.<\/p>\n

Owing to a 2011 order that gold from temples should not be used for making temple cars,\u00a0vimanas,<\/i>\u00a0kalasams<\/i>\u00a0and other items, it was not given from the temple too.<\/p>\n

\u201cNeither the temple administration sought permission for collecting gold nor did the Department grant any special permission for the same,\u201d the official further clarified.<\/p>\n

\u2018Probe in initial stage\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

When contacted about the investigation, HR & CE Commissioner R. Jaya said that it was the Idol Wing\u2019s business to look into the veracity of the complaint and prove if there was any lacuna.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will not interfere with the investigation, which is in the initial stage, and are cooperating with them in every way possible,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe investigation should be confidential. We are not defending anyone. If someone has made a mistake, he or she will be punished,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Repaired thrice<\/b><\/p>\n

Other officials in the HR & CE Department said that the idol of Somaskandar was repaired at least thrice since 1987 and only after the\u00a0sthaanakaarars<\/i>\u00a0(priests and devotees and those who helped in running the temple) wrote several times stating that the idol cannot be taken out in procession and repairs cannot be taken up, did a devotee donate a statue.<\/p>\n

Since that one was not up to the mark, a new one had to be made.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe then Commissioner sought to know the correct quantity of metals to be used and the sthapathi had given the mix,\u201d another official explained.<\/p>\n

The original idol remained in the safe custody of the temple.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Contesting the charge of the Idol Wing, the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department has clarified that no gold or any metal had been collected for the casting of new\u00a0utsava\u00a0idols of Somaskandar and Elavaarkuzhali Amman at the Kancheepuram Ekambareswarar temple. A senior official of the Department said that no donor had come forward to donate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[2285,1177,2109,1375,2286],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108677"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=108677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108677\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=108677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=108677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=108677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}