Hindu Priests facing Grim future

[KRISHNAMURTHY SURYANARAYA]

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The Lockdown owing to the Corona Pandemic has thrown many pundits and purohits out of any remuneration.
They have been forced to sit idle at home.
I feel that its the duty of every brahmin with decent income to come forward and help them financially.

An initiative by this forum would go a long way in minimising their sufferings. Kindly bring together the menbers and request them to contribute towards raising an amount to donate to such priests n Purohits.
Murugan Thunai..

Thanks n Regards

K.SURYANARAYAN

 

[renuka]

The Lockdown owing to the Corona Pandemic has thrown many pundits and purohits out of any remuneration.
They have been forced to sit idle at home.
I feel that its the duty of every brahmin with decent income to come forward and help them financially.

An initiative by this forum would go a long way in minimising their sufferings. Kindly bring together the menbers and request them to contribute towards raising an amount to donate to such priests n Purohits.
Murugan Thunai..

Thanks n Regards

K.SURYANARAYAN

Here the priests have gone virtual.

They show streaming of the poojas(which they preform just with their assistant becos of lockdown).
People still donate to them for virtual Homas etc.

 

[renuka]

I have noted the virtual marriages are taking place in other religions becos for Abrahamic religions(Islam/Christianity) one can get married virtually becos all they have to say is "I do".
So the Imam/Priest need not be physically present and even the bride and groom need not be also standing next to each other yet they can be pronounced "husband and wife"

But what about Hindus?
During the lockdown marriages cant take place and also post lock down marriages cant take place cos social distancing wont be possible and also a Hindu marriage needs groom to be with bride for saptapadhi or mangalsutra or both.

So how can a Hindu marriage be modified to enable a virtual one?
That way priests too can still earn money by conducting online marriages..but how?

 

[tbs]

hi

in USA...many temples are closed....many private priests loose their income....everybody is some kind of

virtual worship and makes earnings....so we have think some alternative too..

 

[prasad1]

The Lockdown owing to the Corona Pandemic has thrown many pundits and purohits out of any remuneration.
They have been forced to sit idle at home.
I feel that its the duty of every brahmin with decent income to come forward and help them financially.

An initiative by this forum would go a long way in minimising their sufferings. Kindly bring together the menbers and request them to contribute towards raising an amount to donate to such priests n Purohits.
Murugan Thunai..

Thanks n Regards

K.SURYANARAYAN

I sympathize with their situation. I am a born Brahmin, but do not follow that profession. I have other professions.
So pardon my rationality. I have an objective view of that profession.
I have a personal priest who is exceptional and a good friend. I will support him and his family if and when needed.

But why should I bend backward for one profession alone? What about the migrants who have no means of surviving during this pandemic, and is in lockdown in a faraway place without any means.

Why is one profession any better than another?

What about the priests who literally ransomed my aunt for Rs 3,00,000 in cash to perform the last rite for my uncle in a faraway village in TN, so it is business as usual when good times, so why do I do extra for bad times?


Pundits and Purohits are just like any other profession, except that it is reserved (cast based) for Brahmins.

 

[surianns]

Prasad1's views deserve a consideration by the section of the priests who have fleeced out of greed and even arrogance that they were indispensable.

Priests are no longer real priests if they get carried away by the lure of money and the life style and the sense of dominance that it brings in.

Particularly in Final rites and Srardhams, many priests act like brokers and Dadas to control rates (read as impose exorbitant charges) and not allow individual priests to accept 'kaariyams' or function on their own. They have surpassed Auto drivers and Real estate brokers. They have lost respect- it is the fear in the minds of brahmins and other hindus as to what would befall them if they do not carry out the rituals, despite finding the terms highly unreasonable. And this fear is what the priests are exploiting.

 

[renuka]

Prasad1's views deserve a consideration by the section of the priests who have fleeced out of greed and even arrogance that they were indispensable.

Priests are no longer real priests if they get carried away by the lure of money and the life style and the sense of dominance that it brings in.

Particularly in Final rites and Srardhams, many priests act like brokers and Dadas to control rates (read as impose exorbitant charges) and not allow individual priests to accept 'kaariyams' or function on their own. They have surpassed Auto drivers and Real estate brokers. They have lost respect- it is the fear in the minds of brahmins and other hindus as to what would befall them if they do not carry out the rituals, despite finding the terms highly unreasonable. And this fear is what the priests are exploiting.

Then final rites should be modified.
Let it be a community based one when relatives and friends collectively recite basic prayers and do the cremation and do away with an overdose of rites and rituals..so that way there no one can extort anyone.

 

[tbs]

Prasad1's views deserve a consideration by the section of the priests who have fleeced out of greed and even arrogance that they were indispensable.

Priests are no longer real priests if they get carried away by the lure of money and the life style and the sense of dominance that it brings in.

Particularly in Final rites and Srardhams, many priests act like brokers and Dadas to control rates (read as impose exorbitant charges) and not allow individual priests to accept 'kaariyams' or function on their own. They have surpassed Auto drivers and Real estate brokers. They have lost respect- it is the fear in the minds of brahmins and other hindus as to what would befall them if they do not carry out the rituals, despite finding the terms highly unreasonable. And this fear is what the priests are exploiting.

hi

i agreed some part....i had bitter experiences for my mother's death rituals in rameshwaram as well as

first year shraddham in chennai....many are well off with cars/ two wheelers with posh house....still

they behave like this...காற்று உள்ளபோதே துத்தி கொள் .,,,,still many faces trouble...its not the

whole fault of priests....sometimes created by normal brahmin community too....our priests not

like MOULVIS OR CHRISTIAN FATHERS...other communities takes care of their priest...a well

organised manner....our priests are very hard life....struggle for respect and money....

 

[rajagekudi]

We should help only needy Brahmins in our locality and not creamy prohits.80% of the Brahmins who chose this profession are small time supports and priest in small temples. We should not throw mud on hand to mouth people by generalizing. Even if a man eats brahmanartham for all 30 days he earns 7-8000 only .

 

[prasad1]

Prasad1's views deserve a consideration by the section of the priests who have fleeced out of greed and even arrogance that they were indispensable.

Priests are no longer real priests if they get carried away by the lure of money and the life style and the sense of dominance that it brings in.

Particularly in Final rites and Srardhams, many priests act like brokers and Dadas to control rates (read as impose exorbitant charges) and not allow individual priests to accept 'kaariyams' or function on their own. They have surpassed Auto drivers and Real estate brokers. They have lost respect- it is the fear in the minds of brahmins and other hindus as to what would befall them if they do not carry out the rituals, despite finding the terms highly unreasonable. And this fear is what the priests are exploiting.

60 years ago, we went to Kashi, this TB Panda was running a Destination Travel business. He was arranging transportation, accommodation, priest service, tourism of Ghats, and meals as a service. He did a good job.

He also arranged a trip to Gaya and Pida service there. So it was a flourishing business. All the more power to him. Is a poor purohit? No, he was a successful Businessman.

In Maryland, there is Hanuman Temple, 4 priests from put together a Temple on a 40 Acre farm. They raised funds and have sold off some land to a builder. It is a private business running into Millions of Dollars. Would you term them as poor purohit?

Like every other business, only the fittest will survive in the purohit business. When you peel the layers, the purohit too is a human being. No more and No less.

 

[a-TB]

The Lockdown owing to the Corona Pandemic has thrown many pundits and purohits out of any remuneration.
They have been forced to sit idle at home.
I feel that its the duty of every brahmin with decent income to come forward and help them financially.

An initiative by this forum would go a long way in minimising their sufferings. Kindly bring together the menbers and request them to contribute towards raising an amount to donate to such priests n Purohits.
Murugan Thunai..

Thanks n Regards

K.SURYANARAYAN

As a new member, I can understand your enthusiasm.

There are very good threads and some really knowledgeable people have contributed their expertise. You can check the archives. Stay away from infestations ( often useless), with copy and paste type posts. Then you will find your time here worthwhile. I am sharing my experience here.

Now this forum is not set for any initiatives like the one you suggest.

It has to be an individual level contributions only , done out of love.
Too much intellectualism will mean the spontaneous love will not be there. This is not meant to waste away any donations.


There are many priests that lack business skills but have very good mastery of the recitations. Those simple people may need help.

Again, there are lots of deserving and needy people in this times of global pandemic. No one person can solve such problems. Out of love and compassion we can do our small bit provided it is not based on caste/religion/race/etc based considerations.

The help need not be just money - it could be to even set up virtual means to earn a livelihood

All the best

 

[tbs]

60 years ago, we went to Kashi, this TB Panda was running a Destination Travel business. He was arranging transportation, accommodation, priest service, tourism of Ghats, and meals as a service. He did a good job.

He also arranged a trip to Gaya and Pida service there. So it was a flourishing business. All the more power to him. Is a poor purohit? No, he was a successful Businessman.

In Maryland, there is Hanuman Temple, 4 priests from put together a Temple on a 40 Acre farm. They raised funds and have sold off some land to a builder. It is a private business running into Millions of Dollars. Would you term them as poor purohit?

Like every other business, only the fittest will survive in the purohit business. When you peel the layers, the purohit too is a human being. No more and No less.

hi



In Maryland, there is Hanuman Temple, 4 priests from put together a Temple on a 40 Acre farm. They raised funds and have sold off some land to a builder. It is a private business running into Millions of Dollars. Would you term them as poor purohit?


i know this temple...i regularly visited this temple...in fact 5 priests..not four...i know all of them..

they are very close friends to me....this is just exception in USA....i know whole story of this temple..

not all USA priests same story....

 

[kanva123]

The Lockdown owing to the Corona Pandemic has thrown many pundits and purohits out of any remuneration.
They have been forced to sit idle at home.
I feel that its the duty of every brahmin with decent income to come forward and help them financially.

An initiative by this forum would go a long way in minimising their sufferings. Kindly bring together the menbers and request them to contribute towards raising an amount to donate to such priests n Purohits.
Murugan Thunai..

Thanks n Regards

K.SURYANARAYAN

Any one-to-one assistance can be based on personal acquaintance. We are all keen to help. But in an organised way. I request the office-bearers of this community to invite contributions from all of us into a Savings bank and use the corpus for temple gurukkals in harness. Setting up a Trust may be beneficial too from taxation angle.

 

[Jaykay767]

Agree first we need to help the migrants, they are in such desperate situation, it is terrible.

It is very difficult to donate to different unknown organisations and people requesting on this forum not knowing how the funds are utilised. I am sure many will feel the same.

My suggestion is that if the forum owner Mr. Praveen is okay to take up more (?) responsibility, then we can request him to set up a online account for us to contribute and then donate to the migrants first. And then post this crisis, help the poor Brahmins priests and kids.

This can be an on going service we TBs can contribute to our society.

 

[prasad1]

Maintaining, organizing, running a charitable organization is more than a full-time job.
Further is a responsibility, and legally challenging job.
Mr. Praveen is a young man trying to run his business.
Even maintaining a TamilBrahmin forum must be a taxing venture.
I think we should not burden him at this point in time.

Let someone else create, run, and maintain such an organization outside of the forum.
I wish them success.