Is it permissible for the Veda Pandits or Shastri to commercialise vedam and charge

[prasad1]

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Let me give another example.

Recently my mother was asked to visit a parihara sthalam to worship Shashta (Murugan). The abhishekam ticket costs Rs.251. However, we made the mistake of telling the priest we want to get it done as a pariharam. The priest wanted to know for what and why. It did not take long for Rs.251 to become Rs.42,000. Priest said by giving Rs.10000 to 4 priests mom cud ensure of a very good abhishekam. Needless to say, mom never got it done. Here it was a case was fleecing, not casteism.

We shop in Jaipur, the moment we walk into a shop the shopkeeper has figured out that we are not local, the fleecing begins. We generally take my sis-in-law with us to shopping who is local.
Same is sadly true in other profession (including priests). The moment you show your guilty feeling, they will take advantage of it.

 

[kunjuppu]

We shop in Jaipur, the moment we walk into a shop the shopkeeper has figured out that we are not local, the fleecing begins. We generally take my sis-in-law with us to shopping who is local.
Same is sadly true in other profession (including priests). The moment you show your guilty feeling, they will take advantage of it.

as a tourist, i always figure, prices are anywhere from 50 to 200% above what is reasonable. we will get fleeced, and we know, we will get fleeced.

it is all part of the game.

but the sad thing i see, is mamis, get out of their cars, and bargain with the poor flower seller for a rupee or two, for few muzhams of jasmine flower. time and again. mrs K has strong instructions (a rare thing from me) NEVER to negotiate with flower fruit vegetable sellers in the street. when in chennai. these are poor day to day earners, and when we spend without a blink of an eye thousands in dollars, a couple of rupees to the honest but poor street vendor, i think, is cruel.

 

[auh]

when in chennai. these are poor day to day earners, and when we spend without a blink of an eye thousands in dollars, a couple of rupees to the honest but poor street vendor, i think, is cruel.

Just a small note from my side. Not all of these vendors are pitiable. Some are actually ruffians or scouts who have their part time job as vendors with the full time job being something else.

 

[kumarskanda]

Seems tobe highly exceptional. Infact i have seen in all temples even in the name of vishnu gothra or shiva gothra archanas being conducted and in these days of commercial necessity, any priest does not leave any opportunity of thatta kasu. I have visited temples in north, south, west and east. NOWHERE i have seen priest pushing offering to floor. I doubt that this member is trying to bring confusion among Hindus.

 

[prasad1]

Just a small note from my side. Not all of these vendors are pitiable. Some are actually ruffians or scouts who have their part time job as vendors with the full time job being something else.

I do not like to be fleeced. I positively hate being a sucker for the crooks. I do not mind giving charity to some needy person, but that is entirely different matter.

 

[palindrome]

We shop in Jaipur, the moment we walk into a shop the shopkeeper has figured out that we are not local, the fleecing begins. We generally take my sis-in-law with us to shopping who is local.
Same is sadly true in other profession (including priests). The moment you show your guilty feeling, they will take advantage of it.

my mom is running a negative dasa, that's all. no guilty feeling. the priest wanted rs.10,000 for 4 priests to confer their ''choicest'' blessing on my mom, aside from doing the abhishekham well. as if they won't bless for rs.1000 dakshina per person.

plain fleecing. as in any other business. except that this is the business of spirituality. no wonder babas, swamis, pandas are so rich.

 

[kunjuppu]

I do not like to be fleeced. I positively hate being a sucker for the crooks. I do not mind giving charity to some needy person, but that is entirely different matter.

agreed prasad. nobody likes to be fleeced.

it may be better to go to a government run emporium, where the prices may be higher, but atleast you get quality.

btw, the local relatives always ask how much i paid, and no matter what i say, they would say that they could have got it cheaper and i got fleeced.

so what do i do? i tell them some ridiculously low price, which is even less than what they would have paid (i ask them initially what the value is..or something like that). you should see their faces hang

 

[Brahmanyan]

Honestly, It is difficult to discuss this subject. With the fast dwindling numbers of qualified vedic priests to perform rituals this profession also has fallen to the economics of demand and supply. In the cities, sun, rain or wind, the priests have to travel end to end to attend their duties, which are time bound. Not all of them are lucky to get fat sums as "dakshina" on all occasions. They are also like us. The fear of future drives them to indulge in bargaining for the maximum money when they get an opportunity.

I am not here to decide whether it is right or wrong.

There is no organisation in Hindu religion to take care of Purohits or to fix their remuneration for performing rituals. (Except perhaps Arya Samaj) At one time the learnered brahmins were respected for their knowledge of scriptures and performing rituals enjoyed the munificense of the rulers and the rich. Look at the present conditions.These people who sacrifice their younger days in disciplined learning have no financial protection for future either for health or retirement. Their condition is no better than the daily wage earners. Being labeled as forward castes neither they enjoy the patronage of reservation by the Governments.

They are also part of the Society in which we live. There may be honest and dishonest members in the profession.
The dishonest should be treated just as any other criminal in the Society.

The condition of priests who perform puja in temples is pathetic. All temples are not Tirupathi or Palani where the priests are looked after well. Let me Take the condition in Karnataka.
As per the Muzrai (HRE) Minister of Karnataka ."there is no fixed salary for the priests. Emoluments are being paid depending on the income of the respective temple. While those working in A grade temples (which have a good income) are getting about Rs 8,000 per month, those in C grade temples are getting a meagre Rs 500 per month."
I am sure it may not be different in other States as well.

I always wonder why pilgrims who spend sizable amount to reach the Temples complain about giving a few rupees to the Pujaris, who perform puja. The boards in the Temples asking the pilgrims not to put cash on the puja plate but to drop in Hundis shows the metality of Administration.

I am aware my views may not go with the "majority". Here I wish to admit that I am not a "sanathanist" who believe in Rituals or Puja, neither I am a "rationalist" to decry the believers. I am still a seeker of truth who try to understand the relationship between me and my creator. My views are based purely on humanitarien considerations. I feel happy if some rituals give solace to the believer. Who am I to pass comments on the same.

 

[sangom]

That's the diff between tamil brahmins and telugu brahmins. No one i know of has ever faced any prob from telugu brahmins. They try to cultivate instead of doling out prejudice. In a wedding years ago, one telugu priest explained how each gotra was a branch of a larger group which he called pravara (that was way back in 1990s when i knew nothing about all this).

There was another prob which left us blinking. If a man wore neither namam nor pattai, the tamil priest wanted to know if you are a "namakarar" or a "pattaikarar" -- dad simply cud not understand what he meant by that until mom intervened (she replied 'namakarar', maybe that added to the shaiva priest's dislike of us). The priest's job is to simply do the archana and move on, why does he need to know if the client is a namakarar or a pattaikarar.

Palindrome,

In the temples here, gotra is never asked for, from anybody; only the name and birth star are written on the cash receipt issued by the temple office and this is given (handed over) to the Chief priest's assistant. On any busy day, there will be dozens or even scores of such receipts. The chief priest, as a rule, does not read out even any of the receipts but (may be due to his sattvik genes?!) presumes that the all-knowing god will read out all those receipts

After the daily Arti, the Chief priest hands over a number of banana leaf pieces containing the prasAdam/s and this is taken to the "delivery counter" where the names are read out aloud and the person is usually tipped by the devotees.

For VIPs, VVIPs, etc., the Chief priest himself comes out of the sanctum sanctorum, reads/calls out the name given and personally drops the banana leaf on to the palms of the VIP/VVIP devotee. And of course sometimes there is generous dakshina given in public view. Some VIPs/VVIPs don't bother to give any dakshina.

Thus, no real archanai takes place and it is all pure belief.

 

[Vaagmi]

Palindrome,

In the temples here, gotra is never asked for, from anybody; only the name and birth star are written on the cash receipt issued by the temple office and this is given (handed over) to the Chief priest's assistant. On any busy day, there will be dozens or even scores of such receipts. The chief priest, as a rule, does not read out even any of the receipts but (may be due to his sattvik genes?!) presumes that the all-knowing god will read out all those receipts

After the daily Arti, the Chief priest hands over a number of banana leaf pieces containing the prasAdam/s and this is taken to the "delivery counter" where the names are read out aloud and the person is usually tipped by the devotees.

For VIPs, VVIPs, etc., the Chief priest himself comes out of the sanctum sanctorum, reads/calls out the name given and personally drops the banana leaf on to the palms of the VIP/VVIP devotee. And of course sometimes there is generous dakshina given in public view. Some VIPs/VVIPs don't bother to give any dakshina.

Thus, no real archanai takes place and it is all pure belief.

The God never asked you to come to the temple to worship him or offer an archanai to him. The priest also did not ask you to come there to offer the archanai. He does not even know you. So it is you the bhaktha who creates all this mess in the temple. You have your expectations which are secrets in your mind and you expect God/priest to make them come true. Why dont you go to the temple with your secret wishes intact, sit in one corner with the ashtoththara satha namavali book, do the archanai yourself and take the kumkum or tulsi to the priest and ask him to offer it to the God without any archanai by him? Self help is the best help. Is it not so? So after going to the temple and after playing psychological games there and getting hurt why come and complain? Perhaps saatvik people have no such complaints. Others have a lot of it as it appears here. VVip/VIP are altogether a different case. Not showing respect to them can cost the priest his job and his soul may part company with his body.

Here the you is not the you representing the people who have posted here. It represents the general public popularly called bhakthas.

 

[auh]

Thus, no real archanai takes place and it is all pure belief.

Generally (and I dont know about you), most babies bumble around making incoherent noises and on constant egging and talking they form baby-ish words that further refine, in due course, and they learn to associate a crude meaning to the sounds they make. Then, as they grow older, the vocabulary increases, and they learn small sentences, then into larger sentences and prose and much more. The learning process is thus a gradual one with many levels. There many be exceptions (for and against), but that is not the norm.

Belief in a God is a similar one. People are all not saints or "samadharshinis" and we have to accept that the world is not a perfect one of utopia. If people are comforted by certain beliefs that do not harm others, then it is ok if we do not accept it, but mocking it or making sarcastic comments do not befit one that seems to have risen above petty beliefs.

Just for your thoughts please.

 

[kunjuppu]

vaagmi re your post # 34,

this is not a fair post vaagmi. we are talking of faith here. our hindu faith. our temples. current day practise and law states that the priest be available to do pooja etc on our behalf..i am only wont to repeat my earlier post here. which i think is valid here too..

in the altar of God, i feel, that we dont have to go through shenanigans, known unknown innocent or otherwise, to get the dues from the vathyar.

by default, we are devotees, and he is the arbiter of the faith, an intermediary, who carries our fears prayers wishes vendukOls and above all the strength of our belief, before the idol, which/whom we personify as our Ultimate.

it is his duty God Bound, to express our wishes and desires, and in the process, give us a sense of satisfaction, that our emotions have been transmitted with the right code and feeling, to the devas and beyond.

the priest has a dual duty, to convey the message to the Lord, and convey to us as the believer, that the message has been passed on with all the fervour and intensity, that we have in our heart.

if he fails on either one of these accounts, he has failed in his job. so he does not deserve not only the dakshinai that we may drop on his plate, but he carries with him the crimes associated with unfulfillment of a client, who has paid for his services.

by default, in tamil nadu major temples if he is a brahmin, by right inheritance or traing, i dont see anything wrong, in calling him an arrogant personification of his caste. i will tell this to his face, for not only he defaulted his calling, but by virtue of birthright/legacy, he committed a bigger crime in the name of his caste, whose ultimate victims of his default, may be innocent poor and indigent tambrams.

even a bigger damage to the hindu heritage, as a resultant of his wilful negligance, are those, who are turned off to such an extent, as to consider the hindu temple as an exclusive but despicable possessorship of a particular caste, and stop visiting/patronizing it from then on. a loss to the faith and heritage, propagated from a single person to the next generation, is indeed, an unmeasurable loss, especially in the light of aggressive proselytization from outside the borders of mother india.

therefore, that the temple priest has no sense of responsibility to his community, i think, is a bigger transgression, and which, i think, thoughtful and intelligent members of this august forum, might nod their heads in assent. for those who demur, i have nothing more to say. politely ofcourse

 

[sangom]

Generally (and I dont know about you), most babies bumble around making incoherent noises and on constant egging and talking they form baby-ish words that further refine, in due course, and they learn to associate a crude meaning to the sounds they make. Then, as they grow older, the vocabulary increases, and they learn small sentences, then into larger sentences and prose and much more. The learning process is thus a gradual one with many levels. There many be exceptions (for and against), but that is not the norm.

Belief in a God is a similar one. People are all not saints or "samadharshinis" and we have to accept that the world is not a perfect one of utopia. If people are comforted by certain beliefs that do not harm others, then it is ok if we do not accept it, but mocking it or making sarcastic comments do not befit one that seems to have risen above petty beliefs.

Just for your thoughts please.

Shri auh,

Can you tell me which part/s of my post are "mocking or making sarcastic comments" ? I thought of informing Palindrome about the practice in the temples of my area.

And FYI I have not gone to any temple/s for years now, nor have I done any archanai or any other offering, except giving moneys in a local temple for poor feeding. This also I stopped on coming to know that on most days the temple gets much more poor-feeding offers (no. of meals) than the people coming for such meals and so I stopped that also.

 

[auh]

Shri auh,

Can you tell me which part/s of my post are "mocking or making sarcastic comments" ? I thought of informing Palindrome about the practice in the temples of my area.

And FYI I have not gone to any temple/s for years now, nor have I done any archanai or any other offering, except giving moneys in a local temple for poor feeding. This also I stopped on coming to know that on most days the temple gets much more poor-feeding offers (no. of meals) than the people coming for such meals and so I stopped that also.

Sir, pls see this tone

The chief priest, as a rule, does not read out even any of the receipts but (may be due to his sattvik genes?!) presumes that the all-knowing god will read out all those receipts

You are, perhaps unintentionally, bringing some personal inferences in what appears to be an otherwise unbiased observation, which I did not expect from you (which expectation, perhaps, may be my folly).

Trust I have answered your query.

Regards,

P.S. FYKI, I go sometimes to temples, with parents and family, and also, on important occasions, contribute towards distribution of prasadams. I have made some donations also (other than religious organizations) which details are not needed here. This is not a self-boast but just to inform that charity and kindness are not necessarily linked to religion and neither is it necessarily excluded.

 

[prasad1]

(which expectation, perhaps, may be my folly).

Trust I have answered your query.

Regards,

The all-knowing God, knows me I do not need any introduction.
Auhji,
I have been here on this site a little longer than you, so expectations!!!!

 

[Nara]

....Belief in a God is a similar one.

Dear auh, no, it is not similar. Language ability is natural, it is in our DNA. Please look at the pioneering work of Noam Chomsky. Belief in God is social conditioning. We all are born atheist, theism is hammered into us, a sordid gift from our parents and society.

Thanks ..

 

[Nara]

.....it is his duty God Bound, to express our wishes and desires, and in the process, give us a sense of satisfaction, that our emotions have been transmitted with the right code and feeling, to the devas and beyond.

the priest has a dual duty, to convey the message to the Lord, and convey to us as the believer, that the message has been passed on with all the fervour and intensity, that we have in our heart.

Dear K, you have to believe in your religion or not beleive, you can't have it both ways. If you believe in the religion, then I must say the priest (archaka) has no such obligation. The idol that sits there in the sanctum is not some representation of God, Hinduism teaches the faithful that it is God himself, who, in his infinite compassion, has taken residence in that idol. The responsibility of the archaka is to take care of the idol, wake him up in the morning with suprabhatham, brush his teeth, bath him, sing his praise, offer him food, and sing his praise on behalf of the visitors. He has no obligation to pass any message to God or vouchsafe the safe transmission of such messages. Such obligations may be true in a Christian church, but no can do in a Hindu temple. If you are a theist and if you have such expectations, you really need to look into one of the Christian denominations .

regards ....

 

[auh]

no, it is not similar. Language ability is natural, it is in our DNA. Please look at the pioneering work of Noam Chomsky. Belief in God is social conditioning. We all are born atheist, theism is hammered into us, a sordid gift from our parents and society.

I reproduce the below excerpt from wikipedia:

It is a popular misconception that Chomsky proved that language is entirely innate, and that he discovered a "universal grammar" (UG). In fact, Chomsky simply observed that while a human baby and a kitten are both capable of inductive reasoning, if they are exposed to exactly the same linguistic data, the human child will always acquire the ability to understand and produce language, while the kitten will never acquire either ability.

From this it does not seem to show that Chomsky proved that language-learning is in our DNA. It is merely to show that we are capable of reasoning (logically), and then proceed on to general conclusions. In fact this supports the belief that there might be a God. If there are any other facts to repudiate this statement about his works please provide them (if you want to).

This inductive reasoning capacity is also responsible for a lot many of the conclusions that we have arrived at. This probably is the difference between humans and other species.

Regards,

 

[Vaagmi]

post# 40:

Dear auh, no, it is not similar. Language ability is natural, it is in our DNA. Please look at the pioneering work of Noam Chomsky. Belief in God is social conditioning. We all are born atheist, theism is hammered into us, a sordid gift from our parents and society.

Most of educated, thinking individuals at some point early in their life (most probably in their youth) come to the conclusion that God is an unnecessary burden and theism demands too much of blind following. As they grow up they go through experiences in life. They start understanding the God idea/concept then. At this stage they are not blind followers of whatever is dished out to them by religion and faith. They take the grain and leave the chaff. Those who grow slowly or those whose growth is stunted get stuck midway and never get out of that. They have a ready answer for everything and that is a big "no". Given chance they will deny everything including their own existence (nihilism). We are not born atheist. We are born as clean slates. Atheism is as much something written on that as theism is. What we are born with are always either beautiful or have the seeds which can blossom into a beautiful fragrant flower. Atheism is certainly not beautiful. A clean slate has the potential to get written with beautiful things.

 

[sangom]

Sir, pls see this tone You are, perhaps unintentionally, bringing some personal inferences in what appears to be an otherwise unbiased observation, which I did not expect from you (which expectation, perhaps, may be my folly).

Trust I have answered your query.

Regards,

P.S. FYKI, I go sometimes to temples, with parents and family, and also, on important occasions, contribute towards distribution of prasadams. I have made some donations also (other than religious organizations) which details are not needed here. This is not a self-boast but just to inform that charity and kindness are not necessarily linked to religion and neither is it necessarily excluded.

OK, I understand. The overdose of discussions about sattvik genes of brahmins had perhaps its effect. I did not say anything against charity, religion or temple visits in general. All that I was saying was about myself. It has nothing to do with any others.

The temple procedures as per the tAntrika system which is followed in most temples of Kerala requires that a full archana with proper samkalpam and a naivedyam and Arti should be done for each archana. This was being followed in the olden days when the temples were not under government control and the (Chief) priest was being directly given the dakshina by the devotees. In those days only a limited number of archanais used to be accepted also on any day.

Shri auh,

Here again, I am only giving whatever I know from personal experience; there is no intent to be mocking or sarcastic. (Written words may sometimes mean differently to different readers.)

 

[auh]

As they grow up they go through experiences in life. They start understanding the God idea/concept then.

I think this is an important fact that has not been brought out until now. People go through various experiences, and not all of them can be explained scientifically. There are many beliefs that works for some and not for others, and it would be a folly if we were to be dismissive of such "happenings". Maybe, incidental or accidental could be used from an outsider, but only a person who has undergone the ordeal would know if probability had played a part in his destiny.

Convincingly we cannot rule out God, just as we cannot prove him logically.

 

[Vaagmi]

Kunjuppu,

Kunjuppu in 36:

vaagmi re your post # 34,
this is not a fair post vaagmi. we are talking of faith here. our hindu faith. our temples. current day practise and law states that the priest be available to do pooja etc on our behalf..i am only wont to repeat my earlier post here. which i think is valid here too..in the altar of God, i feel, that we dont have to go through shenanigans, known unknown innocent or otherwise, to get the dues from the vathyar.by default, we are devotees, and he is the arbiter of the faith, an intermediary, who carries our fears prayers wishes vendukOls and above all the strength of our belief, before the idol, which/whom we personify as our Ultimate. it is his duty God Bound, to express our wishes and desires, and in the process, give us a sense of satisfaction, that our emotions have been transmitted with the right code and feeling, to the devas and beyond

You are a devotee and he is a priest/archakar/gurukkal. That is all. He is not the arbiter of faith or an intermediary to carry errands from you to the God. Your fears and prayers are with you. You are asking him to do a puja to God on your behalf and he does that nothing more nothing less. So it appears that your understanding of his role is wrong.You express your wishes to God direct and he does just the puja on your behalf.

the priest has a dual duty, to convey the message to the Lord, and convey to us as the believer, that the message has been passed on with all the fervour and intensity, that we have in our heart. if he fails on either one of these accounts, he has failed in his job. so he does not deserve not only the dakshinai that we may drop on his plate, but he carries with him the crimes associated with unfulfillment of a client, who has paid for his services.

Again you have misunderstood. For a paltry 1000 INR which you drop in his plate grudgingly, he will not ask the God to safeguard the export consignment worth a million USD which you have sent through a container in the ship. There is no proportion. Please understand that the money you drop in his plate is money offered by you to him for doing the puja to God on your behalf. What you want to ask the God is purely you own task.

by default, in tamil nadu major temples if he is a brahmin, by right inheritance or traing, i dont see anything wrong, in calling him an arrogant personification of his caste. i will tell this to his face, for not only he defaulted his calling, but by virtue of birthright/legacy, he committed a bigger crime in the name of his caste, whose ultimate victims of his default, may be innocent poor and indigent tambrams.

The priest is also a creature of the society and circumstances as you are. He has his weaknesses and strengths as you have. He is not a mahatma. His behaviour will be just as your behavior. Don’t you get angry? Don’t you treat people badly at times? Don’t you have your weaknesses which get the better of you often?

even a bigger damage to the hindu heritage, as a resultant of his wilful negligance, are those, who are turned off to such an extent, as to consider the hindu temple as an exclusive but despicable possessorship of a particular caste, and stop visiting/patronizing it from then on. a loss to the faith and heritage, propagated from a single person to the next generation, is indeed, an unmeasurable loss, especially in the light of aggressive proselytization from outside the borders of mother india

I am leaving the caste part of your views unresponded because we have already discussed that here many times and we all know where we stand and why we stand there. If a priest misbehaves, complain to his human boss, the Officer of HRCE or to the EO of the temple. He will take action if necessary. There the matter will end. Extrapolating his misbehavior to his caste, heritage, possessorship by this or that caste etc are uncalled for. If every action of an individual is to be interpreted in his caste terms there will be no end to the bickering. Proselytization is a different matter. We have enough cases of priests indulging in their own capacity and acting as agents of foreigners in sex crimes against children. So a priest is just that like a mason, a driver, a teacher, a doctor or a CEO. Thanks.

 

[prasad1]

Kunjuppu,

Kunjuppu in 36:



You are a devotee and he is a priest/archakar/gurukkal. That is all. He is not the arbiter of faith or an intermediary to carry errands from you to the God. Your fears and prayers are with you. You are asking him to do a puja to God on your behalf and he does that nothing more nothing less. So it appears that your understanding of his role is wrong.You express your wishes to God direct and he does just the puja on your behalf.



Again you have misunderstood. For a paltry 1000 INR which you drop in his plate grudgingly, he will not ask the God to safeguard the export consignment worth a million USD which you have sent through a container in the ship. There is no proportion. Please understand that the money you drop in his plate is money offered by you to him for doing the puja to God on your behalf. What you want to ask the God is purely you own task.



The priest is also a creature of the society and circumstances as you are. He has his weaknesses and strengths as you have. He is not a mahatma. His behaviour will be just as your behavior. Don’t you get angry? Don’t you treat people badly at times? Don’t you have your weaknesses which get the better of you often?



I am leaving the caste part of your views unresponded because we have already discussed that here many times and we all know where we stand and why we stand there. If a priest misbehaves, complain to his human boss, the Officer of HRCE or to the EO of the temple. He will take action if necessary. There the matter will end. Extrapolating his misbehavior to his caste, heritage, possessorship by this or that caste etc are uncalled for. If every action of an individual is to be interpreted in his caste terms there will be no end to the bickering. Proselytization is a different matter. We have enough cases of priests indulging in their own capacity and acting as agents of foreigners in sex crimes against children. So a priest is just that like a mason, a driver, a teacher, a doctor or a CEO. Thanks.

A well written post.
I agree that being priest is a profession, some are devoted to the job others are doing it because that it pays for the qualification they have. Nothing more nothing less.

 

[sathya_9]

thnks for reply.

there is lot of difference in other vocation such as software etc. and the vocation of vedic preeching. I agree that a vadhyar also need money for manhy purpose to run familhy, run meet educational expenses and to marry his daughters. But what i am trying to tell is the rates are to be so affordable even for a common man and poor person to permorm. No one pays Rs.5 for Amavasa tharpanam or Rs.100 for other things. The shardha charges is around rs. 1000/-- and a homan charges it ranges from %s.10000/-. Recently my friend performed Ayush homan and graha pravesam and for thsi he has to pay sambhavanai of Rs.11000/-. These things receive adverse comment from the community. And i am surses if these things continue unabated the people will slowly loose faith. You may ask when a person is spending every year Rs.10000/- to Rs.20000/- for birthday party why cannot spend similar money for vidc causes.You are right. But you know it is the mijd set andyou cannot escape it.