Devotee’s Phone Falls into Hundi, Temple Refuses Return
Devotee's Phone Falls into Hundi, Temple Refuses Return
In the Tamil film ‘Palayathamman’, a woman accidentally drops her baby into a temple’s donation box, making the child ‘temple property’. Similarly, at the Arulmigu Kandaswamy temple in Thiruporur, near Chennai, a devotee accidentally dropped an iPhone into the hundi. The outcome was the same, as the temple claimed the phone as its own.
Dinesh, a devotee from Vinayagapuram, had to leave without his phone on Friday because the temple authorities stated that anything placed in the hundi belongs to the deity. However, they offered to return his SIM card and allow him to download the data from the phone.
Dinesh had visited the temple with his family about a month ago, and after worshipping, he went to drop some money into the hundi. While he was taking out currency notes from his shirt pocket, his iPhone accidentally fell into the hundi. Since the hundi was placed high up, he couldn’t retrieve the phone. In a panic, Dinesh approached the temple authorities, but they informed him that once an offering is made in the hundi, it is considered the property of the deity and cannot be returned. Additionally, they mentioned that the hundi is opened only once every two months.
Dinesh filed a complaint with the HR and CE (Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments) officials, asking to be notified when the hundi would be opened. When the temple authorities finally opened the hundi on Friday, Dinesh hurried to get his phone back, only to be told that the device would remain with the temple. He was given the option to take the SIM card and download any important data from the phone. Dinesh obtained a new SIM card and chose to let the authorities decide if he could retrieve his phone.
Temple executive officer Kumaravel stated that the tradition of treating anything that falls into the hundi as belonging to the temple and the deity would be upheld, and that the phone would remain in the temple’s custody. He added, “We are not clear whether he dropped it as an offering and later changed his mind, because the hundi is well protected with an iron fence.”
