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Shrine entrepreneurship
Written By murali772 - 28 June, 2008
Traffic Bangalore Infrastructure Religion Analysis
If any one can do anything about this menace, it is the BJP government. The Chief Minister needs to show statesmanship here, make the statement that he will not allow religion to be misused in this fashion, and have all the temples removed/ shifted, where required say over one grand city-wide "Satyanarayana Pooja". Once he sets an example with the temples, it will not be difficult to convince the other religious leaders to follow suit.
The following is what I had written to the TOI in Nov,'03, under the same caption:
The Chief Minister's exhortation to the BMP to immediately demolish unauthorised shrines that have come up in public places (vide the report in your columns on the 31st Oct) has not come a day too soon. You can see these so-called shrines sprouting up all over the city, proving a menace to both traffic as well as general peace in the area. These have to be recognised for what they actually are as purely commercial establishments. No god, whatever the faith, can ever reside in any of them. They need to be brought down ruthlessly, lest the menace eventually overtake the city.
Even in the case of the licensed ones, the BMP should ensure that they conform to the setback rules, rather than allowing them to blatantly encroach on to the footpaths in total disregard to the inconvenience caused to pedestrians. Also, where existing shrines prove a major traffic hurdle, the BMP should take initiative to ceremoniously re-locate them to some vacant site nearby with the consent and co-operation of the local people. There are enough examples of the church having done exactly that.
Such people-friendly approach is also good politics, and in addition will have the blessings of the gods too. The gods too would be happier with a people-friendly image.
The situation since has only gotten worse. The recent road widening exercise by BBMP has made the problem even more acute, particularly for the pedestrian. A typical case is the one near the Canara Bank bus stop on the ever busy 100 ft road in Koramangala. Some pictures:
[flickr-photo:id=2616050728,size=m][flickr-photo:id=2616050708,size=m]
The then Congress govt couldn't have been expected to do more than just make the right kind of noises, the matter being a political hot potato. If any one can do anything about this menace, it is the BJP government. The Chief Minister needs to show statesmanship here, make the statement that he will not allow religion to be misused in this fashion, and have all the temples removed/ shifted, where required say over one grand city-wide "Satyanarayana Pooja". Once he sets an example with the temples, it will not be difficult to convince the other religious leaders to follow suit.
Such a step will have a country-wide impact, and can become the best vote getter for the party in the soon to follow elections from all the sections of the population, except may be the fanatic few.
[PS: added pictures inline {blr_editor}]
COMMENTS
ssheragu - 29 June, 2008 - 12:38
it is vey true that people, just to legalise usage of footpaths for personal gains or just to earn some money through wayward means, construct shrines on footpaths, create acceptability using it and then utilise for their personal gains; thus they misuse and hamper pedestrian movement. a similar case I THINK is the area occupied by Shiva temple on HAL airport road.
to eliminate such pavement shrines the following should be followed
1. public should be educated not to patronise pavement shrines
2. a board should be put up adjacent to such shrines by BBMP or BDA stating that patronising such shrines is against any GOD or RELIGION and is a great injustice to humanity and is in fact a big nuisance to the public themselves
once the shrines cease to be patronised the BBMP or BDA can demolish these shrines without attracting any public outburst.
Srinath Heragu
shrines and the road setback 'trick'
silkboard - 29 June, 2008 - 07:13
Murali sir, I hope you are aware of the way in which some of these road side shrines are misused. Say I have a business by the side of the road. I am short on space. But I want to get more floor space for my shop/business. One option would be to encroach on the road or pavement. So, a short cut used sometimes is - build a small Balaji or Hanuman temple on the edge of the road. Once the 'temple' gets some visits, and acquires some legitimacy, you can stretch your shop a bit more on the pavement, at least as far as the "new temple" stretches.
Note that this trick isn't the reason for all the "obstructing" temples. Many such cases are a result of mindless road widening. But I have heard the above trick isn't that uncommon. I have pictures of two such examples. But I am not that bold to post them here.
ssheragu - 15 November, 2008 - 03:13
shas3n - 14 November, 2008 - 10:05
See what Mr. Modi is doing in Gujrath
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/modi-on-illegal-temple-demolition-drive-vhp-fumes/78125-3.html
-Shastri
tsubba - 28 June, 2008 - 23:02
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