Temples of Social Justice: A Historical Perspective

• The controversy over diverting temple funds for building colleges in Tamil Nadu highlights a unique social justice model regulating secular practices associated with religion.

• The model, developed in the Madras Presidency, draws strength from a 200-year-old legislative framework.

• The Justice Party’s election in 1920 led to the enactment of the Hindu Religious Endowments Act, which allowed surplus temple funds to be diverted for other purposes.

• The issue of whether funds provided to a temple could be used for secular purposes was settled in 1925, with the current law, the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959, retaining the provision of surplus funds.

• The 1959 Act allows trustees of religious institutions to appropriate any surplus funds for any purposes listed under the law, with the prior sanction of the Commissioner.

• Temples have a rich history of endowments, receiving lavish donations from sovereign rulers since 970 AD.

• The 1959 Act has been tested and upheld by constitutional courts, with the permissible uses of surplus funds including the establishment and maintenance of universities or colleges.

• The controversy also carries ideological and sociopolitical significance.

• The Self-Respect Movement viewed the regulation of temples and oversight of their resources as a critical feature of anti-caste reforms.

• Any argument against government control of temple affairs would be striking at the root of social justice, as any reversal would only result in a setback of the long legacy of social justice and religious reforms that south India has pioneered.