TEMPLES IN USA.

During my visits to USA I observed that the NRIs built beautiful temples in almost all the cities, Buffalo, Orlando, San Francisco, Memphis, Atlanta , Philadelphia to name a few. Some cities like Philadelphia have more than one temple. The ISKCON has its own temples in addition. These temples show fine architecture and costly fittings like granite floors, and very pleasing and expensive interiors. The NRIs come in their fancy cars dressed in all finery and compete with each other in shelling out thousands of dollars for the construction and maintenance of these temples.

Most of the temples are for Balaji, who is perhaps the richest God and has a nice abode at Tirumala. The Hindus at Memphis take great pride that they have the biggest idol of Balaji in the entire North America. The Balaji ensconced in Orlando is covered in diamonds from head to toe. The converts are more zealous than the faithful and the NRI Hindus are more Hindu than us in India. The same NRIs think twice or more when asked to loosen their purse strings to help the poor and needy back home.

We see many fine Hindu temples all over India and they show that the ancient kings spent a fortune to build fine temples and not to promote something for the aam admi. If only they spent on subjects like education, health or even warfare we could have managed to keep many foreign invaders at bay. History repeats itself and we make the same mistakes.

I do understand and appreciate that the NRIs need some spiritual guidance and something to thank for their good fortune. But Mahatma Gandhi the father of the nation said that service to mankind is service to God. The NRIs can do service to God by contributing for the betterment of many villages where suicidal deaths are common and the living conditions are veritable hell.

If the NRIs in each city took it on themselves to develop a district by their funds and route the money not through Government( to avoid wastage) but through some NGOs and monitor the progress by their state of the art techniques we could have banished poverty from our country at least ten years back. When poverty is abolished and everyone goes to bed on a full stomach most of the problems in our country would cease to exist. We dont have to look to the Finance Minister for succour.

I for one tried to raise funds for some project like the school for hearing and speech impaired and met with zero success. If the NRIs want to thank God they can easily do so by visiting a temple when they visit India. That way the temples will get a face lift and the poor also will benefit. I am sure that many bloggers have their kith and kin abroad and I appeal to them to impress upon their wards that the Hindu Gods are rich indeed and need no further temples. What is needed is help for the poor and needy.

I may not be very devout but I am no red.