Hurt & Heartbroken - The Mount Abu Diaries

Delwara, the world famous Jain temples at Mount Abu, have been known for their intricate carving and is a very fine example of craftsmanship.

I, being a Jain myself, have been to Delwara many times. But my last visit hurt me a lot. Actually, these temples are under the control of Rajasthan government, and not under the control of local Jains. And thats where all fishy things start.

As its with everything thats under government control, the rules are meant to be bent. And its the same with Delwara temples.

They allow the tourist visitors after 12 noon and the temple is open for Jain devotees from 6 am for performing pooja. Earlier, I have always been there before 12 noon to avoid rush and to be able to perform darshan and pooja. This was the first time ever that I visited the temple after 12.

It was around 1.30 pm. It was overcrowded. They were not letting us in before a bunch of around 50 people gathered. When they got the sufficient numbers, they let us in. The pujaris had now switched their roles. As they had nothing to do, they had turned into guides.

They took us to each of the five temples one by one. They acted as if they were cops and didn't let us do our darshan properly. I protested. Then the pujari-cum-guide let at least me perform darshan properly.

Another thing that hurt me was that not a single rule that needed to be followed in a Jain temple was being followed. In a Jain temple, people are not allowed to eat, people are not allowed without proper clothing (shorts and revealing clothes are not allowed). People, especially couples, are not allowed to walk hands in hands. All these rules were being broken in front of me and the pujari-cum-guide. He didn't even tell anything who broke the rules.

People were eating, couples were walking together as if they ar at some romantic place or a lovers' point, and not to mention short clothes. I would like to mention another world-famous Jain temples, Ranakpur, for maintaining the rules and sanctity. Many tourists visit this temple too. But the management is just awesome. People have to go through security checks before entering the temple. People with short and revealing clothes are not allowed. Instead they are provided with proper clothing (gowns for girls/ladies and pajamas for guys) at a very nominal charge.

One final thing about Delwara. After the whole 'tour' of the temples was over, the pujari-cum-guide started uttering words like these "Aap itni mahaan jagah aaye hain. Yahaan aane se hi aap ka jeevan safal ho gaya. Bhagwaan ke ghar aaye ho, maine aap ko itna kuchh bataya, is mein agar mujh se koi bhool hui ho, to mujhe maaf karna. Achha laga ho, to mujhe kuchh dakshina de ke jaana. Jo aap ki ichchha ho, 10 rupaye doge, to 5 pujari 2-2 rupaye baantege. 20 doge, to 4-4 baantenge, 50 doge, to 10-10 baantenge. Aage aap ki ichchha."

Hearing these words, I was shocked. These guys, are paid heavily by the government. Plus they get all the benefits that a government servant gets. And still they are demanding money. I consider it as demanding bribe, since we did not hire him to guide us.

I had very less time as I had to rush back home. If I had some time, i would have definitely complained about this then and there. I have visited the Devasthan department's website which is responsible for managing and maintaining the temples under Government control.But there wasn't any link to post a complaint over there. There was a mail ID of the Commissioner of Devasthan department on this page. I forwarded the copy of this blog post to that mail ID, but it wasn't delivered as the mail ID was wrong. GOD save India !!!

This is the difference when a temple goes under the control of the govenrment. The same has happened with the Jain temple at Rishabhdeo (also called Keshariyaji) in Udaipur district. There was a dispute between the Jains and the local Adivasis over the temple. So the government tool it under its control. The local Jains challenged it in the court. After a long battle, the court ruled the case in the favour of Jain around 20 months ago. But the government has still not handed over the temple to the local Jain body. I urge the government to hand over the Keshariyaji temple to the Jains and look into the matter of Delwara temples.

Hurt and heartbroken, I sign off...