Maharashtra: Vaishvik Hindu Parishad calls for centralised authority over Temples similar to Waqf Board

The Vaishvik Hindu Parishad has called for the establishment of a Hindu Mandir Board to serve as the supreme authority over all temples in the country, akin to the Waqf Board. The Hindu front also demanded that the Government repeal the Religious Endowment Act 1951, citing it as Hindu-phobic and alleging unfair and unjust government control.

The 12th edition of Vaishvik Hindu Rashtra Mahotsav, organised by the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, is underway at Shri Ramnath Devasthan in Ponda, Goa. This week-long convention is expected to be attended by more than 2,000 delegates representing over 350 Hindu organisations from around the globe.

During the fifth day of the convention, the Vaishvik Hindu Mahotsav called for the establishment of a ‘Hindu Mandir Board’ to serve as the paramount authority over temples, akin to the Waqf Board for Muslim places of worship. The convention emphasised the need for a Hindu Mandir Board to safeguard the wealth, administration, and land of hundreds of thousands of temples across India.

Spokesperson Vishnu Shankar Jain of the Hindu Front For Justice, an advocate involved in reclaiming temples at Kashi and Mathura, stated, “The then Congress Government established the Waqf Board and strengthened it with special legal powers to protect the religious property and land belonging to the Muslim community. On the same grounds, the Union Government should set up a Hindu Mandir Board.”

The convention also demanded that the union government should immediately repeal the ‘Religious Endowment Act 1951’ to free all the temples from Government control alleging that it allows the Government to take over the Hindu temples in an unfair and unjust manner.

Pavan Sinha Guruji of Pavan Chintan Dhara Ashram in Uttar Pradesh said, “It is not appropriate for the Government of a secular country to take over only Hindu temples. Therefore, our demand is that the Government should free all temples from its control. For this purpose, we have organised the Mandir Sanskriti Parishad (Temple Culture Council).”

The convention also raised allegations that the Waqf Board has taken possession of properties owned by Hindu temples, including 19 acres of land from Shri Shani Shingnapur Temple, 12.5 acres from Shri Kankaleshwar Temple in Beed, and approximately 1,200 acres alongside the 1,500-year-old Sri Chandrasekhara Swamy Temple in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu. It called on the government to intervene and restore these properties to their rightful owners.

State coordinator of Maharashtra Mandir Sangh, Sunil Ghanwat, said, “The discussions in these annual Vaishvik Hindu Rashtra Mahotsava paved the way for ‘Mandir Sanskruti Raksha Abhiyan’, a mass movement to uphold the sanctity and ancient Vedic tradition of Hindu temples. Till today, 14,000 temples across the Country have become part of this wider movement aimed at safeguarding the sources of divine consciousness. More than 700 temples have introduced dress code at temple premises to maintain the sanctity of temples. We plan to expand this initiative further and aim to free temple premises from businesses that offer ‘liquor and alcohol’ for sale.”

Furthermore, it urged the Government to adopt a rental model akin to the one used by the Waqf Board in Maharashtra. The demand extended to implementing a similar framework for temples whose lands are utilised for government and private purposes.