A separate meeting to be held after the budget session to solve temple issues: CM Mr. Eknath Shinde

Various demands presented to the Chief Minister on behalf of Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh !

The Government is serious about the problems faced by the temples in Maharashtra. Chief Minister Mr Eknath Shinde has promised to hold a separate meeting after the end of the budget session of concerned officials, temple trustees, and priests to solve various problems faced by all the temples. This promise was made by the CM during the meeting of temple trustees held at Vidhan Bhavan. Regarding solving the problems faced by the temples, the Chief Minister gave a positive response after having a detailed discussion with the trustees, so also, the Chief Minister took serious note of the demands made during the meeting. This was stated by the coordinator of the Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh and the Maharashtra State Convener of the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti Mr Sunil Ghanwat.

During the Maharashtra Mandir Nyas Parishad held at Jalgaon on 4th and 5th February 2023, various resolutions were unanimously passed for conservation and protection of temples. The temple trustees submitted all the resolutions made on behalf of the Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh to the Chief Minister and requested him to take appropriate action.

Large-scale corruption is going on in temples taken over by the Government such as Shri Tuljabhavani Temple Sansthan at Tuljapur, Shri Mahalakshmi Devasthan at Kolhapur, Shri Vitthal-Rukmini Temple at Pandharpur, Shri Saibaba Sansthan at Shirdi, Shri Siddhivinayak Mandir at Mumbai, and so on the Government investigation is also going on. Besides, all the temples where an Administrator or a Judge has been appointed should be handed back to Hindus; an independent authority should be established in this regard. A statement of such demands was handed over to the Chief Minister on behalf of the Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh.

The delegation of the temple trustees who made the appeal included the Minister of State for Ports and Mines Shri. Dadaji Bhuse, Shiv Sena MP from Nashik Shri. Hemant Godse, Chief whip of Shiv Sena and MLA Shri. Bharatsheth Gogavle, President of ‘Srikshetra Bhimashankar Sansthan’ Advocate Suresh Kaudre, Associate Trustee Shri. Madhukar Gawande, Chairman of ‘Shri Lenyadri Ganapati Devasthan Trust’ Shri. Jitendra Bidwai, Acharya Mahamandaleshwar Shrimahant Sudhirdas Maharaj of ‘Shri Kalaram Mandira’ at Nashik, Chief Executive Officer of ‘G.S.B. Temple Trust’ Shri. Ritvik Aurangabadkar, President of ‘Shrimangalgraha Seva Sansthan’ at Amalner Shri. Digambar Mahale, Shri. Adinath Chavan of ‘Vadaj Devasthan’, advocate Abhishek Bhagat of ‘Shri Bhawanimata Mandir’ at Nagar, former President of ‘Sri Tuljabhavani Pujari Mandal’ Shri. Kishore Gangane, President of ‘Panvel Jain Sangha’ Shri. Motilal Jain, Shri. Ashok Kumar Khandelwal, Dharmaprachark of ‘Sanatan Sanstha’ Shri. Abhay Vartak, State President of ‘Dharmaveer Adhyatmik Sena’ H.B.P. Akshay Maharaj Bhosale, H.B.P. Bhagwan Maharaj Kokre of ‘Varkari Sampradaya’, Former Minister Shri. Parinay Phuke, BJP MLA from Jalgaon Shri. Suresh Bhole, BJP MLA from Nagpur Shri. Vikas Kumbhare, BJP MLA from Gangapur Shri. Prashant Bamba, BJP MLA of Vidhan Parishad Shri. Gopichand Padalkar, BJP MLA from Shahada Shri. Rajesh Padvi, Shiv Sena MLA Shri. Kishorappa Patil, former MLA Shri. Balasaheb Murkute, former MLA Shri. Raj Purohit, Mayor of Thane Mrs. Meenakshi Shinde and coordinator of the Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh and Maharashtra State Convener of the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti Mr Sunil Ghanwat.

Do not appoint administrators and judges on temples in the State !- Acharya Mahamandaleshwar Shrimahant Sudhirdasji Maharaj

While discussing the issue with the Chief Minister, Acharya Mahamandaleshwar Sri Mahant Sudhirdasji Maharaj said, “Administrators and Judges should not be appointed on temples. The working system in Uttar Pradesh should be adopted in Maharashtra to resolve the issues between priests and trustees. Also, we demand that the Maharashtra Government should adopt the system prevalent in Uttar Pradesh of paying salary to the temple priests’.

Submission of resolutions for various demands to the Chief Minister by trustees !

The following demands have been made in the 9 resolutions submitted to the Chief Minister by the Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh. Government of Maharashtra should comply with the court orders by freeing the temples under its control; the State Government should declare that temple property will not be used for development purposes; substantial provision should be made for immediate restoration of temples of mythological or historical importance, but neglected by the Administration, Archaeological Department; encroachments on pilgrimage centres and fortified temples in the State should be surveyed and removed immediately; as the income of the temple priests is negligible, the Government should pay them a monthly salary; in order to protect the sanctity of temples and pilgrimage centres, the Government should issue a notification that liquor and meat cannot be sold in their premises; class ‘C’ temples in the State with proper documents available should immediately be classified as class ‘B’; orders should not be sent by the Charity Commissioners to temples to make donations for social causes, and temple funds should preferably be used for religious purposes only; among the Ashtavinayaka temples in Lenyadri, visit to Sri Lenyadri Ganapati Mandir is charged by the Central Archaeology Department, that should be stopped immediately.