In the scheme of restoration of the temples to their former glory and pride of place, the first problem that confront us is that of the many historical temples which are in dilapidated condition and wherein regular worship has been totally abandoned. Then there are temples where worship is still in vogue but which need renovation badly. The need to build new temples in the new townships and colonies coming up all over the country, especially in industrial project areas, cannot also be over emphasised. Hence the constitution of an All India Temple Trust to which not only devotees but also the richer temples in the country will contribute should seriously be considered. This should be an autonomous body and can release the funds to the concerned temple projects as and when necessary.

The second important problem is the one concerning the priests and other staff managing the temple. Efforts should be made to set up enough number of institutions to train up the priests properly on the lines of the ägama astras. Only

such trained personnel should be employed in the temples. Though simple living and high thinking should be a basic concept to be integrated with their training, they should be paid decent salaries ‘so that they are not forced to develop the panda-psychology which is now rampant and against which almost everybody is railing without understanding their problems and difficulties.

Apart from the spiritual atmosphere, even the physical atmosphere in the precincts of the temple is equally important, since the latter is conductive to the former. It is common knowledge that churches and mosques—even those situated in the socially and culturally backward areas—are kept clean and the votaries of these two religions christianity and Islam) maintain good discipline during their community prayers and worship. This s singularly lacking among the Hindus. This constitutes our third problem. Keeping the temples and the surrounding areas clean, maintaining discipline like following the queue system, observing silence at the time of worship and reasonable quietness at other times is a virtue that needs to be inculcated among our people. It is too such to expect the meagre temple staff to perform such tasks. The only way seems to be for the devotees living in the vicinity of the temple to form a volunteer crops of active men and women, including students, who should take turns to keep the temple area clean and educate the people visiting the temple. Hindu religious organisations can conduct short-term courses to train these volunteers. These volunteers will be an asset at the time of festivals and rathotsavas when they can perform other duties like taking care of the footwear, vehicles and personal belongings of the visiting devotees, regulating the queues, helping the aged and the infirm, distributing drinking water, giving emergency medical aid and so on.

Propagation of our religion among our people or, to put it succinctly, ‘Hinduising the Hindus’, is another problem, in the solution of which our temples can play an active role. Production of Hindu religious literature, written in nontechnica and popular language and at a cheap price is one of the effective methods of such propaganda. The volunteers can help in the sale of such literature. Organising regular classes on Hinduism both for children and for adults the adults need it even more than the children! is another activity that can be undertaken by the temples. Religious discourses, community bhajans, harikathas and if staging of dramas which are in vogue even today, can be organised in more systematic ways.

It may be necessary to point out here one Of the banes of our Hindu society: the tendency to convert cash into ornaments and ornamentation often superfluous, instead of spending the same on socially useful channels like increasing the facilities for the devotees and pilgrims visiting the temple, better emoluments to the temple staff, beautifying the area to create a better atmosphere and so on, apart from what has already been mentioned earlier.

The ignorance of the Hindus about their own religion is not only colossal but also ignominious. The temples, at least the bigger ones with larger incomes, can organise permanent exhibitions depicting the salient features of our religion and culture. The millions of devotees who visit these temples every year can be educated at least in the fundamentals of our great religion⁴.

Marriage is the most important sacrament in the life of a Hindu. The influence of Western culture is ‘ The bigger temples can also think of running educational, culturaI and medical institutions to serve the public.

having a deleterious effect upon this. If marriages are compulsorily performed in the temple premises, or at least, solemnised by a suitable ritual in a temple, it may have greater stabilising effect. In addition, the Hindus should feel obliged to attend all the important festivals of a temple in their place should perform at least one important worship of their family in the temple.

The temple has occupied the most central place in the Hindu society for centuries and has been the greatest single factor in keeping it together. There is no reason why it should not be revitalised so that it can play even greater roles in the future. It is the sacred duty of all the leaders of the Hindu society to make every effort in this direction.