Temples: Crowds, chaos & clamour

Swelling crowds and mismanagement are ruining the experience of devotees

- Sunita Aron

Here will devotees find peace, if not in temples. In recent years, a religious resurgence has meant that more people are visiting prominent temples in their quest for spiritual solace. Concomitantly, the economies of many temples, especially the major ones, have grown.

According to media reports, a survey by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), India's temple economy is estimated at Rs 3.02 lakh crores, which is about 2.32% of the country's GDP. As faith brings in funds, temples are also expanding with many adding facilities for the devotees.

What has remained unchanged, however, is the lack of scientific crowd management in most temples. The overstressed and untrained volunteers push and yell at common devotees, often ruining their spiritual experience at a sacred place.

Many books on Hinduism have laid down etiquettes and customs for the devotees, which even include quiet recitation of mantras, slokas or chanting the name of deities in silence. But are there no such guidelines for volunteers, who yell and humiliate devotees even inside the sanctum sanctorum of sacred places like in Shirdi in Maharashtra.