Hindu Temples and Malaysian Indian Leadership

 

The Indians are the voiceless segment of the population due to corrupt and greed-based Indian leadership. Even if the current government is willing to help the Indians, the Indian leadership will sabotage the effort initiated by the government. The issue is not with the government, Malay or Chinese, it is with the Indian leadership in general.

Natesan Visnu 

A Hindu Temple or Mandir (Sanskrit) is a place of worship for Hindu followers. The temples are usually dedicated to primary deity, presiding deity and other deity. The temples marked the transition from Vedic period to Hinduism. In Tamil the term ‘koil’ or King’s House reflects the ruler of the time and his ideology or vision of the temple. The role of temple is not limited only for worshiping but serves as civic center of the people, local services to the community (hospital, education institution, school, academics & sports) and cultural development.

The ancient Tamils were among the greatest temple builders. The most ancient temples were build using cement and mortar. After 700 BCE, the Pallava dynasty introduced the rock-cut type temples. The famous Angkor Wat (Cambodia) and Prambanan (Indonesia) temples complex were based on elements of Dravidian architecture.  The South Indians (Tamil, Telugu, Malayalis and Kannadigas) are Dravidian people.

The current temple issue politicized by the Indian leaders has triggered uproar among the Indians. The Hindraf blueprint has pledged to address the temple issues. Many Indian leaders have voiced their dissatisfaction for the destruction of the temple and a few of them were arrested by the police. The 101-year-old Sri Muneswarar Kaliamman Hindu temple in the central business district at Jalan P. Ramlee has certainly united the Indian leadership in the context of opposing the destruction of the temple by DBKL. The positive outcome from this event is the ability for MIC and Pakatan Indian leaders to stand united to defend the temple. Kudos to Indian leaders!

The purpose of this article is to explore the concept and purpose of temple in modern society under the tutelage of Malaysian Indian leaders. The Indian leaders are fanatical about defending the temples. One of the key contributors for the Hindraf rally was the destruction of temples. The rapid destruction of Indian temples for development had caused Indians to take to the streets to defend the temples. The temples certainly shape the political landscape in Malaysia and the Indian leaders have proven their undying commitment to defend and save the temples.

In modern society, the role of the temple is limited to only worshipping. The Indian leaders have failed to transform the temples into community, cultural and educational development centres. A website, http://myhindutemples.omniportlet.com reported that there are 2339 temples in Malaysia.  For a population of 2.4 million with the presence of 2339 temples, the temples should be transformed into social and community centres to promote culture, ethics, education, etc.

The failure of the Malaysian Indian leadership in utilizing the temples as religious and community centers has contributed to the eroding of ethics and morals among Indian youths, lack of understanding in Hinduism faith, losing cultural identity and rising societal issues. The political party, religious society group, entrepreneurs, etc. have demonstrated their lack of wisdom and vision in the context of leading the Indian community through religious ideology.

In comparison to Chola, Pallava and Pandya dynasty (ancient Tamil leaders), the Malaysian Indian leaders certainly do not possess the wisdom of Raja Raja Chozhan I and Rajendra Chola I in using the temples as the central theme for public administration and community development centers. The prominent role of the Indian leaders is to stand against temple destruction but in reality the existing temples needs to be developed to play a bigger role in the Indian society. A temple building that serves only as a worshipping place does not contribute much to the Indian society.

The Indian leaders are very fond of politicking the temple issues for their own political mileage unlike the ancient Tamil leaders who build temples as focal community centers to develop religion, culture, art, philosophy, etc. The Malaysian Indian leaders could learn from the past in adapting past ideologies for present use which is still relevant in the modern context.

Hindraf (voice for voiceless) has yet to comment on the current temple destruction and the public is waiting for their response on the issue. The blueprint has highlighted the temple issue and Hindraf has not done anything to defend the temple. The public could assume that the Hindraf leaders’ voice has been muted by the attack from senior cabinet members on the shooting issue. On that note, P.Waythamoorthy and Hindraf followrs are losing their support from the cabinet members. Hindraf days are numbered in the government.

The Indians are ‘blessed’ with leaders who came forward to defend the temples and win the popularity within the Indian community. The ‘far-sighted’ leaders are preparing for General Election No. 14. The campaign starts now and few ‘visionary’ leaders have commenced their campaign. The Indians as usual will remember this event and vote for them in the next general election. This time the Indians supported Hindraf and for GE 14, the Indians will support MIC. The faith of the Indians remain the same. The Indian leaders have changed everything by changing nothing at all.

800,000 displaced estate workers (DEW), 300,000 stateless Indians, gangsterism, and a bag of Indian issues have not been addressed accordingly to date. The poor are getting poorer and we are ‘blessed’ with political ‘mandores’ who call each other political ‘mandores’. In reality, the Indian leaders have bigger fish to fry.

The temple destruction issue could be resolved amicably if our leaders are visionaries. The leaders could have demanded for land and budget to build a new temple and a school. The temple committee could be elected to operate the school just like St. John Institution and Vivekananda School. Hinduism philosophy could be the central theme of the school and we could adapt Hindu school models to operate the school.

The Indian community has nothing much to look forward to on the political reformation pledged by the Indian leaders. The community will live to be poor for the next 50 to 100 years. The temples are just a symbolic gesture of our existence. The temple destruction will not impact the poor Indians as he has no voice or say in the democratic process because an average Indian does not have the political or economy influence and power. Do the Indians really need to care about the temples when they don’t have a job, home and food on the table?

The Indians are the voiceless segment of the population due to corrupt and greed-based Indian leadership. Even if the current government is willing to help the Indians, the Indian leadership will sabotage the effort initiated by the government. The issue is not with the government, Malay or Chinese, it is with the Indian leadership in general.

We have no hope in our current leadership. Don’t waste your time rallying, picketing, demonstrating or throwing support to the Indian leaders. Focus on getting a job and work hard for your future. If you can’t survive with one job, look for a part-time job for extra income. Save as much money as you can and send your kids to a local school. Abandon the Tamil school system as it will cripple your children’s development. Stop attending Indian political rallies or speeches because it is a waste of time.

I believe we can change our destiny by starting not to trust or support any Indian leaders. We should vote for non-Indian leaders who are capable and remain neutral in our political stand. We should focus on saving money for our children’s future. We should aim to rebuild the Indian community using education as the focal point, not politics.

For religious practice and development, the Hindus could practice as during the Vedic period. The religious ceremonies were performed at home (alter) and the focus would be studying the Vedas, Gitas, and various Hindu scriptures. We should change our destiny without relying on the Indian leadership. We could achieve being a developed society in future by first abandoning the current Indian leadership. The choice is yours.