Places of worship of some religions are found to be spick and span. If on goes there (s)he finds peace of mind and psychological satisfaction but on the contrary in Hindu religion most of the temples are the veritable picture of dirt and filth, slush and slurry. Peace of mind is robbed by Pandas and Pujaris.
What is, most abominable is that these Pandas make the life of devotees hell. Some of my friends have just returned from Banaras and Vindhyachal. They were on pilgrimage to have darshan of Lord Vishwanath in Banaras and Vindhyavasini Devi at Vindhyachal in Mirjapur district of eastern Uttar Pradesh, which is nearly 80 km from Banaras.
Their tales of woes to these world renowned Hindu pilgrim centers is horrible to say the least. They have vowed not to visit these temples again. They were stalked by Pandas and their agents from the Railway stations itself. Once in the temple Pandas pestered them to offer money at various idols and pay money for the feasts to Brahmins. When they resisted and refused to pay the money as demanded by the rogues, they were cursed.
There is nothing new in it. As a matter of fact, this is the experience which every Hindu, who has visited the temples, must have felt. Go to any Hindu temple, the Pujaris eye on your purse and offerings. If the offerings are little, then devotee is looked upon with contempt and disdain but if it is handsome, then Pujaris shower all incantations for his/her welfare.
The contribution of these Pandas and Pujaris to the society is next to nil. They get fattened on the offerings but hardly contribute anything for the comfort or convenience of devotees. Any talk of improvement or reform by anybody is met with the fierce resistance.
Needless to say these obscurantist Pandas or Pujaris are the real enemies of Hindu religion. It is because of there are evils galore. They are the root cause of caste system, child marriage, untouchability, discrimination, exploitation and what not. They are so shameless that they hardly bother about for maintaining the hygienic conditions on the temples and places of worship.
Strangely, the governments also do not take steps for improvement or reform in the name of being secular and thereby adopting the policy of non-interference. In fact, the government is legally duty bound to penalize all Pandas and Pujaris who are professing, preaching and practicing against the spirit of the constitution. The general public must also have to raise its voice against their oligarchy and exploitation of the God fearing people. The sooner it happens, the better.
It is the time that all concerned ,particularly Hindus, raised their protest against the exploitation that is being done by Pandas.Good Luck.
Amit Prakash