Coimbatore: #PeopleHaveSpoken along with #FreeTNTemples, the hashtags that have attracted global following for a month, was trending at the top nationwide on Twitter. More than 3 crore people have supported the #FreeTNTemples campaign both online and on-ground.
Sadhguru also released a video today- one among several he has released in the month- calling on the state to free the temples which he referred to as “Dravidian Pride”. He called on people to support the movement and added, “My vote is for those who will reinstate my constitutional right and #FreeTNTemples.”
Celebrities, industry leaders, media representatives and political leaders have joined the growing number of citizens calling on the government to end the discriminatory practice of managing Hindu spaces of worship. Popular actor Kajal Agarwal tweeted in support of the campaign today. "It is heart-breaking and I hope we will preserve our architecture, tradition and culture," she wrote.
"Temples - that once stood proof to our ancestor's architectural prowess have been rendered headless and dilapidated now! 3 crore citizens feel this would not have happened if devotees managed temples. #PeopleHaveSpoken, it's now the leader's turn to act!" wrote a Twitter user.
Another user wrote, "Let the one whose heart beats for the TN Temples rule TN! My vote is for the one who let's devotees manage Temples!" #PeopleHaveSpoken
Beginning March, Sadhguru launched a campaign calling on the Tamil Nadu administration to free temples under state control and hand them back to devotees. The campaign is in response to the state’s Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department’s shocking submissions to the Madras HC last year on the conditions of temples in state care.
Timing the campaign before the TN State Assembly elections, Sadhguru wrote open letters to Chief Minister Shri E Palaniswami and Opposition Leader Shri MK Stalin requesting them to declare their intent on freeing temples from state control, in their election manifestos. Recently, he wrote to both political leaders once again to apprise them of community sentiment and the massive support for the campaign from all quarters.
Over a month, citizens have flooded Twitter with videos of temples in various states of ruin all over the state. Many are centuries old, some millennia old. With overgrown weeds, crumbling walls and roofs, broken idols and sculptures and garbage strewn around them, the Temples tell a heartrending tale of apathy and neglect.
