In a bizarre incident at a temple in Tamil Nadu, the authorities refused to return an iPhone to a devotee after it fell into the donation hundi.
The incident occurred at the Arulmigu Kandaswamy temple, Thiruporur near Chennai. As the devotee explained that he dropped the iPhone inadvertently, the temple authorities claimed that the phone was the “property of the deity”.
Dinesh, a devotee from Vinayagapuram, had to return home empty-handed on Friday, as the temple authorities said anything dropped into the hundi belongs to the deity. However, the temple offered to give him the SIM card and to let him download data from the phone.
He had visited the temple with his family a month ago and went to drop some money in the hundi after worship. He said that while pulling out currency notes from his shirt pocket, his iPhone accidentally fell into the hundi. Since the hundi was placed at a height, he couldn’t retrieve the phone. Panic-stricken, Dinesh approached the temple authorities.
However, they told him once an offering is placed in the hundi, it is considered the property of the deity and cannot be returned. Besides, according to tradition, the hundi is opened only once in two months.
Complaint lodged
Following the incident, Dinesh filed a complaint with the HRCE (Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments) officials, requesting to be informed when the hundi would be opened. As the hundi was opened on Friday, Dinesh scampered to retrieve his iPhone, only to be told that the device would remain in the temple’s custody.
He was allowed to take the SIM card and download any important data from the phone. Dinesh had already obtained a new SIM card and left it to the authorities to decide on his plea to return the phone.
Temple executive officer Kumaravel stated that the tradition of treating anything dropped in the hundi as belonging to the temple and deity would be upheld, and the phone would be kept in the temple’s custody.
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