There is a saying in India that goes. Even Eagles don’t fly above money. doesn’t matter which country, whether it’s India, Germany, or Kenya, place of worship whether it’s Hindu temple, Catholic church or Baptist church holds billion sof dollars of assets. Devaswom Board which is an organisation that controls and oversees temples in Kerala, India has about 2 billions dollars in revenues every year. On top of that they have assets worth 4 billion dollars already.
Priests all around the world drive in the most luxurious cars, live in the most luxurious of apartments. They eat the finest of foods possible and have helpers all around the clock for any assistance. Isn’t it interesting? being helpers of the gods, they are supposed to be living a life of modesty, but in fact they are not. What does that say about them?
In India people give so much money to these organisations. My mother at least think that giving more to the temple will bring good fortune for the family. When my brother had a baby girl, we went to the temple for the well being of the baby girl. From birth of a child, to good fortune for the husband, sons and uncles and grandmother. My mother has spent a fortune at the temple.I am not criticising her beliefs. That’s just how it is. When we want blessing from god, we pay for it at the temple. Middle class Indians give some part of their income as offerings. They are genuinely god fearing people. Like my mother.
When it comes to the rich, things are on another level. most big businessmen and traders in India are known for their lavish expenditures at the temple. I won’t judge their ingenuity. But every year they are known to spend a couple of thousands of dollars at the temple. It can be in the form of money, or food supplies for the temple. The rich genuinely believe that by giving a lot of money for god, they will stay blessed and good fortune will always come to them.
Isn’t that trend the same in Europe? even though we live 8000 km far away from each other, things are the same in Europe and in India. People know matter where they come from, trust the institutions to give them money in return for favours and blessings from god. We believe that by offering money, we can buy success and forego of our problems.