Do away with VIP culture in temples, says Vice Prez Dhankhar

PTI, Jan 7, 2025, 7:16 PM IST

Dharmasthala (Karnataka): Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Tuesday that we should do away with the VIP culture, particularly in temples, as the very idea of VIP darshan militates against divinity.

He also called upon the people to rise above the politics of disruption and help the country reach its objective of a developed India by 2047.

“When precedence is accorded and priority is given to someone — when we label it as VVIP or VIP — this is belittling the concept of equality. VIP culture is an aberration. It is an incursion. When viewed on the anvil of equality, it should have no place in society, much less in religious places,” said Dhankhar.

The Vice President was launching the country’s largest ‘queue complex’ at Sri Manjunatha Temple here. The facility is known as ‘Shri Saanidhya’.

While delivering his keynote address, Dhankhar criticised the tendency prevailing in today’s political milieu, where people, instead of engaging in dialogue, disrupt democratic values.

According to him, the political changes that are taking place in India, engineered by the political forces inimical to Indian democracy, are “more dangerous than the climate change”.

“We must neutralise the anti-India forces that are trying to make us weak by divisions and misinformation. We must stop them from tarnishing the great name of our country and all that it has gained towards achieving inclusivity, welfare and strengthening our democracy,” he added.

At a time when India is surging ahead with its development on multiple levels, Dhankhar said we must start a new narrative against divisive forces and defeat them with our resolve to be united, focused and development oriented.

“Our society was not built on the tenets of materialism. So, I call the corporates of India to come forward and contribute for the cause of health and education by using CSR funds,” he said.

He also proposed five tenets for modern India, which he called ‘Panch Pran’, for a vibrant and inclusive democracy. Social harmony, which in turn will strengthen family stability and values, environmental protection and strengthening of the fundamental rights of every citizen, should be our go-to values, he said.

But according to him, fundamental rights must be coupled with fundamental duties. “We must put working for our nation above our own interests,” he added.

Dhankhar, accompanied by his wife Sudesh, took a darshan of the presiding deity of the temple town Lord Manjunatha Swamy (a roopa of Shiva) along with D Veerendra Heggade, Dharmadhikari of Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala, before the event.

He also took a tour of the ‘Shri Saanidhya’, the new queue complex and appreciated the commitment of the temple trust in providing the devotees with the state-of-the-art infrastructure.

Conceptualised by Heggade, the new facility is an advanced replacement for the existing queue system.

The new queue system spans a total area of 2,75,177 square feet. It consists of a three-storey complex with 16 halls, each accommodating 600 to 800 devotees. The total capacity of the complex is between 10,000 and 12,000 devotees at a time, said the temple management.

During his visit, Dhankhar also launched a scholarship programme for rural students, called the Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKDRDP) or ‘Jnana Deepa Project’.