Udasin Acharaya Bhagavan Srichandra temple a unique one

Hyderabad: Udasin Acharya Srichandra temple in Govind Bagh stands as a classic example of how the endowment department functions. Instead of developing the temple or leaving it to its fate, the department took away 16 acres of its valuable land turning the temple unsustainable.

The temple preists told Hans India that the temple had about 18 acres of land around it. But government took it away saying it was required for distribution to the poor. No one knows who those poor are to whom they had distributed the land. With just one and half acres of land left, the temple today is in ruins.

Residential houses mushroomed around it and the temple now is in dilapidated condition. This place of worship is managed by a family which practices the spiritual path propounded by Udasin Acharya Sri Chandraji Maharaj who is believed to be the son of Sri Guru Nanak ji the founder of the Sikh faith in 1494 AD.

The 530 Prakasotsav of Sri Chandra Ji Mahraj falls on Septmber24, 2024. The family members are trying hard to revive the place but there is no help from the government. Sri Chandra ji like Guru Nanak had gone on a religious pilgrimage across the country on foot to awaken the lost faith in the minds of the common people and enlighten them about the tradition of Sanathan Dharma. He was also known for protecting the rights of Hindus who were being forcefully converted to other religions by the invaders. He took pilgrimage walking on foot to Kabul, Kandahar, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Peshawar and Thatta city in Sindh of today’s Pakistan.

Adopting an ascetic’s life, he travelled across the country. He a;sp performed Tapasya (penance). The family members said that Bharath village in the Gurdaspur district of Punjab a grand fair is still organized on every amavasya and is known a Srichandra Navami by Shiromani Gurudwara management committee.

According to the tradition, the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Sikh Gurus visited him at Mamun Sahib in Pathankot district near Bharath Nagar. He planted a banyan tree and created a water spring that still adorns an Ashram there. It is said that at the age of 149 years, he attained Samadhi while crossing river Ravi near Chamba.

BJP leader Yamuna Pathak who visited the temple along with Hans India said that the tradition presents unique spiritual and religious traditions of diversity and inclusivity of the country.

This temple celebrates Srichandra Navami and other important auspicious occasions belonging to the tradition. ‘Adi Granth’ is kept in the sanctum santorum of the temple which is worshipped just as it is done in any other Gurudwara.

Yamuna Pathak said that it is sad story that the Hindu and Sanathana sacred places and their assets have been taken away by government in the name of estate abolition, land reforms, distribution for the poor, and public purposes paying pittance in terms of compensation. The assets of Hindu religious places were soft targets for successive governments. It is time to consider repealing state-level Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act and replace them with a national act,” she said.

The state-level endowment acts have not only failed to protect the traditions and assets of the Hindu temples but have miserably failed to understand and capture the spiritual and religious traditions of the country. The department is blatantly violating Article 25 of the Constitution which guarantees “the freedom of conscience, the freedom to profess, practice, and propagate religion to all citizens,” she added.