Devotee's iPhone accidentally fell in the donation box of the temple, priest said – now this is God's property, refuse to give it, know what are the rules

Chennai: According to an interesting news received from Tamil Nadu, while offering money in a temple here, a devotee's iPhone fell in the donation box, to which the temple administration flatly refused to give it back and said, 'This is for God, God. It happened as per his wish. It was said that anything fallen in the Hundi becomes the property of the temple.

Yes, a devotee's iPhone accidentally fell into the donation box of the temple in Thiruppurur, Tamil Nadu, after which the temple authorities have refused to return it. In this regard, the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department politely declined saying that it has now become the property of the temple. Soon after realizing his mistake, the devotee named Dinesh contacted the authorities of Sri Kandaswamy Temple in Tiruppur and requested to return his phone which he inadvertently dropped in the donation box while making donations.

After opening the donation box last Friday, the temple administration contacted Dinesh and said that the phone had been found and only the data of the phone could be provided to him. However, Dinesh refused to accept the data and asked that his phone be returned to him.

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In the same case, on Saturday, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister P. Of. When brought to the notice of Shekhar Babu, he replied, “Whatever is deposited in the donation box, even if it is not given voluntarily, goes to God's account.”

In this regard, Babu told reporters here, “As per the customs and traditions of the temples, any offering made in the hundi (donation box) goes directly into the account of the deity of that temple. As per rules, devotees are not allowed to return the offerings.”

All this after inspecting the construction work of Arulmigu Mariamman temple at Madhavaram here and the restoration of the temple pond belonging to Arulmigu Kailashnathar temple at Venugopal Nagar, the minister said, adding that he will discuss with the department officials whether compensation should be given to the devotees. There is no possibility of giving.

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He said that he will take a decision after deliberations. This is not the first such incident in the state. According to a senior official of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, in May 2023, the gold chain of devotee S. Sangeetha of Alappuzha, Kerala had inadvertently fallen into the donation box of the famous Sri Dhanadayuthapani Swamy Temple in Palani. When Sangeeta was removing the Tulsi garland from her neck for offering, the gold chain had fallen into the donation box.

However, considering his financial condition and after confirming from the CCTV footage that the chain had fallen accidentally, the Chairman of the Temple Board of Trustees purchased a new gold chain of the same price at his personal expense and gave it to the devotee. In this regard, according to the Hundi Establishment, Security and Accounts Rules, 1975, any offering made in the Hundi cannot be returned to the owner at any time, as it becomes the property of the temple.

Let us tell you that, in the Tamil film 'Palayathamman', a woman accidentally drops her child in the 'hundi' (donation box) of the temple and the child also becomes the 'property of the temple'. (with agency input)