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85-Year old <keyword id="1401699" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Dakshayani">Dakshayani</keyword>, was conferred with the title of '<keyword id="3521365" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Gajamuthassi">Gajamuthassi</keyword>' (granny elephant) by her custodian <keyword id="430136" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Travancore-Devaswom-Board">Travancore Devaswom Board</keyword> (TDB) in Thiruvananthapuram. 
 
"She is doing fine, except for a slight vison problem with her right eye, and would surely enter the Guinness World Records, beating the Taiwan elephant (Lin Wang, who died in 2003 at the age of 86)," said Mukesh, the young mahout handling Dakshayani told TNN. 
 Dakshayani’s association with the <keyword id="700294" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Travancore-royal-family">Travancore royal family</keyword> at Thiruvarattu temple goes back to the time when she was six years old, as told by TDB president Prayar Gopalakrishnan. 
 
"If she happens to enter the Guinness World Records, the state government should consider using her portrait as the elephant that figure in the official emblem," he added. 
 The TDB has got support from <keyword id="3521366" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Universal-Records-Forum">Universal Records Forum</keyword> (URF), a Kolkata-based organisation, so that Dakshayani could find her place in the Guinness Records for being the oldest living captive elephant on Earth 
 
<a href="http://media.newindianexpress.com/granny-elephant-EPS.jpg/2016/07/27/article3550081.ece/alternates/w620/granny%20elephant%20EPS.jpg">Image source</a>

This 'granny elephant' from Kerala could enter the Guinness World Records

With over 900 million believers and many faithful, and innumerable ‘holy’ places, Hindu <keyword id="56253" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Temples" source="Orion">temples</keyword> are neither short of footfalls nor donations. So much so when <keyword id="419623" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tirumala-Tirupati" source="Orion">Tirumala Tirupati</keyword> Devasthanam declared that its land holdings are valued at ₹85,000 crore (modestly) across 960 properties all over India — few were surprised. After all, the <keyword id="721647" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lord-Venkateshwara-temple" source="Orion">Lord Venkateshwara temple</keyword> makes <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/fyi/story/siddhivinayak-hundi-rich-temple-india-demonetisation-352322-2016-11-16">$11 million a year</a> selling its ladoos alone, in addition to the thousands who queue up every day and make generous donations. <div type="image" title="Venkateshwara temple makes $11 million a year selling ladoos alone" height="900" width="1200" msid="94550183" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Venkateshwara temple makes $11 million a year selling ladoos alone&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> From the gilded era Tirupati has a long history of generous donations. A 16th century king Krishnadevaraya who ruled over erstwhile Andhra and Karnataka is known to have performed an ‘abhishekham’ with 30,000 gold coins instead of the traditional bathing with milk — in addition to other gold ornaments he donated. <div type="image" title="Tirupati temple has a long history of generous donations" msid="94550258" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Tirupati temple has a long history of generous donations&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Tirupati has been holding on to the richest temple tag for generations till it was displaced by Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Kerala, with an estimated $20 billion lying in its vaults. <div type="image" title="Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple in Kerala has an estimated $20 billion lying in its vaults" height="900" width="1200" msid="94550303" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple in Kerala has an estimated $20 billion lying in its vaults&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Some of the treasures uncovered include 1.2 metre solid gold statues studded with precious stones, crowns and countless artefacts. An <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/sree-padmanabhaswamy-temple-wealth-amicus-curiae-finds-serious-lapses-wants-audit/articleshow/33963351.cms?from=mdr">amicus curiae </a>petition was filed in the <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/sree-padmanabhaswamy-temple-wealth-amicus-curiae-finds-serious-lapses-wants-audit/articleshow/33963351.cms?from=mdr">Supreme Court, </a>which wanted a scientific audit on the treasures. And a few vaults are still unopened, deepening the mystery of this temple’s wealth. The 12th century temple Shree Jagannath of Puri too is moving to digitise its land records and said that it possesses over <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/land-records-of-lord-jagannaths-over-60000-acres-in-7-states-to-be-digitised/articleshow/94497919.cms">60,000 acres across seven states.</a> <div type="image" title="Jagannath temple in Puri" height="900" width="1200" msid="94550358" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Jagannath temple in Puri&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Built by kings and patronised by their subjects, many Indian temples possess lands, mostly farm lands – to support their upkeep. Most old and large temples receive ample donations in cash and gold that have been filling their Hundis and coffers over the centuries. Endowment bodies are private entities and never had to reveal their wealth, few can guess the extent of cash and gold holdings. Apart from a few details that have become public, very few have ventured to estimate temple wealth. In 2016, the World Gold Council estimated that the gold lying in Indian<a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/temples-hold-about-4-000-tonnes-of-gold-116032400306_1.html"> temples could be as high as 4,000 tonnes</a> — that’s over a fifth of the total gold holdings of the country. Cash, stocks or bonds? The cash that temples receive from Hundis remains enormous. Temples are known to employ large teams to sort and count them and some have even fashioned giant sieves that can sift coins. As the number of financial instruments increase, temple trusts too have expanded their ‘accounts’ to easily receive all sorts of donations. In 2015, Lord Balaji opened his own demat account to receive stocks and bonds. Following Him, are many temple trusts including Vaishno Devi temple, Swaminarayan Temple of Ahmedabad, Srinathji Temple of Nathdwara, Iskon Charities, Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga in Ujjain, to name a few. In addition to easing the process of ‘offerings’ in an increasingly cash-free society, this move also helps people turn Gods into their business partners with a small stake. Like in the case of gold, no information is proffered on how much stock trusts hold and if they are traded. What’s the wealth going to do? Legend has it that all that goes into Lord Balaji’s Hundi is used to pay off the interest for a loan that he took from Kubera, the God of wealth, and this payoff will continue till the end of Kali Yug. In reality, it’s the trustees who decide what is to be done with the wealth. And, what do temples do with the wealth? It takes a lot to maintain a temple. Large temples employ a range of staff – be it priests, security guards, cleaning staff and accountants, some temples even have a large administrative staff to manage the finances and more. Moreover, temples hold large events like Navratri festivals, pujas or annual processions like rath yatras. A few temples also cook and serve prasad like the Iskcon temple which offers an elaborate lunch-like prasad on a daily basis. <div type="image" title="Krishna Janmashtami at Iskon temple in Juhu, Mumbai" msid="94550472" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Krishna Janmashtami at Iskon temple in Juhu, Mumbai&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> A few temple trusts also run charitable organisations like schools, colleges, hospitals and even orphanages – so a lot of money goes into that too. During the Covid-19 pandemic, a few temple trusts like Puri’s Shree Jagannath Temple Administration donated in cash while many others provided facilities for quarantine facilities, beds and even Oxygen tanks. All in all – trusts also contribute towards welfare activities. The temples also reserve some of its wealth for a rainy day. During the lockdown, when temples shut doors, a lot of them which depended on daily cash donations <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/08/26/1200-hindu-temples-india-will-pawn-gold-maintain-running-costs/">had to pawn their gold to maintain</a> the running costs. The Travancore Devaswom Board, which manages Kerala’s temples, had deposited some of its gold with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a loan after selling unused lamps and a few brass utensils. The temple and the state Temple priests, seers and Kings always maintained a healthy mutual relationship – some of the former also adorned the courts and were trusted advisors. Tensions however emerged after monarchy and the battle lines were drawn between the church and the state. The first clash occurred in the early 1800s when the East India Company (EIC) demanded a tribute from the Queen of Travancore – the royal family which is now the trustee of Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple. As she failed to provide ‘protection money’, the company took over the temple trusts in the region. This passed onto the British crown who later drafted a Madras Religious and Charitable Endowment Act, which later became the The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act – that controls a few hundreds of thousands of temple trusts, mutts and endowments. It is to be noted that the Madras Presidency covered large parts of Tamil Nadu in addition to Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and even Kerala — till date, a few hundreds of thousands of temples are directly under government control. In fact, some of the richest trusts including Tirupati, Meenakshi temple of Madurai, Shirdi Sai Baba temple and Siddhi Vinayak <a href="https://asiaconverge.com/2020/09/indian-governments-outdid-aurangzeb-they-emasculated-hindu-temples/">fall under the government control</a>. IAS officers act <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/shirdi-saibaba-trust-ias-official-4560862/">as temple trustees in many temples</a> across states like Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, which appointed an IAS officer to the <a href="https://theprint.in/india/nripendra-misra-modis-trusted-former-ias-officer-will-head-ram-temple-construction-panel/368134/">Ayodhya’s Ram temple trust</a>. The trust with the government There have been multiple attempts to bring more trusts under the government’s purview and a few of them have been resisting in multiple ways. The most high profile case has been that of <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/nataraja-temple-to-be-managed-by-priest-not-by-tamil-nadu-govt-114010600610_1.html">Nataraja Temple at Chidambaram Trust and the state government</a> of Tamil Nadu where the court ruled in favour of the trust. The pre-Chola temple where the statue of Shiva itself remains elusive – known as the ‘secret’ – had resisted the state government attempt to take over the trust. A similar attempt at a takeover of the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple trust temple, with treasures that are worth hundreds of billions, by the state government — <a href="https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/supreme-court-sets-aside-kerala-hc-order-on-government-takeover-of-padmanabhaswamy-temple-5540371.html">was stalled by the Apex court</a>. Yet another case involves the <a href="https://www.barandbench.com/news/litigation/vaishno-devi-shrine-board-funds-were-used-for-iftaar-parties">Vaishno Devi temple, </a>where a petition was filed challenging the government control of the shrine. The Karnataka government however wants to do away <a href="https://www.timesnownews.com/india/karnataka-to-do-away-with-government-control-over-temples-says-cm-bommai-in-budget-speech-article-89990133">with its control over temple trusts</a>, said the chief minister Basavaraj Bommai in March this year. If they do so, they would create a precedent where more endowments would seek autonomy – leaving one of India’s high-profile asset owners with more control of their vaults and all that therein.

SIMPLY PUT: Gods must be wealthy but how wealthy are they?

<ul><li>The <keyword id="6354977" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Supreme-Court">Supreme Court</keyword> is reviewing the entry of women of all ages into the temple.</li><li>The Supreme Court today moved the matter to a seven member bench, from the current five bench judgement.</li><li>Before the last SC verdict women of menstruating age were not allowed to enter the temple because the deity is believed to celibate. </li></ul>The controversial <keyword id="498405" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sabarimala-case">Sabarimala case</keyword> shows no signs of dying down. The Supreme Court today moved the matter to a seven member bench, from the current five bench judgment. The petitions that were filed to review its earlier judgment are kept pending. The Court needs time to review the matter, said a lawyer who was speaking outside the Supreme Court. 
 <div type="image" title="Sabrimal-temp" msid="72050713" hostid="261"></div>



 The top court is reviewing the entry of women of all ages into the temple. Before the last SC verdict women of menstruating age were not allowed to enter the temple because the deity is believed to celibate. Today's appeal is expected to settle the debate once and for all. The Supreme Court with a 5-judge bench led by <keyword id="548459" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chief-Justice-Ranjan-Gogoi">Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi</keyword> was reviewing 64 petitions which had challenged its earlier verdict. Last year, in a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court had allowed menstruating women between the age group of 10-50 to enter the temple. The earlier verdict was passed by a 5-judge bench which included the then Chief Justice Dipak Misra, and Justices A. M. Khanwilkar, R. F. Nariman, Indu Malhotra and D. Y. Chandrachud. It wasn’t a unanimous judgment with the only woman on the panel Justice Indu Malhotra opposing the decision where she had said that the rational arguments cannot be applied to matters of religion and that religious practices are more complex than the right to equality. Then, the body which manages the <keyword id="453325" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="sabarimala-temple">Sabarimala temple</keyword> – the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) and the custodians of the temple, the Pandalam royal family had expressed its disappointment with the verdict. Since then, the temple has seen multiple protests from both sides of the party – the temple authorities have challenged the court’s verdict, while women have on different occasions <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/two-women-below-50-enter-keralas-sabarimala-temple-police-sources-1971204">sneaked into</a> the temple and were escorted by cops. The Mandala season is here From Wednesday, the security at Sabarimala temple, which opens its doors on Sunday for devotees for the two-month long festival, has been tightened before the verdict. According to IANS, the police have classified the two month long season ⁠— from November to January ⁠— into four segments with the first two weeks starting on November 15 to November 29 and in all 2,551 police personnel would be posted in and around the temple complex.

Supreme Court moves Sabarimala case to a 7-judge bench

<ul><li>The 5-judge constitutional bench headed by Chief Justice <keyword id="6355251" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="dipak-misra">Dipak Misra</keyword> ruled that women can now enter <keyword id="28504" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kerala">Kerala</keyword>’s <keyword id="6384180" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="sabarimala">Sabarimala</keyword> temple, irrespective of their age.</li><li>The verdict stated that the tradition violated the right of Hindu women to practice their religion.</li><li>The bench also said, the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Rules, 1965 put patriarchy in religion above the right to pray, which is stated in Article 25 of the Indian constitution. </li></ul>In another landmark verdict this week, the <keyword id="75952" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Supreme-Court-of-India">Supreme Court of India</keyword> ended the centuries-old tradition of women not being able to enter Kerala’s most well-known temple, the Sabarimala temple, if they were between the ages of 10 to 50. Petitioners had challenged the Kerala High Court’s decision that only the tantri or priest had the power to decide on traditions. The <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/sabarimala-verdict-live-updates-supreme-court-women-temples-kerala-5377598/?#liveblogstart">five-judge Constitutional bench</a> that included Chief Justice Dipak Misra, R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and <keyword id="854247" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indu-Malhotra">Indu Malhotra</keyword>, ruled that the tradition enforced patriarchy in religion and could not be allowed to trump women’s right to pray. Not a unanimous decision Justice Indu Malhotra was the only judge on the bend to vote against the petition. She stated that rational arguments cannot be applied to matters of religion and that religious practices are more complex than the right to equality. She added that Article 25 of the Indian constitution already protects the Sabarimala shrine and its deity. While Article 14 stresses the right of all individuals to be equal in the eye of the law, constitutional morality also accounts for everyone being allowed to practise their beliefs. Even if those beliefs are biased towards one gender. That being said, Justice Nariman expressed that the rule actually violates Article 25 by not extending the freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion to women. The management of the Sabarimala temple, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has already announced that they will be filing to review the petition. The president of TDB, A Padmakumar, stated that he would be enlisting the help of other religious heads to push this forward. The custodians of the temple, the Pandalam royal family, also expressed their disappointment in the verdict.

Supreme Court of India lifts ban, women of all ages can now enter Sabarimala temple

The entire process of the creation of the of the Indian States can be followed back to the late 18th and mid 19th century, when the <keyword id="6365313" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="East-India-Company">East India Company</keyword> started obtaining huge tracts of area in India, by winning over local kingdoms on one guise or the other. The Subsidiary Alliance System of Wellesley had decreased numerous Indian States into a subordinate position versus the Company. What's more, many of them were brought under the British principle by Dalhousie through the Doctrine of Lapse (annexation policy purportedly devised by Lord Dalhousie). 
 
The rest, however stayed free in principle, were for all intents and purposes controlled by the British through their Residencies in these States. In any case, when the Revolt of 1857 made it clear that the Indian sovereigns weren’t very pleased with the way the Company went about this business, the British announced through the Queen's declaration that there would be no further additions and no impedance in the interior undertakings of any Indian State aside from on account of gross bungle and traitorousness to the British crown. 
 
The political reconciliation of India set up a unified country, without precedent for hundreds of years, carving states out of royal kingdoms and frontier areas. In spite of allotment, the ensuing result was people from different geographies, monetary backgrounds; ethnic, etymological and religious foundations were grouped together. The procedure started in 1947, with the unification of 565 royal states through a basic arrangement of political battles, touchy strategy and military clashes. India changed after autonomy through political change and ethnic discontent. 
 From June to August 15, 1947, 562 of the 565 Indian-connected states signed the instrument of accession. Regardless of emotional political trades, Travancore, Jodhpur and Indore signed it on time. <keyword id="998593" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vallabhbhai-Patel">Vallabhbhai Patel</keyword> was likewise eager to go up against other Indian pioneers for achieving the goal of a unified nation. The Privy Purse vow (taxed funds provided by the Duchy of Lancaster to meet some official expenditure incurred by the monarch, plus his or her private expenses) was hostile to many socialists, and <keyword id="3564927" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Prime-Minister-Nehru">Prime Minister Nehru</keyword> made the vow to the Princes, by-passing the Cabinet. Patel depicted the vow as a key surety of the Government's aims, and it was appropriately consolidated into the Constitution. Patel safeguarded their entitlement to hold property and challenge decisions for open office, and today, particularly in states like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, relatives of the once in the past regal families assume an imperative part in politics. 
 These three areas were a matter of conflict for the <keyword id="44734" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-Government">Indian government</keyword>, this is how they played:

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This 'granny elephant' from Kerala could enter the Guinness World Records

BI India Bureau

SIMPLY PUT: Gods must be wealthy but how wealthy are they?

Supreme Court moves Sabarimala case to a 7-judge bench

Sanchita Dash

Supreme Court of India lifts ban, women of all ages can now enter Sabarimala temple

Prabhjote Gill

This is how the Indian Government made Kings bow before them or leave for Pakistan

Gaurav Sangwani

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