Temples visited by Team Temple Project

The following are a list of temples visited so far by Team Temple Project. The Team has visited some of these temples multiple times.

1) Agastheeswarar temple, Valasaravakkam.
2) Vinayaga temple, Alwarthirunagar.
3) Ardhanareeswarar temple, Nanganallur.
4) Dharmalingeswarar temple, Nanganallur.
5) Kamakshi Amman temple, West Mambalam.
6) Kasi Viswanathar temple, West Mambalam.
7) Murugan temple, Porur.
8) Anjaneyar temple, Ashok Nagar.
9) Perumal temple, Valasaravakkam.
10) Sivan Koil, Vadapalani.
11) Bharadwajar Sivan Koil, Kodambakkam.
12) Ayyapan Koil, Alwarthirunagar.
13) Anjaneyar temple, Mylapore.
14) Vinayaga temple, Valasaravakkam.
15) Shirdi Sai Baba temple, Guindy.
16) Sakthi Vinayagar temple, K K Nagar
17) Kodanda Ramar temple, West Mambalam
18) Kali Bari temple, Ashok Nagar

Scanned image of Adyar Talk report

This is the copy of the report published in Adyar Talk.

Temple Project covered by Adyar Talk

Report in Adyar Talk paper of Newstoday Group (published in Chennai on 23-29 Feb, 2008):

Youth are not useless, but used less

 

Do you know why vibudhi is applied? Why homams (havans) are performed, why circumambulate the peepal tree? Why chant mantras? and the significance of 108?

These are some of the questions answered scientifically by volunteers of Temple Project which is an initiative to increase awareness about Indian culture. The architects of the project are not any religious group, not any NGO, but a group of youth - students from different city colleges.

 

These handful of youth visit temples around the city to spread the rationale behind our daily cultural practices. When questioned on how it all started, a volunteer Bala Ganesh says 'we were inspired by Swami Vivekananda's 'My Plan of Campaign' and decided to bring out the scientific explanation of our cultural practices'

 

They have been doing this for the past one year and have covered quite a few temples in the city. Their modus operandi is very simple - they obtain permission from temple authorities to display their boards which contain the reasons behind our traditional practices.

 

The volunteers explain the reasons to the people visiting temples. "Lot of people said that a small booklet containing this information would be helpful, so we pooled in our own money and came up with a booklet to distribute it free of cost' say Kalidos, a law student.

 

Of late, they have also started cleaning the temples to put in some physical labour in addition to their explanations.

 

Last Sunday, Temple project was held at Shri Sai Baba Temple at Guindy. Also, these youth make sure that they understand the Indian culture in its true dimension and thus spare some time at the temple to discuss about it among themselves.

 

Seeing the impact of these students, many temples have wanted these boards to be permanently kept in their premises. The students are working out an economical way for having their information permanently at the temple premises. But the going has not been that easy for these youngsters, 'Famous temples and those owned by HR & CE have a lot of formalities and do not give permission easily, making it tedious to arrange at those temples in our limited time' says engineering student Shankar Ram.

 

'A bigger problem we face is the burden of funds. Being students, we cannot afford the cost of publishing these booklets. In addition, we do not belong to any organisation and thus we don't get sponsors' says Madhukumar, another engineering student.

 

These spirited youth prove that youth are not useless but used less.

Temple Project covered by CNN IBN news channel

The following is the news item that appeared on the English news channel CNN IBN on July 31, 2007.

Hanging out at temples to rationalise religion

Aarti Nagaraj/ CNN IBN

Chennai: Most people who come to a temple, take the vibhuti which is given. But do they know why do it or what is its significance?

These are questions that Sairam and his friends are trying to answer. The engineering students go from temple to temple, put up posters, and try to explain the logic behind Hindu religious practices like the applying of kumkum, and worshipping the Tulsi plant.

Says Sairam, "It's only if people are going to have that awarenesss and the practice their religion that they are going to be able to develop that conviction. Out of this conviction then will they develop an India which is truly cultural."

The students gather their information from the Internet. It is this that they share as scientific logic with those visiting temples.

Says a devotee, Swaminathan, "Most of us come here to pray for ourselves and ask God to fulfill our wishes. We don't think about the scientific fact behind these practices. Only when the science behind rituals is explored will people develop an interest in these practices."

The students started doing their rounds around four months ago and they say the response has encouraged them to write a book. Meanwhile, one has to agree that it is an unusual hobby in an age when more and more youngsters are heading to pubs and discos rather than temples.

Here is the link for the video:

http://ibnlive.in.com/videos/45972/hanging-out-at-temples-to-rationalise-religion.html