When Pollution Tries to Kill God (standard:non fiction, 859 words)
Author: Juggernaut	Added: Jun 30 2013	Views/Reads: 3003/1922	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
The air pollution around the Hindu temple was so bad, god has to reincarnate to protect himself from the pollution.

When Pollution Try to Kill God 

Subba Rao 

The temple of Lord Venketeswara in South India is the richest 

in the country only comparable to the famous Golden Temple of Amritsar 

for annual revenues amounting to millions of dollars from worshipers. 

The deity of Lord Venketeswara was adorned with layers of gold jewelry 

studded with diamonds, rubies and emeralds; each gold necklace could 

weigh several pounds. The jewelry on the deity would put crown jewels 

in London to the shame. Plans are now under way to cover the entire 

temple with gold.  Kings in ancient past donated enormous wealth to 

the temple after victories in the battle fields as a gratitude for the 

Lord's blessings. 

The Lord demands and collects payback for rewarding the wishes 

of his devotees. If a devotee was to promise the deity100 dollars if 

his wish comes true to get admission into an American University, he 

would certainly fulfill his promise on getting the admission. If he 

fails, an unexpected hurdle could scuffle his prospects of getting a 

student visa in the last minute at the US embassy.  No devotee never 

ever even thinks of braking promise to the deity.  If a devotee delays 

payback, the Lord was known to collect it with compound interest in 

some other form sooner or later.  Thus, the Lord is also goes by a 

favorite nickname debt collector. Most towns have a small temple of 

Lord Venketeswara to serve the local devotees so they don't have to 

travel a long distance to the original temple to see real deity. 

The cash flow at the Hindu temples were so lucrative, the 

British during their rule demanded a cut and came out with a cash 

sharing plan with the temple priests. Money offerings dropped into the 

donation lock-boxes at the temple belongs to the government and the 

priests would keep any money dropped on the collection plate. When 

country got independence from Britain, the new government continued 

the British business model and went further to nationalize the temples 

to place the priests on a salary like government workers.  The priests 

fought back and retained their rights to keep the money left by the 

devotees on the collection plate. This cash sharing plan still 

operates in many temples. 

On the break waters of deep sea port, the temple of 

Lord Venketeswara on a hillock was very popular in southern city of 

Visakhapatnam. Juggernaut was born and raised in this seaside town. 


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