‘Stolen’ temple sari spat heats up with elderly trustee

A TEMPLE trustee has been asked to step down for allegedly stealing a sari donated by a devotee.

The 69-year-old woman who was a volunteer at Parlock’s Shree Gengayammen Temple for 45 years, was also threatened with criminal charges.

The woman denied stealing the sari and believed the allegation was “just an attempt to force me out of my position”.

Her attorney has instructed the temple’s chairperson, Dr Jayandran Mudaly, to desist from “defaming, threatening or publishing” that she had “stolen” from the temple.

The trustee told the POST she had been lambasted for the alleged theft, on a temple communication group, which included hundreds of people from her community and temple.

She claimed that the situation was “blown out of proportion” due to “internal politics”.

The devotee who donated the sari at the temple’s Mariammen prayer last year, spotted the trustee wearing it on March 8, at the Shivarathri celebrations. The matter was briefly addressed at a temple meeting on March 20.

Mudaly then issued a letter to the woman, requesting her to step down as a trustee, and to return any temple property she had in her possession, including the property keys.

In the letter, the woman was also asked to remove herself from handling monies or finances related to the temple.

Mudaly claimed in the letter that the trustee had told him that saris donated to the temple were taken in exchange for money that was placed in the temple’s donation box. He said she described this as a “common practice”.

Mudaly said he was unaware of such a practice and distanced himself from any actions “where trustees help themselves to temple property”.

The letter stated that there would be an investigation and internal disciplinary, and the matter could result in criminal charges being laid against the trustee.

The South African Hindu Maha Sabha (SAHMS) was approached by the temple to mediate after Mudaly issued the letter to the trustee.

The president of the SAHMS, Ashwin Trikamjee, said the mediation effort was unsuccessful: “There was a lack of co-operation from the existing officials.”

The trustee claimed that it had been the case for years, “where once the sari had been adorned by a deity or draped over the puthu a few times, we wash it and have an option to make a donation and take the sari. This sari is considered blessed”. Mudaly declined to comment. Seelan Achary, chairperson of the Shri Mariammen Temple in Mount Edgecombe, said temples had different policies on the donated items.

“Temples receive an abundance of saris. We donate the saris to child welfare, senior citizens/groups, schools and to the public during Diwali and Mother’s Day. At no point are the members allowed to sell the saris,” he said.

He said the temple had sent saris to Sri Lanka after the last natural disasters.

“Saris are placed before the Mothers and removed after a while. Members or devotees do not have the option to take the blessed sari and offer a donation in return. All saris are donated free,” Achary said.

Kumaran Moodley, a Guru at the Isipingo Shri Mariammen Temple, said the temple received about 20 saris a month but about 200 to 300 a day during festivals.

“All our saris are donated to the poor. We drape the murthis once a week. Our devotees can be rest assured that the saris they donate are adorned on the murthis,” he said.