'Everything in offering box goes into god's account': Minister after devotee drops iPhone accidentally

NEW DELHI: A devotee who accidentally dropped his iPhone into the offering box of a temple was refused to get it back after a minister told him "anything that is deposited into the offering box, goes into god's account."

In a peculiar situation, the devotee identified as Dinesh, dropped his iPhone in the hundial of the temple while he was donating. When he approached the temple administration to get it back, the Tamil Nadu Hindu religious and charitable endowments department politely declined his request and said the phone was now a property of the temple.

He then approached the officials of the Sri Kandaswamt temple in Thiruporur after realising his mistake. The temple administration on Friday contacted him after opening the offering box. They informed Dinesh that the phone was found in the box and he could retrieve the data but couldn't get the phone back.

But, Dinesh refused the offer by the administration and insisted on getting his phone back. Following this, HR & CE minister P K Sekar Babu was contacted to solve the matter but Dinesh couldn't get a satisfactory solution as the minister replied, "anything that is deposited into the offering box, even if it be an arbitrary action, goes into god's account."

"As per the practises and tradition at the temples, any offerings made into the hundial directly goes into the account of the deity of that temple. Rules do not permit the administration to return the offerings back to the devotees," Babu told reporters.

The minister added that this issue would be discussed with department officials to determine whether there is any possibility of compensating the devotee.

He added that this is not the first case in the state, earlier in May 2023, a devotee S Sangeetha from Kerala's Alappuzha dropped her 1.75 sovereign gold chain into the offering box of Sri Dhandayuthapani Swamy temple in Palani.

In her case, CCTV footage was scanned to indicate that the chain had fallen by accident. The financial condition of the devotee was also considered. Following this, the chairman of the temple board of trustees gave her a new gold chain of same value at his personal expense.

The official cited the Installation, Safeguarding and Accounting of Hundial Rules, 1975, which states that offerings made into hundials become permanent temple property and cannot be returned to the original owner.