Sadhguru: Here we are at Lepakshi Temple. When I was a child, in my grandparents' home,
this was a very important temple because this was built during the Vijayanagar empire, to which
they happen to be our forefathers. And my great-grandfather built some choultry close by.
Fifty years ago I have come here, it was a grand temple, with lots of people, daily poojas.
Today, it's in abject state of neglect, well it's become an archaeological monument,
it's only for tourists. Temple is not a place of propaganda. Temple is a place of power which
should draw people; once you take away that power there are no people, there are only stragglers,
tourists, people who want some privacy (Laughs), young boys and girls hanging around
because looking for privacy, hiding in the temple, this is what it's become. It's most unfortunate.
This will be the fate of most temples in the country, in South India particularly, if we
don't regenerate them, if you don't make them into living, powerful spaces. They will not be
valued just for the stonework. It is the power of consecration which makes them what they are.
It is time. It is definitely time that uninvolved government employees should not be managing the
temple, devotees for whom their heart beats for the deity, they should manage the temple,
it's time to do this. Southern Indian temples particularly
are so grand. If you look at this work, tremendous amount of work done a few hundred years ago
and here we have brought it to this state of just preserving it, not keeping it alive.
This is a place where Jatayu's wing is supposed to
have fallen, as per the legend. So, _____ (Unclear) Jatayu's image upon the rock.
These fantastic rocks is the
natural feature of this part of the land. This is called as Rayalaseema, where incredible rock
structures all over the place. I have so enjoyed this in my childhood. Nice to be back here.
This is a grand temple of Veerabhadra Swamy. In my childhood I've come here a few times. At one time,
Veerabhadra Swamy was our family deity and it was a powerful temple which drew thousands of people.
Today, this level of neglect and things being handled by... the physical structure
being maintained by ASI, which is reasonably okay and the rest maintained by the endowment
ministry or department. It's painful to see that just fifty years ago what was
a powerful and beautiful temple, today is just a... catering to tourist curiosity.
Powerfully consecrated temples like the Nagalinga has come to an abject state of neglect.
Government can manage museums, please don't try to manage temples. It's time devotees manage temples.