It has been ages since I had been to this temple. Periyapalayathu Amman Koil is dedicated to the Goddess. It is located on L.B.Road, next to the Adyar Police Station and opposite to the Adyar Depot.

I enjoy going to temples because they leave me with a sense of peace and contentment. Emotionally I feel balanced and charged. I feel this sense of attachment, maybe because my mother has always taken me with her on her numerous temple visits. So as a child I grew up on a lot of temples, pujas and homas. I also feel a flow of positive energy in the house; and believe me I can feel the difference in energy levels when I visit other houses where such good practices are not followed. The Sanskrit slokas if intonated with the correct effect, exude a lot of positive energy in the area.

On the same note, it would imply that temples are twice as sacred. It goes without saying that greater care is required in maintaining the cleanliness of its premises. Yet today, when I visited the temple after a good couple of months, I was deeply shocked and disappointed to find that one part of the temple was strewn with food and left-overs. My mother told me that the temple authorities conducted poor-feeding within the temple! That was the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.

Poor feeding is certainly a noble cause. But it should have been carried out in an organized manner. Garbage bags or dust-bins should have been provided and strict orders must have been given out to throw the left-overs into the bin. First of all, I would not even recommend eating in the temple for the above reasons. People dirty the place and that’s exactly what happened. Maybe the temple authorities could have carried out the poor-feeding in a bigger venue that could accommodate a large crowd. Further, eventhough small cups are provided to accommodate the extra vibhuti and kumkum, the people find it more conveinient to dump the prasad along the sanctorium’s ledge. As a result, you find hues of grey and red splashed all over the place and leaving it messy.

In this regard, it is worthy to mention that Ramakrishna Mission is a fine example of what good management and organization skills are all about. I have been to the Ashram in Mylapore on one or more occasions and everytime, it is amazing how the volunteers manage a huge crowd and keep the premises spick and span. And they feed hundreds of people.

I can only hope that the kind of blind passion that people exhibit when they come to temples should also translate into maintaining its sanctity. A strict management and a concerned citizenry are the only solution to this problem. On second thoughts, maybe one could borrow notes from its sister-brother concerns too!