Vivekananda condemns the intention of the priestly class in strong words that pushed for temples, infact he ridicules the priests for the atrocities they committed
It seems Temples in India did not originate with a Noble motive, but originated in order to give new breath to dying Hindu Culture and also Puranic Hinduism[Very different from Vedic scriptures, for e.g. Veda says man is Shatayushi[100 yrs life span] purana's say 1000 years life span isalso possible which is foolish to believe] required a symbol for worship. But soon temples which were supposed to be the source of inspiration and devotion unfortunately lost their way when they became mere offices which performed four basic duties
"Of course, the idea of the impersonal[1] is very destructive: it takes away all trade from the priests, churches, and temples. In India there is a famine now, but there are temples in each one of which there are jewels worth a king’s ransom. If the priests taught this idea of the impersonal to the people, their occupation would be gone. Yet we have to teach it unselfishly, without priestcraft. You are God and so am I. Who obeys whom? Who worships whom? You are the highest temple of God; I would rather worship you than any temple, image, or Bible. [ Swami Vivekananda]
a) Financial centres and commerce
It’s hard to digest Temples accepting costly donations from corrupt people like Janardhana reddy [recently arrested Mining czar] and also Tirupathi temple refused to return back the Diamond studded "Kireeta" gifted by Janardana reddy. Riches unearthed at Padmanabha temple will not be surprising to someone who knows history. Temples were always rich because priests pushed for donations and offerings by instilling false beliefs in the minds of common men that sins will be washed away with acts of offerings and donations.
Below statements S1 and S2 from Historian Romila Thapar confirm the above facts.
b) Social tyranny:
Pooh! India is to be raised, the poor are to be fed, education is to be spread, and the evil of priest craft is to be removed. No priest craft, no social tyranny! [ Swami Vivekananda]
1) Systematic way of spreading Inequality among fellow human beings by enforcing chaturvarna system citing Manushastra and justifying it with imaginary Puranic cock and bull stories.
2) Denial of Entry to temples, if one thinks its no more in practice, then get updated its rampant in Tamil Nadu, Orissa , Gujrat then imagine the fate of other states
3) We all know how Govt is being run in Gujarat and Karnataka. They have extensively made use of temples to appease a certain class of people. The two leading states of India Gujarat and Karnataka we find inequalities followed in temples.
c) Spread Blind Beliefs
I think we need not talk about this but to cite few
1) we all know how nagarpanchami is celebrated by offering Milk to snakes, we know that snakes dont drink milk.
2) Its unfortunate to till this day their exists a blind rituals like Made sanana @ kukke Subbramanya temple [ messy’ custom where the devotees roll on the left over meal of uppercaste], what are priests doing why can't they educate people
3) How can a Hindu priest say he is tolerant when he justifies denial of entry[to temple] to Yesudas. Then the priests should pour themselves molten lead into their ears because they surely would have listened to the devotional songs sung by Yesudas.
4) COW SHIT PURIFIES WHAT A HUMAN BEING MADE UNCLEAN
d)Temple women and Prostitutes
Gandhi considered a situation in all its aspects and so when he was keen to raise the status of women in India to its rightful place, he took into. account the question of the prostitutes and Devadasis. He felt very pained at the problem of Devadasis, because he felt that it was deceiving God to use young girls for the priests' carnal pleasures under the guise of service to God. Similarly, he considered the existence of the institution of prostitutes a shame on society and more so a shame on men. In connection with the problem of Devadasis, Gandhi considered the name 'Devadasi' a euphemism for prostitutes
. He considered it in the same light as that of prostitution. And to him this crime of man against woman was much more serious than that of a hungry man stealing a banana or that of a needy youngster picking a pocket. Gandhi believed that this vice was prevalent in cities and the majority of villages were more or less free of it.
He felt that after India became free, the system of temple women and brothels must be abolished. Even though on paper we have abolished the system of Devadasis, rampant exploitation of women as sex servants has continued.
Gandhiji was very disturbed by the plight of this low caste untouchable section of the society, namely the Devadasis. (See also: The Temple Women) He was hurt by the miserable way the children of brothels were treated. He had made elaborate plans for their rehabilitation. He declared that protecting women's honor was important and as holy as protecting cows. His book "Women and Social Injustice" contains discussions of very deep thoughts and solutions on the topic. He felt that after India became free, the system of temple women and brothels must be abolished.
Citations:-
This link has a collection of all modern day Priest craft Activites and their atrocities...
Grand Padmanabha sitting inside the jail called rich temple is silently watching around him the blind ritual of pouring milk on snake in the name of nagapanchami , made snana rolling on left over meal plates of upper caste by devotees, poor people who dont have any thing to eat but in temple is lying wealth, and oppressed caste is still unable to open eyes under the misguidance of Priest craft....
Here i present you two poems by Giants of Indian Literature Kuvempu and Tagore. Time and again progressive thinkers have questioned the Temple structure and its intentions. Its very clear that social reformers were frustrated about how priests ran the temples by advocating inequality, blind beliefs, false devotion as a result they reduced the temples to a mere set of stone walls.
