A Film Fest Highlights Conditions Of Hindu Temples

 
Srinivas hoped that the festival will inspire people beyond caste and religion to come forward to protect heritage and culture of this country. He said the films highlighted the importance of temples, which are much more than mere places of worship.
 
A short film "Maa" underlined the need to protect cows. "Temple Treat", a film by Matiur Rahman of Delhi, depicted how the sculptural art at a few famous temples of Bhubaneswar including Lingaraj and Parsurameswar is in a deplorable condition.
 
Rahman, whose films focus on scientific aspects, said that he plans to make a few movies on ancient and medieval temples and, specifically, the science and technology of that era which had gone into building temples. "The temples were built according to perfect formulas indicated in Shilpa shastras (an umbrella term for numerous Hindu texts). I am looking at temples from the point of view of science and technology; how Shilpa sastras hundreds of years back gave us the formula of building temples which are earthquake resistant," he said.
 
Lohit, another filmmaker, screened four films highlighting different aspects of the temples. "There is a need for people to understand the significance of temples. They help people socialise, learn values and get positive energy to move forward," Lohit said.
 
Annamalaiar Arapanikuzhu, a group from Tamil Nadu, showcased its work of cleaning the temples. Headed by V. Ramachandran, a bank employee who took voluntary retirement to dedicate himself to the cause, it has so far cleaned 60 temples.
 
"We have students, retired employees and peons to executives. There is no other place where judges, doctors and sweepers work together and do chit chatting. For them, the lord is the boss and they are servants," he said.
 
"People go to temples for mere formalities. They lack the religious spirit. Even the puja practices are not conducted as per shastras because the priests are salaried employees and lack spirituality," said Aksh Goyal of the Hindu Jana Jagran Samithi, which presented a short film on the positive energy in temples.

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