A man has been told that he won’t get back his iPhone, which he accidentally dropped into the offerings box at a Tamil Nadu temple. According to the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HRCE) department, anything placed in the hundial or the offering box becomes the property of the temple, so there is no claim for getting the phone back.
Dinesh, the individual who dropped his iPhone into the hundial at Sri Kandaswamy temple in Thiruporur, requested the return of his device. The officials rejected the request as such devices are not allowed due to strict rules under Installation, Safeguarding, and Accounting of Hundial Rules, 1975. They said that whatever was kept in the hundial is considered as being offered to the deity, which cannot be taken out.
Man Accidentally Dropped iPhone in Temple Box: Tradition Takes Precedence
Minister PK Sekar Babu of the HRCE Department reiterated that there was no provision for sending back offerings, whatever the circumstances might be. “Once any item goes into the hundial, it is to be treated as offered to God. It cannot be given back,” he said. And, he said he discussed “recompensation” by the department officials to this man, but nothing was finalized.
While the temple administration promised to assist the man in recovering data from his phone, the device itself remains temple property.
This is not an isolated incident. In May 2023, a devotee in Kerala accidentally dropped a gold chain into a temple hundial. In that case, the chairman of the temple board personally purchased a replacement chain after verifying the situation.
Such events thus underscore the very stringent temple procedures, based on traditionalistic and legal considerations, while raising questions as to accommodating mishaps under modern concepts.
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