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KANCHIPURAM, INDIA, November 17, 2004: There are now fears that the allegations against the Shankaracharya could become an excuse to threaten the financial autonomy of the Kanchi math. Observers point out that the pitch for control of the math’s huge assets has been raised in recent weeks. Residents of the math are trying to get back as much as possible to life before Jayendra Saraswati’s arrest, because tradition dating thousands of years ago has to be continued. For most devotees, the centuries-old Kanchi math is a symbol of the Hindu spiritual tradition but many point out that it is a cash-rich institution that controls several schools, colleges, hospital and other organizations whose combined worth is put at about Rs 10,000 crore (US$2.2 billion, other accounts say Rs. 5,000 crore)



“It will be like asking me how much water is flowing in the river. It will be quite a sum of money,” said R. Prasanna Venkatesan, Former Manager, Kanchi math. Math believers say with such massive assets in the reckoning, it is possible that there is more behind the arrest of the Shankaracharya than meets the eye. The Kanchi math is a privately run body over which the Tamil Nadu endowments department (which runs 44,000 Hindu temples in the state) has no control. Politicians opposed to the Shankaracharya have been demanding a takeover by the government alleging financial irregularities. “They have fooled everyone. This money could constitute a state budget. It should be taken and used for public good,” said D. Parvendran, a Dalit leader. Amid reports of a parallel income tax investigation along with the probe into the criminal case, followers fear that stumbling upon even the smallest case of financial irregularity could be used as an excuse by the State to interfere with the autonomy of this respected institution.

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