INDIA, July 25, 2015 (The Hindu): Sri Vijayendra Saraswathi of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam on Thursday exhorted Non-Resident Indians to adopt at least one dilapidated village temple and also fund the education of at least one poor student from their motherland. Quoting a sloka from the Ramayana, the Sankaracharya said one should realise that “mother and motherland are superior to heaven.”
They should chip in with their contributions either individually or collectively through organisations like Telugu Association of North America (TANA) or American Telugu Association (ATA) to reconstruct grama devalayams and sponsor the educational expenses of at least one poor student, the pontiff said after performing an elaborate Trikala pooja here. “It is imperative to protect the existing temples than constructing new ones,” he added. The seer wanted the TTD to appoint at least 1,000 gram purohits to revive the past glory of village temples, which, he said, had been the nerve-centre of all socio-economic and cultural activities in the past.