A devotee's iPhone in Chennai accidentally fell into the donation box of a temple. After this, when the devotee requested to return the iPhone, the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department refused. The department rejected the devotee's demand saying that it has now become the property of the temple. After realizing his mistake, a devotee named Dinesh contacted the officials of Sri Kandaswamy Temple located in Tirupurur. He requested that his phone, which inadvertently fell into the donation box while donating, be returned. After the incident, after opening the donation box on Friday, the temple administration contacted Dinesh. The temple administration said that the phone has been found and only the data of the phone can be provided to them. However, Dinesh refused to take the data and said that his phone should be returned to him. 

No return allowed

After this, the matter was brought to the notice of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister P.K. Shekhar Babu on Saturday. On this incident, he said, "Whatever is deposited in the donation box, even if it is not given voluntarily, goes to the account of God." He said, "According to the practices and traditions of temples, any offering made in the donation box goes directly to the account of the deity of that temple. According to the rules, devotees are not allowed to return the offerings." However, he said that he will discuss with the officials of the department whether there is any possibility of giving compensation to the devotee. He said that he will take a decision after discussion. 

Such an incident has happened before

Actually, this is not the first such incident in the state. According to a senior official of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, in May 2023, the gold chain of devotee S. Sangeeta of Alappuzha, Kerala, inadvertently fell into the donation box of the famous Sri Dhandayuthapani Swamy Temple in Palani. When Sangeeta was taking off the Tulsi garland from her neck for offering, the gold chain fell into the donation box. However, considering her financial condition and after confirming from the CCTV footage that the chain had fallen accidentally, the chairman of the temple board of trustees bought a new gold chain of the same price at his personal expense and gave it to the devotee. The official said that according to the Hundi Establishment, Security and Accounts Rules, 1975, any offering made in the hundi cannot be returned to the owner at any time, as it becomes the property of the temple.