Next time you visit the Siddhivinayak temple at Prabhadevi in the evening, just ask the gateman where the maalak (owner) is. He will point to a tall but weak and poor man.
With Ganeshotsav starting on Wednesday, lakhs of devotees will visit the temple over the next 10 days, but few, if any, among them will know that the poor man standing near the deity is the original owner of the temple.
Krishnakumar Patil’s family managed the temple for more than 100 years. Today, he is forced to live in a slum in a bylane near the temple because he has been denied a share in the vast income of the temple.
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With Ganeshotsav starting on Wednesday, lakhs of devotees will visit the temple over the next 10 days, but few, if any, among them will know that the poor man standing near the deity is the original owner of the temple.
Krishnakumar Patil’s family managed the temple for more than 100 years. Today, he is forced to live in a slum in a bylane near the temple because he has been denied a share in the vast income of the temple.
2 Comments
Tell a friend
Bury
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Interesting article
God creates Man. Man wants to own God.
“My grandfather used to light the lamps in the temple till his death,” he said. “He used to take a boat to reach the temple. (Those days there was a lake in the area known as Nardulla Tank). There were four families living near the temple in 1950. All of them were removed from the place.”
WOW...what a joyride man. Taking a boat to light the lamps.It seems like a different world altogether.