Did you know that the Tirumala Temple, which was under rise since 8th century or even much earlier under the patronage of Hindu Kings, came under the purview of the British East India Company indirectly controlling the Nawab of Arcot from 1751 AD and directly for the first time in 1801, and guided under specific 42 rules of the Bruce’s Code of 1821 until 1842-43 AD, in the early years of the reign of Queen Victoria?
The Tirumala Temple as a religious institution came under the special protection of the royal Hindu kings from hoary times with legendary stories. The earliest ruler who discovered the idol of Tiruvengadamudayan, later known as Lord Venkateshwara or Srinivasa was the Hindu ruler called Tondamana of Tondamandalam from early parts of the third century (or 813 AD?) followed by a stream of dedicated rulers/emperors of different regimes who not only built the temple band also ensured donations of lands and villages for the upkeep and daily worhip, but also decorated the deities with immense amount of precious gold jewellery studded with diamonds and gem stones. Recorded history is traced to the year 966 AD when Pallava Queen Samavai donated a Silver Idol of Venkateshawara (a small replica of the main tall sila vigragha or Dhruva Bera of the Lord), along with gifts of jewellery and land. The Pallavas of Kancheepuram, Cholas of Tanjore, and Pandyas, and emperors of Vijayanagar dynasty were the devotees of this Lord Venkateshwara. In particular, during the reign the Vijayanagar Empire, the emperor Krishnadevaraya himself paid several visits to the temple and had evinced keen interest for its development. Earlier in 11th and 12th ceturies sage Ramanujacharya during his three visits to the temple, institionalised the practice of worship under Agama shastra dictums and adding many flower gardens.Even the Marathas who had sway over South India did visit the temple and made rich donations in the form of jewels. One such Maratha ruler was Ragoji Bonsley whose jewellery gift are still preserved in the temple. The Wadiyar rulers of Mysore Kingdom and Gadwal also donated valuable ornaments to the templ. The temple had by then become a source of assured huge annual income due to its popularity among the lakhs of pilgrims visiting the temple and contributing to its welfare. With the fall of the Hindu Empires, the temple was controlled by the French for some time and then by Muslim rulers including finally the Nawab of Arcot.
With the advent of the colonists of the British Empire in India, the rich revenue (nearly a lakh of rupees every year) of Tirumala temple attracted the greedy British East India Company, when initially in 1748 AD the management of temple was with the Muslim Nawabs of Arcot. The temple of Tirumala was taken over by the English East India Company to enable it to recoup its expenditure incurred as a loan to the Nawab of Arcot. Although the temple along with the Paragana of Tirupati was nominally the property of the Nawab of Arcot, the revenues of the temple were assigned by him to the East India Company. Even this farce disappeared in 1801 when the East India Company dispossessed the Nawab and assumed direct administration of the temple. The main interest of the Company was the income of the temple only. The whole revenue of the temple, from whatever source derived, was brought under the management of and appropriated by the Sircar of Government. Since many instances of misappropriation were brought to the notice of the Board of Revenue, the management of the temple was never in question and seemed to have recognised the temples as the focal point of religious faith. Nevertheless the Colonists were not willing to farm out the temple for its revenues. In 1803, M.G. Stratton, the then collector of North Arcot district after investigations and enquiries of mismanagement reported to the Board of Directors of Revenue detailing the sources of revenue from the Tirumala temple. Subsequent to the passage of Regulation VII of 1817 by the Madras Government, the management of the temple was carried on under the control of the Board of Revenue through the Collector of North Arcot district. Even in those days , multitudes of pilgrims from all parts of India visited Tirumala from whose offerings the temple derived an annual income of about 1 lakh per year. Subsequently, in 1821, Mr. Bruce, the then East India Company's Commissioner for Chittoor district, had drawn "Rules for the Management of Temples" which is referred to as "Bruce's Code". The Tirumala-Tirupati temples administration were managed according to the rules in Bruce-code of 42 departmental instructions.
This interference of East India Company in the affairs of the Tirumala-Tirupathi temples continued till the Court of Directors in England strongly resented the participation of the Company’s officers and men in the idolatry (idol worship) conducted in Hindu temples by reason of its management of these religious institutions and ordered its relinquishment of their administration of religious endowments which came into effect in 1842-43 AD in the early years of the reign of Queen Victoria I.
In 1843, the East India Company handed over charge of the temple to then Mahant Sri Sevadas of Sri Hathiramji Math in Tirupati to carry on the management through successor disciples of the Math. The rule of the Mahants who were six in numbers in succession continued up to 1933. Though initially the first two mahants initiated many improvements and additions in the temples, the successor Mahants are reported to have misappropriated the revenues of the shrines partly for their own personal use and partly for the aggrandisement of their math (monastery). To put it shortly, it was said that : "... it was all a record of waste and embezzlement of the temple funds". The Mahants' administration lasted for 90 years.
Then in 1933, the Madras Act XIX of 1933 was passed and the management of the Tirumala-Tirupati temple properties were taken away from the Mahants and vested with the TTD Board of Trustees which was then formed by the Provincial Government. Several modifications and changes have been effected to this Act over the years, and the temple is now administered by a Board of Trustees whose membership has increased in size from five (1951) to eighteen (2015) subjected to the control of the Commissioner and the State Government of Andhra Pradesh. With the efficient and smooth administration of the TTD temples now under the TTD Act of 1979, its annual revenue has increased manifold and is reported to be about ₹2,938 crore (Rs 2. 938 billion) during the year 2021-22 with footfalls of 1.04 crore pilgrims. TTD also runs various charitable trusts, whose funds are derived from the budget and donations from the devotees.
Under the TTD management, now a very large temple complex with a gold plated tower crowning the Garba griha of the main Venkateshwara temple has been functioning in an organised manner.
Note: This is my last article on the Tirumala temple complex. In case FB friends want any other issue of this temple to be covered may kindly let me know the subject matter to be covered.
Narasipur Char
