| OCR Text |
Show Hindu Ceremonies Cost Billion Yearly Religious Body Wants Huge Expenses Reduced. London. That the Hindus in In-dia In-dia spend something like $1,250,000,-000 $1,250,000,-000 annually on ceremonial occasions, and that this national budget of the people needs economizing, Is the main conclusion and recommendation made In a preliminary report by the Hindu religious committee to his holiness the shankarcharza, Doctor Kurtakotl. A small committee was appointed ty his holiness at the end of last year to report on the condition of religious observances in India and their effect on the economic condition of the people. peo-ple. The following are the general conclusions drawn up by that committee com-mittee in a preliminary report: Leaving out the Moslems and the depressed classes for the moment, there are 200,000,000 Hindus In British Brit-ish India. These are grouped into about 40.000,000 families. There are about 4,000,000 deaths each year in these families. Every death means religious ceremonies, cere-monies, lasting for 13 days, which are performed by Hindus of all castes. It has been estimated that 50 rupees per leath ceremony would be a very modest mod-est estimate. Thus '200,000,000 rupees per year is paid out by the Hindus In what the committee calls "death duties" surrendered to the Hindu society. so-ciety. Part of this Is purely for ceremonies. cere-monies. Similarly there are about fi.OOO.CH'io births per year among the caste Hindus. The ceremonies In connection with births are much less ' complicated, as seemingly the passing of man from this life Is of more importance im-portance than an arrival Into the world, and the committee calculates that the total average cost does not exceed 10 rupees per head. Including the ceremonies. This would add 50,-000,000 50,-000,000 rupees to the bilL During the lifetime of a caste Hindu there are In all 10 ceremonies, including includ-ing birth and death. In the case of the Brnhinans, numbering more than 15,000.000, there are two ceremonies, the death and marriage ceremonies which are the most Important. Marriage is a ceremony of universal Importance with Hindus of all castes. It has been estimated that there are In all about 30,000,000 Hindu families In India. The number of marriages per year is estimated at about 5.000,-000. 5.000,-000. But taking Into consideration that two families are concerned in the marriage, about 10,000.000 families are affected by It. At the lowest, it is stlmated, each of these families 1 1 spends about 150 rupees on the marriage, mar-riage, bringing the Hindu national marriage bill up to the huge sum of 1,500,000,000 rupees. The thread ceremony among the Brahmans Is the most Important, as without it no person has the right to call himself a Brahman. About 250,-000 250,-000 thread ceremonies take place every year, costing about 30,000,000 rupees. There are numerous other ceremonies cere-monies on all sorts of occasions, like the new year, the dassera, the festival of lights, etc. Added together, all these ceremonies represent an expenditure expendi-ture of 2,780,000,000 rupees, or $1,050,-000,000. $1,050,-000,000. The depressed classes, numbering about 50,000,000, have their annual ceremonial which costs them about 10 rupees per head, adding another 500,-000,000 500,-000,000 rupees, of $187,500,000 to the huge sum spent on ritual. The committee com-mittee considers that this is an estimate esti-mate for very lean years. For the average good year this estimate should be Increased by 50 per cent. Taking the present estimate as the best for the purpose of general consideration con-sideration the committee thinks that at the present moment, when the government gov-ernment dues are being considered as excessive, an attempt should be made to reduce these religious charges. The government of India's annual revenue Is round about $500,000,000. The Hindu spends more than 25 per cent on his religious rites and ceremonies alone. If the income of an Indian per head per year Is taken at the official figure of $25, then the Hindu is spending more than 23 per cent of his Income on religious ceremonies. After government gov-ernment and other taxes have been paid the Hindu has to live on about 15 cents per week. The committee considers that a broader and more humane outlook must be taken of this problem of life for the Hindu. They feel that the question must be considered as a whole and that heads of the Hindu religion should be consulted throughout through-out India, and that religious ceremonies cere-monies should be reduced in costs so as to make it possible to undertake religious ceremonies without having to borrow from a money lender to do so. |
