Contents dropped into temple hundials belong to the deity: HR&CE

iPhone dropped in temple hundial belongs to deity per HR&CE Act; owner seeks return, authorities decide fate.

To whom does an iPhone, which fell into a temple hundial, belong? In Tamil Nadu, it’s usually owed to the diety in temples. According to the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Act, any item — be it gold or silver ornaments or money deposited into the hundial in any temple — will belong to the deity.

In this case, the iPhone has been reported to have fell into the hundial Arulmigu Kandaswamy temple in Thiruporur on August 18 at noon by Dinesh, a resident of Ambattur. A month later, he submitted a letter to the temple saying he would like to be informed when the hundial was opened as he would like to have his phone back.

He also said that he was not aware to have dropped his phone in the hundial. It contained important data. He urged the temple authorities to inform him when the hundial would be opened. The hundial was opened on December 19th, and Mr. Dinesh was informed.

When The Hindu reached out to him, he said that the temple authorities told him to copy the data from the phone if he wanted after h submitting a letter to that effect and proving his ownership of the phone, though he had wrote a letter asking his phone back. He refused to provide any details.

Minister P. K. Sekarbabu said the department would abide by whatever was legal and take a decision accordingly. A retired official of the department said that it was best that the police be approached to deal with the issue. “It is not our job to question the ownership. It’s an electronic device and the department can either take a small amount as a fine and return it or hold a public auction to give it to the highest bidder.”