'Everything offered goes to god's account,' says TN minister after temple keeps iPhone accidentally dropped in donation box

The official explained that as per the Installation, Safeguarding and Accounting of Hundial Rules, 1975, none of the offerings made into the 'hundi' can be returned to the owner at any point, as they belonged to the temple.

Chennai: Anything that is dropped into a 'hundi' (donation box) is the property of the temple. This is what the management of the famous Thiruporur Kandaswamy Temple has told a devotee, who accidentally dropped his expensive iPhone, worth Rs one lakh, into the 'hundi' in October.

On Friday, when the 'hundi' was opened by the temple authorities after two months as per convention, the devotee, Dinesh, fervently hoped that he would get back his smartphone. However, the temple management made it clear to Dinesh that he won’t get his phone back as it has now become the property of the temple.

Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) minister P K Sekarbabu said on Saturday that the government will look into the matter and see if there are any rules to return the phone to the devotee.

“Whatever falls inside a 'hundi' is usually considered as God’s property. But if there is a remedy, we will certainly look into it and try to help the devotee. If the rules allow, he will get relief,” the minister added.

On October 18, Dinesh, who had come to the temple to offer prayers, claimed to have “accidentally” dropped the iPhone into the hundi, despite the box being protected with an iron fence. Dinesh immediately alerted the authorities who made it clear to him that the hundi cannot be opened then as it was against the rules.

After hearing that the hundi was being opened on Friday, Dinesh came to the temple and finally located his phone. However, the temple authorities didn’t allow him to take the device but granted permission for him to remove the SIM card and download the data from his smartphone.

Officials also said it wasn’t clear whether Dinesh dropped the iPhone inside the hundi as an offering and changed his mind later. “We have to go into the issue in detail because as far as we know, there is no way a phone can accidentally drop into the hundi which is protected with an iron fence,” a senior official said.