Man Accidentally Drops iPhone In Temple Box. Why He Won't Get It Back

A man who dropped an iPhone accidentally into the hundial or the offerings box at a Tamil Nadu temple may not get his phone back.

The Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department politely declined his request, saying it has now become temple property.

An official said that under the Installation, Safeguarding and Accounting of Hundial Rules, 1975, all offerings made into the hundials cannot be returned to the owner at any point, as they belonged to the temple, news agency PTI reported.

The phone has been taken as an offering, the temple authorities said, adding the iPhone owner can only retrieve the data.

Dinesh, who dropped the phone accidentally, approached the officials of the Sri Kandaswamy temple in Chengalpattu district's Thiruporur, and requested for the iPhone. The temple administration still declined his request.

PK Sekar Babu, the Minister of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, said, "Anything that is deposited into the offering box, even if it be an arbitrary action, goes into God's account."

"As per the practices and tradition at the temples, any offering made into the hundial directly goes into the account of the deity of that temple. Rules do not permit the administration to return the offerings back to the devotees," Mr Babu told reporters.

He said he would, however, discuss with the department officials to see if there was any possibility to compensate the devotee.

The minister said this after inspecting the construction of the Arulmigu Mariamman temple in Madhavaram, and the renovation of a temple tank belonging to the Arulmigu Kailasanathar temple in Venugopal Nagar.

This incident is not the first such one in the state.

A devotee, S Sangeetha from Alappuzha in Kerala, accidentally dropped her 1.75 sovereign gold chain into the hundial of the Sri Dhandayuthapani Swamy temple in Palani in May 2023. It fell into the hundial when she removed the tulasi garland around her neck to make an offering.

Considering her financial background and after confirming through CCTV footage that the chain had fallen by accident, the chairman of the temple board of trustees bought a new gold chain of the same value at his personal expense and gave it to her.