This blog is based of observations during a visit to Hampi, Karnataka
An observation of the two temple complexes Rama and Krishna temple show that both these temples, hundred of years old, have elements of two principles which modern management has "invented"namely Anchor tenant and Free-mium.
For those who do not know these jargon : Anchor tenant is a key tenant of any reality development which is capable of attracting people so that other shops will also gain from it. The Kings of Hampi used the Gods namely Krishna and Rama as the Anchor tenant. People come to see the temple and worship from all parts. They come frequently. So this makes eminent sense.
Additionally the temple was the hub of many activities namely cultural such as festivals, celebrations, auspicious days. Some of the leading artists in dance and music were attached to the temple and performed in the temple. These performances are usually free and may have also contributed to the footfalls in the temple. In many temples, food was also served to those who wished to partake of it. This was traditionally a social security net for those who had fallen into bad or difficult times and ensured that these families did not starve.
This traffic to the temple also called footfalls was used to create markets in the roads/path leading up to the temple. These were monetized by charging a rent from the merchants to set up shops. This was a form of freemium as these rents were effectively paid only by those buying items from these marchants. Those who simply wished to go the temple and come back had an effectively free trip. At the same time the temple was funded by the rents collected from the merchants. This is akin to Linkedin.com 's model. Many people use it for Free and a few people get more out of the website and pay for the website a premium giving rise to the term Free-mium.
The Hampi temples in my estimate were early examples of Freemium. This emphasizes the need to study all the management techniques used in our country since time immemorial lest we believe that the art and science of management originated with the establishment of Management schools in the West ; but we shall reserve that for another blog.
There are many lessons in management and economics to be learnt from the temple. The temple as a centre of art gives universal access to art ie anyone can enjoy music and dance. It's ability to attract people is a virtuous cycle. The more people come to the temple, the more people want to go to the temple. It is really the right place to enjoy sacred arts but in todays time and age we will desist from going into that. The temple offers an almost recession proof economy that dot vary too much.
There may have been many negatives in the way temples were managed at the turn of independence. These should have corrected keeping its strengths in tact. Instead the baby was thrown out with the bath water. The temples which have a good amount of autonomy have grown from strength to strength and have been centres of many great endeavours.
The revenue of the temple is not the measure of the temple but it is a good proxy and perhaps the only available for the volume of traffic that comes to the temple. The Tirupati temple is one such which has revenues of Rs 2000 crore per annum and has created world class facilities for handling a very large volume of pilgirms. There are no stampedes. All devotees who come to the temple are fed. There is enough accommodation to house all those who come to see the Lord. The temple town is clean, crime free and a marvel of management.
On the other hand many other such illustrious temples which fell under the management of the government are languishing. The Nataraja temple at Chidambaram is one such where neither the traffic nor the revenues are even remotely comparable to Tirupati. The annual revenues are about Rs 15 crores.
Last but not the least, well managed temples may be a stepping stone to a more spiritually advanced society. It may be one of the easier ways of creating a fair, tolerant society without ills such as corruption, violence etc.
We need to revisit the way, we the Hindu civilization, manage our temples. This could provide economic, cultural and spiritual multiplier of unimaginable amounts.
An observation of the two temple complexes Rama and Krishna temple show that both these temples, hundred of years old, have elements of two principles which modern management has "invented"namely Anchor tenant and Free-mium.
For those who do not know these jargon : Anchor tenant is a key tenant of any reality development which is capable of attracting people so that other shops will also gain from it. The Kings of Hampi used the Gods namely Krishna and Rama as the Anchor tenant. People come to see the temple and worship from all parts. They come frequently. So this makes eminent sense.
Additionally the temple was the hub of many activities namely cultural such as festivals, celebrations, auspicious days. Some of the leading artists in dance and music were attached to the temple and performed in the temple. These performances are usually free and may have also contributed to the footfalls in the temple. In many temples, food was also served to those who wished to partake of it. This was traditionally a social security net for those who had fallen into bad or difficult times and ensured that these families did not starve.
This traffic to the temple also called footfalls was used to create markets in the roads/path leading up to the temple. These were monetized by charging a rent from the merchants to set up shops. This was a form of freemium as these rents were effectively paid only by those buying items from these marchants. Those who simply wished to go the temple and come back had an effectively free trip. At the same time the temple was funded by the rents collected from the merchants. This is akin to Linkedin.com 's model. Many people use it for Free and a few people get more out of the website and pay for the website a premium giving rise to the term Free-mium.
The Hampi temples in my estimate were early examples of Freemium. This emphasizes the need to study all the management techniques used in our country since time immemorial lest we believe that the art and science of management originated with the establishment of Management schools in the West ; but we shall reserve that for another blog.
There may have been many negatives in the way temples were managed at the turn of independence. These should have corrected keeping its strengths in tact. Instead the baby was thrown out with the bath water. The temples which have a good amount of autonomy have grown from strength to strength and have been centres of many great endeavours.
The revenue of the temple is not the measure of the temple but it is a good proxy and perhaps the only available for the volume of traffic that comes to the temple. The Tirupati temple is one such which has revenues of Rs 2000 crore per annum and has created world class facilities for handling a very large volume of pilgirms. There are no stampedes. All devotees who come to the temple are fed. There is enough accommodation to house all those who come to see the Lord. The temple town is clean, crime free and a marvel of management.
On the other hand many other such illustrious temples which fell under the management of the government are languishing. The Nataraja temple at Chidambaram is one such where neither the traffic nor the revenues are even remotely comparable to Tirupati. The annual revenues are about Rs 15 crores.
Last but not the least, well managed temples may be a stepping stone to a more spiritually advanced society. It may be one of the easier ways of creating a fair, tolerant society without ills such as corruption, violence etc.
We need to revisit the way, we the Hindu civilization, manage our temples. This could provide economic, cultural and spiritual multiplier of unimaginable amounts.
We do indeed and the sooner we can see the exit of government appointed administrators of temples the better we will be. Tamil Nadu particularly is pathetic on this aspect and that is why footfall in temples is on the decline there.
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