Renewable Energy Begun to be Embraced by India’s Hindu Temples
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY 
on 07. 9.08
Tirumala temple photo by SJ Jagadeesh
I’ve often thought that way for eco-consciousness to really become ingrained in people’s lives is for it to be truly adopted by the major faiths of the world—for the interconnectedness of all life to be impressed upon everyone from a young age. Such a belief is already the foundation of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism so when Time recently ran an article about how India’s Hindu temples are increasingly embracing green ethics, it seemed a perfectly natural match.
Tirumala Temple Replaces Diesel With Solar
As example of this Time cites Tirumala Temple in Andhra Pradesh which by some estimates is the most visited pilgrimage location in the world with over 50,000 pilgrims visiting daily, and how it has been using solar cooking technology to reduce its carbon footprint. As the temple’s communal kitchen cooks 30,000 meals per day this move has resulted in a large reduction in the amount of diesel fuel which was previously used to run generators.
Renewable Energy Seen as Spiritually Positive
Time describes the natural link between Hindu spirituality and environmentalism and how this is addressing India’s lackluster environmental practice heretofore:
Religious groups, keen to marry spirituality with sustainability, are leading the push to reverse that trend. Deepak Gadhia, founder of Gadhia Solar Energy Systems, which provided solar cooking technology to Tirumala temple, says more and more religious organizations have approached him in recent years. "With most businesses, the first question is of economics," he says, "But spiritual organizations look at larger issues. They want energy that is spiritually positive."
via :: Time
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This is absolutely beautiful. Religion is a primary source of what counts as ethical for most of us humans in the world, and it is good to see so much compassion coming from our various faiths.
On the plus side: It's good to see, and I agree with the above poster that religions think about more than just money (as do businesses to quite a large extent).
On the negative side: What took so long? Religious groups should have been doing things like this long ago.
Has everyone forgotten about candles? I would venture they are a far more "spiritually positive" light source than swtich-on, solar-powered neon, for one.
Keen on them for trying, though needing to cater to 900 million followers will put a crink in the most well-intentioned and environmentally friendly plans. The logistics of that scale cannot be made sustainable even with the most efficient of energy harnessing programs.
'Has everyone forgotten about candles? I would venture they are a far more "spiritually positive" light source than swtich-on, solar-powered neon, for one.'
@ De-plete
No where in the article is mention of solar powered lighting. And cooking is solar thermal.
Religion, aka ignorance, is unsustainable.
Still, this is better than nothing.
XVX for life, R.A.S.H. 'til death.
Hinduism has been always coexisting with nature. it practice live and let live ,explore not exploit .I am happy that the Modern India is going back to its age old wisdom
When the message is to reach out to the largest number of people as fast as possible and since time is running out for us, it serves as a great place to showcase environmental awareness. Being in India, I can see what a powerful influence Tirumala can have on the psyche of people. Way to go!