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What is Religious & Charitable Endowments [ M.P.J.S 2013]
A religious endowment is a mass of property set
apart either for the worship of certain deity or for the establishment or
maintenance of a religious or charitable institution or for the benefit of the
public or some section of the public in advancement of religion, knowledge,
commerce, heath, safety or any other object beneficial to mankind.
The
essentials of a Hindu religious endowment are the following:
(i) The donor
must dedicate the property absolutely
(ii) The
object of the endowment must be definite. It means that the donor must state
clearly that the property will be used in perpetuity for the worship of
definite idol or for a particular charitable object
(iii)
The property must also be
definite i.e., the specific property must be set apart.
An endowment shall be created by a Hindu of sound
mind and who is not a minor. No writing is necessary unless the endowment is
created by a will. In such a case, the will is required to be attested by at
least two witnesses.
The
following grants or endowments have been hold to be religious or charitable:
(a) Dharmasalas
(b) Building
and renovation of temples
(c) Goshala
(d) Feeding
Brahmins and the poor
(e) Establishment
of University or of hospital
(f) Construction
and maintenance of tanks, wells and reservoirs of water
Dedication:
Dedication
of property is essential for the creation of an endowment. A dedication may
either be complete or partial. The Hon’ble SC has held that the ceremonies
relating to dedication are sankalpa, utsarga and prathista. Sankalpa means
determination and is really a formal declaration by the settler of his
intention to dedicate the property. Utsarg is formal renunciation by the
founder of his ownership in the property. Utsarga has to performed only for
charitable endowments and not for religious foundations. Prathista takes the
place of utsarga in dedication to temples. Where prathista i.e., formal
installation of the deity is proved, the dedication is completed and valid
notwithstanding that utsarag has not been performed.
The distinction between dedication to deity and
temple and to other objects is this, in the former case the deity is the
recipient of the gift while in the latter there may not be any specific person
who is the recipient of the gift.
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