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

(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.