On the way back from Yelagiri, I stopped with family at the Golden temple at Sripuram. The usual followed - tickets for a fast lane and a regular lane, information about more pujas for pay etc. However, it wasn't hard to notice that this temple was a little different from the rest once I walked in. The temple was spic and span with a nice wide walk way and neatly trimmed grass all around and very quiet. What impressed was the first billboard to the right of the walk way which in effect said one might question building a temple as opposed to a school or hospital and went on to say that the temple provides the wisdom to build many schools and hospitals. Though I don't necessarily subscribe to the logic, what impressed me was that they were willing to accommodate questions about the construction of the temple. Many more billboards I mostly rated good to impressive followed and touched upon integrity, hard work and the importance of giving. I enjoyed the 20-30 min stroll to the main sannidhanam and back the most. The founder also runs a correction centre, a hospital and doles out water from the temple to the city of Vellore during summer months. I haven't seen his balance sheets or any of that kind of stuff online, so I can't say much more than this - When people are willing to accommodate questions about their own faith, it discourages extremism and promotes peace.
