A man’s iPhone fell into a temple box, which is why he won’t be able to get it back

A man who accidentally dropped his iPhone into an offering or offering box at a Tamil Nadu temple may not be able to get it back.

The Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department rejected his request, stating that the phone was now considered temple property.

Citing the Installation, Protection and Accounting Rules, 1975, an official explained that anything deposited in Hundial is considered a donation and cannot be returned to the owner. “All the offerings made in the ceremonies belong to the temple and cannot be retrieved,” the official told news agency PTI.

The temple authorities confirmed that the iPhone that fell into the sundial was treated as an offering, allowing only its data to be retrieved.

Dinesh, the owner of the phone, sought help from officials at the Sri Kandaswamy Temple in Thirupurur, located in Chengalpattu district, to recover his device. However, his request was rejected by the temple administration.

BK Sekhar Babu, Minister of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments, explained the decision, saying: “Anything deposited in the offering box, even if done unintentionally, becomes part of God’s account.”

“As per the practices and traditions in temples, any offering made on the festival goes directly to the account of the deity of that temple. The rules do not allow the administration to return the offerings to the devotees,” Babu told reporters.

He added that he would consult with administration officials to explore whether any form of compensation could be provided to the devotee.

The minister made the remarks while inspecting the construction of the Arulmiju Mariamman Temple in Madhavaram and supervising the renovation of the temple tank associated with the Arulmiju Kailasanattar Temple in Venugopal Nagar.

This is not the first time such an incident has occurred in the state.

In May 2023, a devotee named S. Sangeetha from Alappuzha, Kerala, accidentally dropped her 1.75 sovereign gold chain into the watch case at the Sri Dhandayuthapani Swamy temple in Palani. She slid the chain into the offering box as she removed the Tulasi garland from around her neck to make the offerings.

Keeping in mind her financial situation and verifying through CCTV footage that the incident was unintentional, the chairman of the temple’s board of trustees personally purchased a new gold chain of equivalent value and handed it over to her.