Indian devotee's iPhone dropped into donation box declared temple property

In an incident that has left many surprised, an Indian devotee accidentally dropped his mobile phone while making donation, however, the authorities have refused to return it saying that it has now become a temple property.

A devotee, at Sri Kandaswamy temple in Thiruporur, accidentally dropped his iPhone into the hundial of a temple.

He wanted it back and therefore went to the temple authorities and pleaded that his iPhone which inadvertently fell into the offering box when he was making a donation be returned to him.

But the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department politely declined his request, saying it has now become temple property.

On Friday, after opening the offering box, the temple administration contacted him saying the gadget was found in the hundial and he was free to retrieve only the data from it.

However, Dinesh refused to accept and insisted that his phone be returned to him.

When this issue was taken to the notice of the HR & CE Minister P K Sekar Babu on Saturday he replied "anything that is deposited into the offering box, even if it be an arbitrary action, goes into god's account."

He said that he would discuss the issue with the department officials to check if there was any possibility to compensate the devotee and accordingly make a decision.