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Perceptions of
Religious spirit and peoples accountability
perceptions of accountability
in Hindu and Buddhist religious
997
organizations
Received July 2007
Kelum Jayasinghe Revised 15 August 2008
School of Accounting, Finance and Management, University of Essex, Accepted 14 January 2009
Colchester, UK, and
Teerooven Soobaroyen
School of Business and Management, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK

Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how the Buddhist and Hindu people in
non-Western societies perceive rational accountability practices in religious organizations, through
their respective religious spirit and beliefs and in combination with broader structural elements of
the society.
Design/methodology/approach The interpretive tradition of research, i.e. ethnography based on
two in-depth cases from Sri Lanka (a Buddhist temple) and Mauritius (a Hindu temple) is adopted for
the data collection. The data are analysed using grounded theory methods and procedures.
Findings In non-Western Buddhist and Hindu societies where peoples lives are bound by a high
religious spirit the accountability system in the religious organisations is largely visible as an
informal and social practice rather than a stakeholder-oriented rational mechanism. It is found that the
rational accountability mechanisms are sacredised by the Buddhist and Hindu religious spirit and
subsequently, the accountability systems and religious activities are both influenced by the structural
elements of trust, aspirations, patronage and loyalty relations, social status, power and rivalries.
The accountability practices implemented in these organisations are perceived by the people as being
no more than ceremonial rituals aimed at strengthening the temples righteous and prudent image to
the religious society.
Research limitations/implications The paper raises the issue that accountability practices in
community, grassroots-based non-profit organisations are not mere reporting of facts relating to
economic activities and a neutral system giving reasons for the conduct of its leaders. Instead, they
initiate new forms of accountability systems and reproduce structural conditions.
Originality/value This is one of the first field studies which examine perceptions of accountability
within a Hindu and a Buddhist context, as influenced by the religious spirit and internal belief
systems of the devotees. Previous studies have mostly focused on Judeo-Christian or Islamic
denominations.
Keywords Management accountability, Religion, Society, Sri Lanka, Mauritius
Paper type Research paper

Accounting, Auditing &


Accountability Journal
Vol. 22 No. 7, 2009
The authors would like to acknowledge the valuable comments and suggestions made by the pp. 997-1028
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
two journal reviewers and the conference reviewer, discussant and participants of the 0951-3574
5th Asia-Pacific Interdisciplinary Research in Accounting Conference, Auckland (July 2007). DOI 10.1108/09513570910987358
AAAJ 1. Introduction
22,7 The paper examines the accountability practices as embedded in Buddhist and Hindu
religious organizations located in non-Western societies. Religious organizations such
as temples play a major role in such societies, particularly in regulating the social and
political practices of its people (Nelson, 1990). Typically, these people are very much
attached to the elements of religiosity, i.e. God, eternity, reincarnation and maintain a
998 reciprocal dependence and closeness with the temple and its Priests. In contrast to the
Western societies which are largely dominated by a Protestant work ethic and a
methodical and rational life style (e.g. record keeping; Weber, 1947, 1958, 1968), the
traditionally oriented non-Western people who are less financially literate, have
emotional imperatives and unequal power relations make substantive rational
calculations in their everyday life (Northcott and Doolin, 2000; Jayasinghe, 2006).
The extant literature has mostly focused on the accounting and accountability
practices of religious organizations in Western societies and has overwhelmingly
centred on Christian denominations notable exceptions include Abdul-Rahman and
Goddard (1998) and Bowrin (2004). There is a lack of evidence relating to how
accountability mechanisms are represented in non-Christian and non-Islamic
denominations such as Buddhism and Hinduism and how these operate with
regards to their structures. Initial studies in Christian denominations largely stress on
technical and functional perspectives of accounting rather than providing interpretive
analyses of how accounting practice is actually embedded in such settings and how its
use interacts with the particular nature of religious beliefs (Futcher and Phillips, 1986;
Kreiser and Dare, 1986; Swanson and Gardner, 1986, 1988; King, 1988; Faircloth, 1988;
Zietlow, 1989). In addition, the broader issue of accountability remains almost
untouched in this category of organizations although some of the research outlined the
primacy of particular interests or user groups whose information needs to appear more
aligned to the use of formal accountability mechanisms (Swanson and Gardner, 1986,
1988; Laughlin, 1990; Berry, 2005). Moreover, the theoretical approaches to most of the
post-1980s studies have been dominated by the sacred versus secular divide which
focuses on a perceived incompatibility between religious belief systems and the use
of formal accounting and accountability practices in churches (Laughlin, 1984, 1988;
Booth, 1993). In this respect, there is a demand to use alternative modes of articulated
analysis as a way to conceptualise the roles of accounting and accountability practices
in religious organizations (Gallhofer and Haslam, 2004; Hardy and Ballis, 2005;
McPhail et al., 2005). For instance, Hardy and Ballis (2005) contend that the study of
accounting within a religious context can be enhanced by seeking to better understand
the communitys belief systems and its internal/external history (Niebuhr, 1951).
Gallhofer and Haslam (2004) also urge accounting researchers to consider the lessons
from liberation theology with a view to conceptualise accounting as an instrument of
emancipation supporting grassroots struggles rather than it being purely viewed as a
instrument of a capitalist oppression. Being motivated by these findings and
arguments, we believe it is timely to research the actual use and the interactions of
accountability in religious organisations in the context of non-Christian and
non-Islamic denominations, such as the Buddhist and Hindu religions.
Buddhism and Hinduism both reflect similar theological characteristics in terms of
eternal truths and doctrine pertaining to religion and have common philosophies. But
they also have notable differences in their belief systems (Eliot, 1954; Kinsley, 1982).
Some argue that the interactions between Buddhism and Hinduism are analogous to Perceptions of
those displayed between Protestantism and Catholicism, particularly where Buddhism accountability
is seen as a reform movement of Hinduism (Rhys-Davids, 1957; Snodgrass, 2007). Also,
we observe that Buddhist and Hindu societies both have a long historically constructed
socio-religious set of beliefs and practices for their everyday life that appear to be much
interdependent with the people who live their lives and spiritualities by the Hindu or
Buddhist creed. Therefore, at the design stage of this study, we decided to use two 999
separate cases (one each from a Buddhist and a Hindu denomination) to provide a more
complete narrative of how Hindu and Buddhist people understand, interpret and
re-interpret their religious beliefs, whilst taking into account the specificities of the
cultural and political economic context they live in, and in within which accounting
and accountability practices operate.
We seek to study accountability as a situated social practice using interpretive
research methods, i.e. ethnography and grounded theory with the assumption that the
role and potential impact of accounting systems can only be understood with reference
to the particular setting within it is embedded (Hopwood, 1983; Hopwood and Miller,
1994). First, we pursue the question of rational accounting and accountability practices
institutionalised in Hindu and Buddhist temples. Second, we look at how the Buddhist
and Hindu people communicate, talk about, act upon, perceive and understand these
everyday accountability practices through their respective religious spirit and
beliefs combined with broader structural elements of the society, i.e. moral and
semantic rules and power relations. For the analysis of its ethnographic data from the
field work reports and documentary evidence, the paper uses the grounded theory
methods and procedures (Strauss and Corbin, 1990). Overall, we seek to contribute to
the literature by providing evidence of how accountability operates more as an
informal and social practice as influenced by the Hindu- and Buddhist-inspired
religious spirit.
The paper proceeds as follows: First, it provides a brief review of the prior literature
on accountability in religious organizations. Second, the paper introduces the Buddhist
and Hindu religious spirit and belief systems to contextualise the study questions.
Thirdly, the methodology section explains the data collection and analytical methods
used in the study. Fourthly, a picture of the religious organizational context in Sri
Lanka and Mauritius, with a particular interest in the culture, politics, and temple
administration, is presented. The next section presents the findings from the study
with an analysis of the empirical data. The final section of the paper discusses the
findings in relation to the proposed theoretical framework that emerges from our
understanding of accountability in Buddhist and Hindu temples.

2. Prior research on accountability in religious organizations


A major feature within the literature has been the variety of approaches taken to define
and interpret accountability (Sinclair, 1995) and the debates in developing appropriate
accountability mechanisms, principles and frameworks for non-profit organizations
(Fry, 1995; Jordan, 2005; Goddard, 2004; Dixon et al., 2006; Unerman and ODwyer,
2006a, 2006b; Gray et al., 2006). For instance, accountability characteristics such as
formal versus informal, upward/vertical versus downward/horizontal (Edwards and
Hulmes, 1995), socialising versus individualising (Roberts, 1991, 1996; Jacobs and
Walker, 2004) and relational versus identity (Unerman and ODwyer, 2006b) have been
AAAJ the subject of recent debates in the accountability literature but there has been a
22,7 relatively lower level of interest in these conceptualisations in relation to religious
organizations.
Accounting researchers initially explored the extent of accounting systems and
practices used in religious settings from a predominantly functional mindset and in the
light of the evidence, recommended greater sophistication and modernisation in the
1000 financial accountability systems (Futcher and Phillips, 1986; Kreiser and Dare, 1986;
Swanson and Gardner, 1986; Faircloth, 1988; King, 1988; Zietlow, 1989; Bowrin, 2004).
However, there was also an emerging interest in a deeper understanding of the social,
organizational and more crucially, the spiritual contexts in which accounting and
accountability practices operated. With regards to this unique sacred environment
that somehow defies rational proof and calculation (Laughlin, 1988; Morgan, 1990) and
one that is allegedly characterised as theoretically extreme and dominated by a
non-financial ideology (Lightbody, 2003), there have been numerous studies on how
accounting actually interacts with the particular nature of religious beliefs. However,
the applicability of the so-called sacred versus secular divide has been the subject of
debate and discussion (Laughlin, 1988; Booth, 1993; Abdul-Rahman and Goddard, 1998;
Kluvers, 2001; Jacobs and Walker, 2004; Kreander et al., 2004; Irvine, 2005; Jacobs, 2005;
Hardy and Ballis, 2005; McPhail et al., 2005). At the same time, it is also claimed that a
deeper and perhaps more positive engagement between spirituality and accounting can
be best achieved through theological analysis, rather than being articulated
predominantly from a secular and sociological standpoint (Gallhofer and Haslam, 2004;
McPhail et al., 2004; Kreander et al., 2004). To date, however, only a handful of
researchers have studied in detail the characteristics of accountability systems and
practices in religious organizational contexts (Laughlin, 1990; Abdul-Rahman and
Goddard, 1998; Jacobs and Walker, 2004; Kreander et al., 2004; Berry, 2005), with the
majority of these studies focusing on the Judeo-Christian tradition.
For example, studies by Laughlin (1990) and Berry (2005) in the Church of England
provided some insights into the forms of accountability in a Western-based Christian
environment. Laughlin (1990) explores how different accountability relationships,
i.e. communal/socialising, contractual and administrative/hierarchical will contain
particular structures of signification (meaning), legitimation (morality) and domination
(power) for Church members. More recently, Berry (2005) develops and elaborates
on three modes of accountability in a church context, based upon covenant,
constitution and contract. The first mode of accountability is viewed at a theological
and spiritual level, namely that the primary accountability of a Christian is to God.
This symbolizes the covenant, [. . .] a kind of bond of mutuality, between a faithful
God and his faithful [obedient] followers (2005, p. 263). The second and third modes of
accountability stem from the historical and institutional significance of the Church in
English law. Within the context of the Churchs recent re-organization Berry (2005)
reveals that the covenant and the constitutional elements of accountability are more
prominent than the contractual aspect of accountability, basically replicating [. . .]
centuries old emergent patterns (2005, p. 290) and thereby constraining the influence
of a corporate-style and an individualizing accountability system that was being
introduced in the Churchs administration.
This apparent rejection of a formal-like and agency-inspired accountability system
can however be contrasted to Jacobs and Walkers (2004) field study of the
contemporary Christian Iona Community. In this case, accountability to the Perceptions of
Community and its members appear to be part and parcel of the theology and
spirituality of this group, whereby members have to regularly account in writing on
accountability
three disciplines namely prayers and Bible reading, ones use of time, and ones use of
money (2004, p. 367). In particular, Jacobs and Walker (2004) examine the economic
discipline and the concept of integrated spirituality in terms of how the Iona
Community use accounting and accountability techniques to achieve a mission of 1001
engagement with the community, a theology of integration between the physical and
the spiritual and a spirituality of practical Christian living [. . .] (2004, p. 372).
The authors conclude that there is no indication of a detachment (or divide) between
the material and the spiritual since the Iona teachings state that ones spirituality is
rooted in the realities of daily living and in ones living out the faith (2004, p. 375). The
case findings however highlighted the ambivalence and resistance of members over
time when subjected to an increased individualisation of the accountability system.
Jacobs and Walker (2004) also observe that a socializing form of accountability may
not necessarily be a positive and liberating one as it can also function as a structure for
domination and internal surveillance (2004, p. 378).
Furthermore, the study by Kreander et al. (2004) demonstrates the attempts by
religious organizations to practice and blend in their spiritual and theological
values in the operating of a financial practice, namely the use of ethical screens for
stock market investments. After identifying the theological bases of the Church of
England and the Methodist Church, the authors argue that the mode of accountability
developed in the context of ethical investment can be understood as form of moral
discursive practice (2004, p. 416). In particular, Kreander et al. (2004, p. 416) suggest
that the intended application of the doctrines of Stewardship and Agapism in
investment practices represents a form of accountability, which may partly assist in
shaping the moral identity of the account giver and place the church within the
temporality of the present. Also, other than again putting into question the sacred
versus secular dichotomy, the authors contend that those involved in the investment
function view their actions and accountabilities to be more about the intertwining of
religious values and financial practice, whereby [. . .] the ethical investment
programmes seem to represent a temporal proceduralisation of the transcendental
values of the sacred agenda (Kreander et al., 2004, p. 417). The existence of this more
complex dynamic on the influence of religious values in the shaping of accountabilities
was equally asserted in Lightbodys (2003) study of church financial managers.
In their study of accounting and accountability in two Islamic religious
organizations, the above-mentioned issues were also referred to by Abdul-Rahman
and Goddard (1998). First, the authors contend there is no secular versus sacred
divide in that:
[. . .] the worldview of Islam encompasses both the worldly aspect and the religious aspect, in
which the worldly aspect must be related in a profound and inseparable way to the religious
aspect, in which the latter has ultimate and final significance [. . .] without implying any
attitude of neglect or being unmindful to the worldly aspect (1998, p. 189).
Arising from the central concept of Tawhid (unity of God), the authors explain that
Islam has developed its own concept of accountability (Taklif ), in that everyone must
accept all the duties and liabilities as well as the benefits of any ownership
or responsibility entrusted unto them but this would be assessed on the
AAAJ Day of Judgement. In contrast to the traditional and limited conception of
22,7 accountability (principal-agent based and relational), they argue for a more holistic
view of accountability and contend that accountability has two intertwined aspects: a
universal and a historical one (also, from Willmott, 1996). This universal aspect of
accountability is part and parcel of the human nature and behaviour, in that [. . .]
human beings are continuously involved in making and giving accounts to others, and
1002 to ourselves, about who we are, what are doing, etc (Abdul-Rahman and Goddard,
1998, p. 199) and such accountability can be linked to the human aspirations for
communication and social interaction.
Essentially, these studies support a growing acknowledgment that the role of
formal accounting and accountability in religious settings can be diversely
conceptualised by the precepts, teachings or beliefs of the particular religion. Indeed,
Irvine (2005, p. 221) argues that different denominations, as institutionalized
organizations, will therefore hold different views on whether accounting is compatible
with their religious beliefs. Also, diverse and sometimes more complex
understandings emerge from the people themselves, whether they represent the clergy,
church management or lay followers more so when the theology is not necessarily
the preserve of an ecclesiastical elite and is actively being re-interpreted and diversely
practiced in the real world. This is a point inspired from Gallhofer and Haslam (2004)
and to some extent shown in Jacobs and Walker (2004). Overall, these studies reflect
alternative modes of articulated analysis as a way to conceptualise the roles of
accounting and accountability practices in religious organizations (Gallhofer and
Haslam, 2004; Hardy and Ballis, 2005; McPhail et al., 2005).
However, in spite of the increasing focus by these researchers on the accountability
practices in religious organizations, so far none of them have examined how
accounting and accountability practices have been mobilised in non-Christian and
non-Islamic denominations, particularly in non-Western societies. In this respect, we
remain drawn to two central and related questions in our paper. First, how does
accounting and accountability manifests itself in a non-Christian and non-Islamic
denomination? Second, how do Hindu or Buddhist people play a crucial role in the
understanding, interpretation and re-interpretation of their religious beliefs, taking into
account the other specificities of the context in which they live, i.e. social, historical,
political, and economical. In the next section, we introduce these two religious
denominations in an effort to contextualise our research questions.

3. Buddhist and Hindu religious spirit and belief systems


In this paper, our focus on Hinduism and Buddhism stems from their rich and
intertwined set of teachings and traditions in many countries and regions. Buddhism
and Hinduism both reflect similar characteristics in terms of eternal truths and
doctrine pertaining to religion. According to Eliot (1954) and Kinsley (1982), Hinduism
and Buddhism have common philosophies that cluster around the concepts of Dharma
(to hold and uphold), of Karma (ones actions and their consequences[1]), of Samsara
(cycle of death and rebirth, governed by ones Karma), and of an eventual liberation
from Karma and Samsara (Moksha in Hinduism and Nirvana in Buddhism). Both
religions have common fundamentals in their belief systems that lie in the spiritual
enlightenment of followers through spiritual cultivation, religious practices and
meditation and other forms of yoga. They believe there are many different paths to
enlightenment and ultimate spiritual reality beyond the illusions of the physical world Perceptions of
(Radhakrishnan, 1990). accountability
Buddhism and its teachings have significant influence on the lives of the village
people in Sri Lanka. In fact, the village, Buddhist temple, Dagoba (or shrines of the
Buddha) and reservoir (Wewa) are integral parts of the traditional Sri Lankan culture
and society. The members of the Buddhist monastic community preserve the doctrinal
purity of early Buddhism, but the lay community accepts a large body of other beliefs 1003
and religious rituals that are tolerated by the monks and integrated into Buddhist
religion. For example, as an effect of Hinduism, some people believe Buddha is a deity
or is an object of worship within Buddhism. Particularly, in Mahayana Buddhism
(a small fraction amongst practising Buddhists), the original teachings of the Buddha
are assimilated to Hindu practices, including prayers, Gods, and the ideas of
(temporary) heavens and hells. In general, Buddhists believe in predestination, and
therefore ones assumed posterity would depend upon ones behaviour in his/her
previous soul. This has motivated people to earn good (Pin in Sinhala[2]) for the
benefit of their next life by having a decent present life (Karma). These people also
actively attend and organise traditional Buddhist festivals such as Wesak[3], Poson[4]
and Katina[5] every year.
Hinduism is underpinned by ones need to live life based on moral principles as
expressed in the doctrine of Eternal Faith (Sanatan Dharma) such as non-violence
(Ahimsa), truthfulness (Satya), not stealing (Asteya) and purity of mind and body
(Sauca). However, at the heart of Hindu tradition lies a twofold and somewhat
paradoxical assertion to fulfil ones destiny:
(1) it is necessary to uphold, preserve and improve the physical world and human
society; and
(2) it is necessary to find ultimate release from this world, usually by renouncing
society (Kinsley, 1982).

This tension is addressed many times in Hindu scriptures and is popularly depicted in
the Bhagavad Gita, as a conversation between Krishna (a Hindu deity) and Arjuna
(a Hindu Prince). Confronted with a desire not to act and uphold social order (Dharma),
Arjuna seeks to renounce society to achieve liberation (Moksha). Krishna advises
Arjuna that complete inaction is impossible and that the key to liberation is not by
refusing to act but by performing any action with the proper understanding, attitude or
knowledge. In other words, according to Kinsley (1982, p. 33), the ideal is to act without
concern for the fruits of actions, to renounce ones egotistical desires in all of ones
doings and to plays one role without concern for personal consequences referred to
as the process of disciplined action (Karma-Yoga). Hence, what a Hindu does is as
important as what he or she believes in and the adherence to Dharma is not merely
limited to a passive acceptance of certain beliefs but greatly associated to the active
performance of duties and rituals, participating in festivals and other worshipping
events, such as Maha Shivaratri[6], Diwali[7] and Sankranti[8].
Both Buddhist and Hindu people believe their religious teachings are philosophical
(e.g. teachings from Buddha and the Vedas) and reforming, and consider these as the
training for social existence in the present and in the life to come. For both
denominations, there is no central theological elite or ecclesiastical authority that all
Hindus (Bowrin, 2004; Lorenzen, 1999) or Buddhists can draw upon (Snodgrass, 2007).
AAAJ As a result, there is much tolerance towards incorporating other cults and regional
22,7 folklore, which then leads to the development of many variants of Hinduism and
Buddhism at grassroots level (Ashby, 1974; Radhakrishnan, 1990). There are however
key differences between these two belief systems. For instance, reverence to the sacred
texts (Vedas and Upanishads) is a prerequisite for any belief system to be considered
Hindu whilst Buddhism does not assign a divine authority to the Vedic texts. Then,
1004 in contrast to Hinduism, Buddhism is silent about the existence or non-existence of
God. Alternatively, Buddhism offers Dhamma or the impersonal law in place of God.
In addition, the role of the Brahmin (priestly) caste is viewed as central in orthodox
Hinduism and in a caste-based society but the so-called superior status of the Brahmin
is not explicitly recognised in Buddhism[9] (Kinsley, 1982; Smith, 1987). Instead,
Buddhism rejects the caste based society and divorces itself from the interests of the
ruling stratum. Finally, the concept of Dharma in Hinduism explicitly encompasses
social obligations (e.g. earning material wealth and providing for society, known as
Artha) whilst this is viewed more philosophically in Buddhism, namely in terms of
engaging oneself in the right conduct to escape from the sufferings of worldly life
(known as Nirvana). According to Buddhas teachings, a person can achieve Nirvana
through the Five Noble Truths (realisation of the essence of suffering) and Eightfold
Path (methods of removing all suffering). Buddhism encourages a middle way of life
and rejects extreme asceticism as well as great wealth. In contrast, Hinduism does
accept the states of extreme asceticism and of great wealth, as part of the different
stages of life where one, respectively, pursues Moksha and Dharma.
In our assessment through our participation in the practical life of these two
communities, we found that these Buddhist and Hindu communities both have a long
historically constructed socio-religious set of beliefs and practices for their everyday
life (internal history as referred to by Niebuhr (1951) and Hardy and Ballis (2005)).
They both believe in predestination and reincarnation. Since, ones posterity depends
upon ones behaviour in his/her previous soul (Karma), they earn good (Pin in
Sinhala) for the benefit of their next life (reincarnation) by having a decent present life.
This religious spirit among Buddhist and Hindu people has set strong moral rules
for committing religious as well as social and economic actions. Hence, the spirit in
which they undertake their social and economic activities is closely tied to their
religious belief systems, i.e. living a righteous life. They feel no great tension between
temple and society, and understand the culture and economy through religion and
religion through culture and economy (Hardy and Ballis, 2005; Niebuhr, 1951). Thus, to
a great extent, the economic activities of these societies are sacredised, e.g. before
commencing work, the Buddhist Priest engages into Pirith chanting as a way to bless
the new work. On the other hand, because of the middle-class dominance and
protestant-influenced values, religious activities are ceremonially secularised to
signal their congruence with social and economic expectations, e.g. budgeting
practices, annual reports approval at annual general meetings (AGM).
One needs to be also appreciative of the fact that Hindu and Buddhist religious
practices appear to be much interdependent with the people who live their lives and
spiritualities by the Hindu or Buddhist creed. This thus leads us to question how Hindu
or Buddhist people play a crucial role in the understanding, interpretation and
re-interpretation of their religious beliefs, taking into account the other specificities
of the cultural and political economic context in which they live. Consequently,
ones understanding of accounting and accountability in a Hindu or Buddhist setting Perceptions of
cannot be divorced from the broader societal context particularly in the case of accountability
Hinduism which explicitly involves itself in the structuring of the society. Indeed,
this may explain why many authors understand Hinduism and Buddhism as a way of
life rather than a religion (Ross, 1980; Klostermaier, 1994; Dutta-Bergman and Doyle,
2001). This is why we sought to interpretively examine these belief systems in different
contexts in a bid to develop a richer understanding of accountability not strictly 1005
vis-a`-vis the religious beliefs but also in the presence of the context in which
accounting, accountability and religion is practiced. In the next section, we explain our
methodology.

4. Methodology
The study adopts the interpretive tradition of research, i.e. ethnography method
(Clifford and Marcus, 1986; Geertz, 1988) to study accountability practices in its social
context. Ethnography analyses how actors choose to do what they do, and particularly
focus on the orderly patterned nature of actors everyday social practices (Jonsson and
Macintosh, 1997; Dey, 2002). To examine how accountability practices of religious
organisations are perceived by their people in a non-Western context, this study has
selected a Buddhist temple in Sri Lanka and a Hindu temple in Mauritius. These two
cases studies in two relatively different general contexts provided us with a mirror to
understand how people with alternative religious spirits perceive accountability
differently. The data were collected through participant observation and in-depth
interviews. Representatives of both temples were initially contacted as the first step of
the interpretive research process. Upon further discussions, the people involved with
the two religious organisations agreed to informal and in-depth conversations on the
religious spirit and the accountability issues. We have been involved in the past with
the temples and have known several devotees and Priests. Our past experiences of
living as insiders with these two communities for many years allowed us to internalise
easily into their social life and to naturally get in get on and get out during
the fieldwork. In total, 15 and ten interviews were carried out and transcribed at the
Buddhist and Hindu temple, respectively. We interviewed them for approximately one
hour in their native languages. These interviews were held with different
office-bearers, elected committee members and religious figures of the two
organisations operating the temples, i.e. two Chief Priests, two chairman, two
Treasurers, two secretaries, four local delegates, six lay members and seven devotees).
It is noted that none of the interviewees have had any formal training in accounting
and financial activities but have been active in these religious organizations (in various
capacities) over the last five to ten years. In addition, documentary evidence was made
available in relation to the organizations structures and extent of administrative,
accounting and accountability practices.
We conducted the interviews in the form of guided conversations (MacNeill, 1990),
whereby the interviewee pursued topics and raised the themes of interest within
certain broad areas as prompted by the interviewer. The areas covered included
background information on respondents, their attachments, roles and tasks both in
society and religious organisation, their expectations from local religious organisation
and Priests, and their perceptions about financial practices of local religious
organisation. During the interviews, detailed conversations on specific topics were
AAAJ carried out and our reflexive accounts were noted carefully. The verbal data gathered
22,7 from the interviews were compared with the available documentary evidence to check
their contextual validity and procedural reliability. As part of this validation process,
some participative observations were also made to critically understand more
contextual issues, and enriching particularities of peoples viewpoints and perspectives
of the religious spirit and accountability (Gregory and Altman, 1989). This technique
1006 was employed specifically at religious events and rituals, e.g. pujas and the
administrative functions of the temples, e.g. committee meetings.
The ethnographic data from the fieldwork and documentary evidence were
analyzed using grounded theory methods and procedures (Strauss and Corbin, 1990).
For the content analysis of its modes of thought and modes of action (Jacobson,
1991), the data were provisionally categorized through line by line and paragraph level.
The inspection is conducted for the purpose of natural data grouping (Morrow and
Brown, 1994). The ethnographic narratives are formed from the interview transcripts
and meta-stories were constructed by signifying, editing and reshaping the narratives
(Llewellyn, 1999). By doing so, we attempt to make connections between the differing
contributions of research subjects to identify key themes and to theorise the empirical
findings.

5. Context
This section provides a brief picture of the religious organizational context in Sri Lanka
and Mauritius, with a particular interest to their culture, politics and administration.
Also, it presents an overview of the two local organisations selected for the study.

Buddhism, society and Buddhist organisations in Sri Lanka


Sri Lanka has a population of approximately 19.4 million, with Buddhism representing
approximately 70 per cent of the population. Although Buddhism does not explicitly
recognise the caste system, Sri Lankan Buddhists do identify with a caste. Most
members of the majority Sinhala community are Theravada Buddhists which are
categorised into three caste-based nikayas[10] known as Siam, Amarapura and
Ramanna (Gombrich, 2004). The study is set in the latter caste, the Ramanna Nikaya,
which was founded in 1864 and established by monks from three different castes in
Sri Lanka. Despite these caste identities within Buddhist nikayas, most monks and
temples remain committed to serving the needs of all their donors, regardless of caste
affiliation, save for a few higher caste Siam nikaya monks and temples mainly
established in rural villages (Samuels, 2006a, b). Traditionally, Buddhist temples
enjoy economic and social protection of the ancient Buddhist kings and modern day
government leaders. These temples were treated as charity organizations and not
subject to income tax (Gombrich, 2004). However, since the emergence of Ramanna
nikaya (representing the three emerging castes), a monastic lineage of Sri Lankan
Buddhism had shifted to the collective action of a dedicated group of Buddhist laymen
(Jayetilleke, 2003). In other words, this nikaya became independent from monastic
authorities of the state and royal power and were more closely tied to its patrons in the
growing middle class. In fact, this led to the rise of so-called Protestant Buddhism that
shifted the power and authority of the temples to middle-class laity (Samuels, 2006a, b).
The Sri Lankan constitution gives Buddhism a foremost position, but it also
provides for the right of other faiths/religions to exist freely. Separate ministries in the
government address religious affairs, including the Ministry of Buddha Sasana which Perceptions of
is empowered to deal with issues involving the Buddhist religion. The Buddhist accountability
temples, should they so wish, can register with the Ministry of Buddha Sasana.
However, this is not considered as a compulsory requirement. The Divisional Secretary
of the Government acts as the Buddhist Affairs Commissioner and represents the
Ministry of Buddha Sasana. The temple administration must obtain the approval from
the Divisional Secretariat Office for any land issues, special religious programmes and 1007
religious classes and the low income temples receive some financial assistance, in the
form of operating expenditure, capital grants, subsidies, and logistical support.
In addition, the local temples are technically affiliated to their Local Federations of
their respective nikayas. Each affiliated Local Federation is entitled to send a delegate
from their local executive committee to District Association of each nikaya. Every year,
the District Associations executive committee of 25 members is elected by the
delegates of the Local Associations. Similarly, each District Associations send their
delegates to the Working Committee (comprised of 20 members) to the nikaya
headquarters. These associations conduct their AGM to discuss matters relating to
their nikaya temples and the relationships with laity.
In Sri Lankan politics these local and district Buddhist associations and temples
have a significant influence in government and politics by acting as a pressure group
for the Buddhist community. This has created unhealthy competition and power
struggles between monks at the top level of its leadership. More favourably, the
equation of nation and religion also means that any issue involving the welfare of the
Sinhalese community, including issues of social equity, are fair game for activist
monks and their supporters.

Hinduism, society and Hindu organisations in Mauritius


Mauritius is a small island nation of about 1.2 million people. It has a secular
constitution and no officially preferred status for any religion. Hindus in Mauritius
account for about 52 per cent of the population but there are several underlying
sub-affiliations of the Hindu religion which can be partly traced to the different
philosophies and different regional origins of Indian immigrants (Eisenlohr, 2004;
Miles, 1999; Eriksen, 1994). They successfully transplanted their beliefs and ritual
practices, language, kinship structure, as well as a simplified caste structure (Miles,
1999, p. 6) to the Mauritian context. One of the major branches of Hinduism (whose
followers are referred to as sanatanists) gives more prominence to a scheduled,
structured and large-scale engagement in rituals, prayers and temple worship.
The latter tends to occur around a sacrificial fire (Yajna) and is done in public, and can
be viewed as a need to maintain cosmic order, human welfare and interdependence
between God and humans (Kinsley, 1982, p. 107). Furthermore, public or domestic
prayers ( pujas) focus on particular deities during specific periods. Offerings (flowers,
incense or food) and praise to deities are central to the puja ceremony as the devotee
seeks the favour of the Gods.
There are a number of local sanatanist Hindu religious structures
(in neighbourhoods, townsand villages) which own and/or operate temples (shivalas),
smaller places of cult (mandirs) and religious schools (baitkas). In addition, there are
several regional (district) and national organizations which act as umbrella
organizations (known as Federations) for the local temples. Each locally affiliated
AAAJ association is entitled to send two delegates (from their own executive committee) at
22,7 the Federations AGM, where the latters annual report and accounts are presented for
approval. Except for occasional donations (from individuals or companies) arising
from the organization of specific religious events and the relatively token affiliation
fees paid by local associations, government funding is the Federations prime source of
regular income (more than 90 per cent), in the form of operating expenditure, capital
1008 grants, subsidies, tax remissions and logistical support. Every three years, the
Federations executive committee is elected by the delegates. For local temples, the
affiliation brings benefits in terms of security and financial assistance whilst fostering
solidarity, i.e. they each receive on average Mauritian Rupee (MUR USD$0.03)
36,000 annually. Federations and local temples are de facto participants in debates and
policy discussions at various political and policy-making levels as representatives of
the Hindu community. They have established a far-reaching influence in national and
local politics, by acting as an honest broker for the Hindu community, lobbying for
policy changes, and this inevitably fuels power struggles within some of the
organizations.

Overview of the two local organisations


The Buddhist temple was established in 1986 and belonged to the Ramanna Nikaya
faction of the Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka. This is a newly constructed temple
under the National Housing Development Project by the government. There are about
375-400 households attached to the temple as member families with a total of 600
people attached as potential devotees, although only about 100 families are actively
involved in temple activities. As in many other Ramanna Nikaya temples, it does not
have the privilege of royal patronage and does not own any regular income generating
assets, i.e. paddy land. However, there is a group of dedicated Buddhist laymen mainly
belonging to the middle class operating as the patrons of the temple and Priest.
The Hindu temple owns and operates a Hindu Shivala in one of the main residential
areas of Vacoas-Phoenix one of the five main towns in Mauritius with a population of
about 110,000. Whilst all the countrys main religious communities are reflected in this
locality, there are a higher proportion of Hindu families living in the towns residential
areas compared to other urban areas, as made apparent by the number of temples and
religious associations. The Hindu temple is situated in a principally middle-class
neighbourhood. There is no particular caste affiliation dominating the local
associations membership, although, as will be mentioned later, there are indications
of some families influencing the temples affairs. The local association was formally
established and registered about 15 years ago but it became a Federation-affiliated
association only ten years ago. Previously, the people in the locality prayed at a small
Kalimaye (shrine) on the same land. This land was then donated to the association for
the construction of a temple. The temple has 100 fee-paying members and about 250
persons regularly attend the ceremonies and events. Virtually all devotees live in the
immediate neighbourhood of the temple.
In both temples, there are executive/working committees made up of 9-15 members
Office bearers President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and committee
members elected for a period of one to two years at an AGM by their membership.
In the Buddhist temple, it is the Chief Priest who chairs and controls the
committee, whereas businessmen, professionals/executives from the private sector,
higher-level public servants and retired professionals serve on other posts. These Perceptions of
appointments were made according to the constitution approved by the Ministry of accountability
Buddha Sasana. Furthermore, sub-committees are set up to carry out special projects,
i.e. temple infrastructure and development. In the Hindu temple, office workers from
the private sector, retired people and civil servants control the committee while the
Priests ( pandit) role is only limited to the conducting of rituals. Thus, the controlling
power in this Hindu temple lies in the hands of the laity. The current working 1009
committee won the elections two years ago overturning a previous team which had
been in charge for about ten years. The President and Secretary are the de facto
representatives (delegates) of the temple at the Federations assembly meeting. There
are no other sub-committee structures, except for a sub-committee recently set up to
establish a roster for prayers, i.e. which family get its turn to lead the prayers.

6. Findings and analysis


This section presents our empirical findings from the in-depth case studies. We first
introduce the accounting and accountability structure (sources of funds, role of
Treasurer, financial accounting and accountability system) operating in the two
Buddhist and Hindu temples. Then we present our ethnographic accounts on how
accountability is intertwined specifically with peoples religious spirit and broadly
with the structural elements of these two societies.

Sources of income and expenditure


The Buddhist temple does not receive any grants from the Ministry of Buddha Sasana.
However, this protestant temple is well supported by a dedicated group of Buddhist
laymen who belong to the upper middle classes. Its regular/daily income comes from
the cash collections of the temples money boxes and members subscriptions. As part
of its expenses, the main items included are those related to Priest salaries, materials
for worship/prayers, electricity/water, temple maintenance and repairs, rental of tents,
food/drink expenses, and the cost of building construction. The latter item was duly
recorded in the special project reports as well. During the last decade, the temple
working committee has received large sums of money for temple development projects,
i.e. the recently finished building construction project (alms hall) managed a collection
of Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR USD$0.01) 2,600,000, during a five-year period. These
projects were planned and implemented by the temple working committee under the
leadership and control of the Chief Priest. Their latest project which targets further
developments to existing buildings is estimated to generate LKR 4,000,000 during the
next five years. However, the incomes they receive are in various forms, i.e. cash
payments, building materials (e.g. cements/bricks) and capital goods (e.g. electric fans).
They are all valued at current market rates and considered as general income in the
records. Interviews with the Chief Priest revealed that they have introduced a ticket
system to generate ongoing funds for this project. The tickets worth LKR 200, LKR 500
or LKR 1000 are made available to its general membership (households) to pay on a
monthly basis depending on their incomes. It is anticipated that this would generate
total income of around LKR 65,000 per month (or about LKR 800,000 per annum).
In the case of the Hindu temple, its last annual income statement reported total
receipts of about MUR 180,000 and payments of about MUR 160,000 (main items were
the salary of Priest, costs of materials for worship/prayers, electricity/water, temple
AAAJ maintenance, painting and repairs, rental of tents, food expenses). The annual report
22,7 indicates that the local association enjoys relatively good financial health with some
funds saved in deposit accounts and has no loans or overdrafts. Their income included
an annual grant of MUR 35,000 received from the Federation and donations from
devotees. This also included the cash collections from the temples money boxes and
the members subscriptions. In the last decade or so, there have been continuous capital
1010 improvements to the premises (temple, storehouse, covered halls, furniture) amounting
to about MUR 700,000. There is no structured system for the collection of funds and
appeals are made on an ad hoc basis. The Hindu temples committee makes frequent
appeals for and receives, donations in kind (building materials, etc.). It also regularly
asks devotees and members to donate their time for completing some of the
manual/constructions tasks. None of the donated items and the labour time is
actually accounted for in the books.

Role of Treasurer and financial accounting system


The Buddhist and Hindu temple both are required to maintain proper accounting
records and supporting documentation. The Buddhist temple follows a constitution
which is registered and approved by the Ministry of Buddha Sasana whereas the
Hindu temple adopts the legal requirements of locally registered associations. Their
current practices included the cash book and the members subscriptions register and a
store book (for items such furniture, materials, kept on premises). They also the cheque
books, bank statements, and receipts/payments as formal documentation. The existing
records pre-date the nomination of the current Treasurer but as far as she was aware,
all the financial records with necessary copies of receipts/invoices were maintained at
least for the past five to seven years.
The Buddhist temples current Treasurer has been in post for the last eight
consecutive years whereas in the Hindu temple, the current Treasurer was recently
re-elected for a period of two years and was already a member of the association for
the last five years. In both cases, the general membership of the temple favoured the
Treasurers for their trustworthy personal image in the village. In addition, in the
Buddhist temple, the Chief Priest liked him because of his strong patronage
relationship. Both Treasurers are not qualified accountants, but have 25-30 years
working experiences as senior executives/account officers in accounting for a large
public company and also as Treasurers for other (non-religious) associations.
For both temples, the Treasurers duties included the following: maintaining
accounting records monthly and annually; collection of member subscriptions and
dues; issuing necessary receipts for members payments; cash collections from the
temples money boxes; banking the collections regularly; and making cash/cheque
payments. A key internal control procedure ensures the Treasurer makes all payments
by cheque (except for minor ones), secures a second signature either from the Chief
Priest/Chairman or Secretary for every payment, and keeps relevant bills in order to
maintain strict control in financial matters. Before signing the cheques, the Treasurers
have to ensure the veracity of the supporting claim (e.g. invoice); a practice which
avoids the inherent risks with cash transactions. A second key control relates to the
cash collections from the temples money boxes and the members subscriptions, which
is done almost on a daily basis (and banked). The Chief Priest of the Buddhist temple is
very much concerned about these financial accounting practices as he wants to show to
the general membership that he and his working committee are doing an honest job Perceptions of
and handling their fees and donations in an appropriate manner. He knew such accountability
accounting practices will help to enhance the trust, power and social standing.
He states:
We are very transparent in our work. We keep records on all our receiptss and expenses.
We issue receipts for every donation. We follow our constitution that was accepted by the
Buddha Sasana Ministry. So, nobody can complain against us for anything. 1011
Similarly, the Treasurer of the Hindu organisation also appears to focus on the need to
conform to the rules:
I need to be transparent, to act in conformity with rules and regulations and submit the report
at the end of the financial year to the Registrar of Associations. I also have to make the
routine payments and sign the cheques.
In both temples, it appears there is a relative similar formal financial accounting and
control system in place under the management of either the Chief Priest or the temple
management committee and Treasurer. The transparency of the temples financial
transactions appears to be their main concern.

Financial planning and budgetary control system


Financial planning and budgeting is one of the usual practices adopted by the
Buddhist temple. For their construction projects which usually ran for three to five
years, they used budgetary control, although they are not bound by the constitution to
do so. The Chief Priest understood the concept of budgeting very well. Quite often, he
communicated budget figures on temple development projects in order to promote
public donations. Once he stated:
We want to continue the physical developments of this temple. You all know that we have
managed to undertake several good projects in the past. In next five years, we have planned
to further expand our temples alms hall. We have estimated its total cost as LKR 6,000,000.
We have already planned how to finance this project. We hope we will receive money and
materials (e.g. cements, tiles) from various sources from our members as well as the devotees.
We have a budget and we know how to collect these funds.
On the other hand, there is very little formal planning and budgeting involved within
the Hindu temple. The committee members or the assembly of members have never
requested that a budget be prepared and submitted to them. Nevertheless, as a result of
her work experience and knowledge of budgetary practices, the Treasurer informally
prepares her own budget more as a way to plan for significant cash payments rather
than for approval/authorisation. She states:
I prepare a budget for our expenses at the beginning of the year to know how much money we
would need to ask from private donations and sponsors. I am fairly familiar with the actual
amounts we receive and spend. So, they do trust the information that I calculate and provide.
This is the only time I [verbally] discuss about the budget with the committee members.
However, the Treasurer is regularly asked for quick back-on-an-envelope
calculations to estimate specific expenditures or grant applications,
e.g. construction/maintenance costs, cost of organizing dinners or other events. She
is also involved in seeking quotations from suppliers and contractors. In these cases,
AAAJ the cost and budget information is discussed in detail amongst committee members
22,7 before a decision is made. Also, these budget calculations are used by the secretary to
support the local associations application for a grant from the district federation.
Hence, none of budgeting and control practice is formally done for the planning,
approval, and monitoring of regular income and expenses.

1012 Financial accountability structure


According to the Buddhist temples constitution, the Treasurer is required to make
monthly and annual reports to the working committee as well as conduct a formal
downward accountability process to the AGM. These reports have to be approved by a
two-thirds majority. However, there is a lack of upward formal accountability
requirements (Unerman and ODwyer, 2006b) towards the Ministry of Buddha Sasana
in terms of financial reporting or auditing as it does not offer grants to the Buddhist
temples. But, as an assurance to its membership on the proper use of their donations, the
Buddhist temples committee produces annual reports to the Ministry. Normally, this
report is approved and signed by a certified accountant, i.e. the government accountant
in the Divisional Secretarial Office prior to its submission. Also, after a formal request,
any ordinary member of the temple can volunteer to audit the regular accounts of the
temple. The objective here is to achieve transparency of the temple activities and to
demonstrate a felt responsibility (Fry, 1995) to their devotees. As the Chief Priest
stated:
We work openly. If any one has any doubt on our work they can come and check our
accounts. We are ready to explain them. Every year, we produce our annual reports to
Buddha Sasana Ministry and the AGM. Our annual reports are signed by a certified
government accountant. We maintain bills and documents to prove every transaction. What
else we could do to show our honesty?
On the other hand, the Hindu temple is formally required to report upwards annually
to the Federation and the Registrar of Associations. From the Treasurers experience,
the Federations report is a mere one page document and there has not been any further
request for additional documentation (receipts, invoices, etc.) and explanations, even
in cases where it was stated that not all of the grant money was spent during the year.
She describes:
We receive a monthly grant from the District Federation equivalent to approximately 40
per cent of our total expenses. This covers mainly the salary for the [local] priest. The rest
comes from donations, members subscriptions and financial support from the local
municipality [town council]. The Federation expects us to submit a report every year on how
we used the grant money. They say the main reason is to satisfy the auditors and so far, there
has never been any query on the details of this report from the Federation.
Moreover, the annual accounts are filed with the Registrar of Associations along with
the statutory return prepared by the secretary (list of members, committee members,
and minutes of AGM, etc.). Although the Treasurer is aware that the Registrar carries
out regular inspections of associations financial records (which to some extent
motivates her to keep them updated), such inspection has yet to occur for the temple.
The annual accounts are audited by two non-executive members of the association and
filed with the Registrar of Associations. Prior to the AGM, the Treasurer prepares
the annual accounts in the format prescribed by the Registrar of Associations
(Receipts and Payments Account, Statement of Assets and Liabilities and supporting Perceptions of
notes). The two nominated auditors (appointed by the previous AGM) are then invited accountability
to inspect the books and the draft annual accounts. According to the Treasurer, this is
a formality and the auditors do not dwell beyond the basic checks (bank statement
balances, sample vouching of receipts/invoices) quite expectedly since they are not
trained in auditing techniques. They also do a cursory verification of the records
half-way through the year. The Treasurer mentions her last experience relating to the 1013
approval of accounts:
When I first present the financial accounts to the executive committee and then at the AGM,
there are rarely questions being asked. Both committee members and other members seem to
prefer to ask me questions on finances in private. They perceive a lot of honesty and
transparency in my work.
Overall, the level of upwards formal and relational accountability (Unerman and
ODwyer, 2006b) from the Hindu temple to the Federation is minimal and this is to
some extent associated to the relatively lower level of financial dependence (40 per cent
of income) towards the federation. However, upon further enquiries with the
Federation, the level of reporting is found to be similar for all local temples. One could
argue that the Federations correspondingly low level of formal accountability
(e.g. towards its main financial supporter, i.e. the government) is reflected in the
mechanisms that the Federations use for its affiliated organizations. Whilst interviews
with one Federation official generally indicated a rather tense relationship with local
delegates (in relation to the sharing formula for the government funds), this did not
appear to be too negative from the interviews with this local associations delegates
(President and Secretary). The Hindu temples secretary remarked:
Although we would have liked to receive more financial help from the federation, we accept
whatever is given. We then try to get money and support from other places, although it is
now getting harder. For example, we used to have free access to the community centre [owned
by the town council] for pujas but now everyone in the town is required to pay rent to use it.
That is why we are trying to increase the size of the temple to accommodate more people at a
time.
Both the Buddhist and Hindu temples present their financial reports during executive
committee meetings as an item on the monthly agenda and committee members
are given the opportunity to ask questions of a financial nature. According to the
Treasurers, these reports are supported by the provision of relevant receipts and
expenses. Insofar as the downward accountability process is concerned, the both
Treasurers report that the approval of accounts (at the AGM by members) is viewed as
a mere formality and there is very little public interaction with the members and the
numerical outputs presented for approval. The next section of the paper presents a
detailed account and analysis of how Buddhist and Hindu people perceive these
accounting and accountability systems.

7. An analysis of Buddhist and Hindu peoples perceptions of accountability


The above sections described the accounting and accountability practices in the two
selected temples. However, as the interviews and research progressed, it became
evident that these formal mechanisms are largely intertwined with the historically
established and collectively retained Buddhist and Hindu religious values and spirit
AAAJ as well as the broader structural elements of the society. The following discussion
22,7 outlines these relationships and provides relevant evidence from the case study data
collected.

Religious spirit trust and accountability


In non-Western societies, it is important to acknowledge the role of trust[11], which is
1014 often, highlighted as a critical factor under-pining the informal and socializing
accountability relationships. In fact, the absence, or eroding, of trust is seen as an
issue in maintaining any form of accountability (Dixon et al., 2006). Our view is that the
religious spirit and beliefs of this context plays an important role in enhancing
trust and making the outputs of formal accountability mechanisms irrelevant to life
within the temple in many different ways. Several aspects emerge from the discussions
and observations of the Buddhist and Hindu temples.
First, in spite of the existence and regular operation of the executive committee,
there is little scrutiny on the financial aspects and the Treasurers operations in both
organisations. A strong degree of trust and religiosity is perceived from the
Treasurers personality, actions, operations and decisions, even though many within
these two organisations explicitly concede or at least imply an absence of
sufficient knowledge of accounting or financial matters to justify such high levels of
trust. For example, one member of Hindu temple remarked:
The treasurer appears to be a prudent and honest person. Thats all I need to know. When
coming to the Shivala, I am more interested to find if they [the executive committee] have
organized a sufficient number of activities/prayers and if we will have enough facilities such
as tents, chairs. How will the activities be organized? As for the money, I am sure she is doing
a good job.
The local Priest of Hindu temple concurred to some of the above comments, stating:
Everyone I know, including myself, trusts the treasurer in keeping the accounts and the
finances. If one is devoted towards making savings, making the money more productive and
making the temple a stable one, then this is the sign of a good treasurer. I am not part of the
executive committee and I also do not understand too much the accounts. But I would have
been told if something was not correct.
This, to some extent, can be reflected in Lewis and Weigerts (1985) comments that
trust involves [. . .] a leap of faith beyond the cognitive level of experience and action.
In this case, trust in the Treasurer appeared to be the critical factor in making
accounting outputs irrelevant to the operations of the temple. A general member of
Buddhist temple remarked:
Our treasurer is now in this post for eight consecutive years. He is committed to the job and
spent so much of his time to temple work. Nobody wants him to leave. He is an honest and
religious person. He has lived in our village for many years. So, we know him very well. He
was never been blamed for any wrong doing. We never question his actions.
The personality of the Chief Priest is another important factor within this Buddhist
community. The people constantly refer to his religious spirit and resultant behaviour
in the every day life of temple. Accordingly, they have an image of him as a prudent,
righteous, religious (Dhahami ) and highly committed Priest to the religion and temple.
They believe that the Priest achieves his position because of his righteous behaviour in
a previous life. They are certain that he will reproduce and maintain similar qualities in Perceptions of
his present life. This constructs additional credibility and trustworthiness for the Priest accountability
and the lay people perceive some implied accountability in the religious and
economic activities conducted by the temple. This highlights the superiority of the
religious spirit over the actions and activities of the people in these two societies.
A devotee stated:
Our chief priest is a true representative of Buddha. During his tenure, he has made an
1015
unbelievable contribution to the temple and community. It is not easy to win everyones heart
in this village because of social class differences and political rivalries. But, quite nicely he
has managed to keep everyone stick together with the temple due to his dhahami life style,
lovely and fair approach to people, and commitment to the temple activities.
Second, the Buddhist and Hindu religious spirit which emphasises on the doing and
the correct public performance and organization of rituals extends to the operation of
formal accountability processes. The actual organization of the formal mechanisms
the AGM, regular executive committee, the Treasurers report and annual reports
conveys in itself a message of accountability and trust and can hence be viewed by
Buddhists and Hindus as a religious ritual. It is telling that none of the interviewees
criticised or challenged the continuing need for these mechanisms or proposed
alternative ways to make the formal financial mechanisms more understandable and
relevant to them. Although the practices have been initially required by a legal
obligation to provide and compel a forum for accountability, the members of both
Buddhist and Hindu temples internalised these practices as part of the temples life,
rituals and prayers. They thus participate with the Treasurer in this public
performing of a ritual of accountability (accounts presentations and approval), with a
minimum of questioning, disturbance or demanding of account, and with little interest
in the numerical outputs. In addition, the collective presence of the Treasurer, executive
committee members and members at this ritual is turned into an expression of trust
being conveyed between the various participants. In other words, within the Buddhist
and Hindu ritual-oriented context, formal financial accountability mechanisms
become akin to a religious ritual and are merely a symbolic expression of
religious-enhanced trust (e.g. as expressed in the Hindu concepts of Satya and
Asteya) in the Treasurers doings.
Overall, from the case data it seems that accountability practices in the Buddhist
and Hindu temples operate mainly as ceremonial rituals aimed at signalling their
congruence with social expectations, i.e. trust. The secular mechanisms explained by
the Chief Priest and committee members during in-depth interviews are conceived as
confessional settings, in which one submits claims of truthfulness to referees
rather than being objective institutionalised practices. The level of formal
accountability to higher authorities and general membership is minimal while the
felt responsibility (Fry, 1995) by the Chief Priest and/or the committee members
(principally the Treasurer) guided them to be accountable to their stakeholder groups.
It is somehow surprising to note that trust does not emerge explicitly in many of the
previously reviewed accounting and accountability studies carried out in other
religious settings. In one instance (Lightbody, 2003), it is in fact the lack of trust
between church financial managers and other church decision-makers which is
highlighted as those in charge of the finances/budget appear excluded from
AAAJ decision-making forums that could impact on the sacred agendas of the church
22,7 (2003, p. 132).

Religious spirit aspirations and accountability


This religious ritualisation of the formal accountability mechanisms in both these
Buddhist and Hindu temples partly leads to the development of a more practical and
1016 socializing form of accountability (Roberts, 1991, 1996; Jacobs and Walker, 2004;
Gray et al., 2006), focusing on non-financial aspects. This informal accountability then
centres on the verbal and visual exchanges that arise in between meetings,
conversations and ceremonies. Again, this spirit in ensuring the correct performance
of religious practices is reflected in the devotees and members efforts on maintaining
and improving physical facilities/structures of the two temples. There was no shortage
of comments, suggestions and criticisms relating to the temples premises when
devotees/members were queried on accountability and the performance of the
executive committee, which are expressed at all levels and forums. This is recognised
by the executive committee and there is an almost continuous pursuit in ensuring a
proper physical structure (cleanliness, larger temple, more seating, more painting,
better lighting, etc.), which is generally reflective of an aspiration to improve the
visible and symbolic features of religiosity and keeping the devotees happy.
A Buddhist layman stated:
I do not need to check the financial records related to temple activities. We all can see
developments achieved by our temple during last ten years. The new buildings, clean and
spacious surroundings, colourful ceremonies, extended membership, etc. are good evidences
to its righteous and continuous development.
In a similar vein, the Hindu temples Treasurer remarked:
At the AGM, the people ask more questions about making sure the temple is providing
spacious and clean facilities and no one seems to bother about the accounts. Most of the
questions are about the organization of various ceremonies, who will help out, etc.
This highlights how the Buddhist and Hindu people value the aspiration of the
temple administration in delivering peoples religious desires more than the disclosure
of accounting numbers, when it comes to perceiving accountability. To them,
the religious spirit and the symbolical expressions of the Priest and working
committee members are more important than the formal accountability actions or
activities being undertaken by them.
This so-called qualitative accountability can be contrasted to a more
quantitative one, for instance characterized by the use of accounting
terminologies (e.g. records), numbers (e.g. use of time and money) and performance
appraisals (e.g. regular report on bible reading and praying) which underlie religious
life in the Iona community (Jacobs and Walker, 2004). Furthermore, Jacobs and
Walker (2004) and to some extent Kreander et al. (2004) mention the strong
aspirations in seeking to integrating the physical to the spiritual whilst the spirit of
action (Dharma) is in fact central to the Hindu and Buddhist people. Finally, we find
more indications of a positive form of socializing accountability in both temples
as opposed to the internal surveillance issues identified in Jacobs and Walker (2004,
p. 378-9).
Religious spirit loyalty and patronage relations and accountability Perceptions of
Our data also reveal how loyalty and patronage relations are entrenched in the accountability
peoples perceptions of accountability, particularly in the case of the Buddhist temple.
As mentioned earlier, there are no legally binding reporting requirements but rather
some element of self-regulation is set out via the nikaya hierarchy and the Ministry of
Buddha Sasana. Also, there are provisions to empower the general membership to
institute actions against any wrongdoing by the working committee members or 1017
Priests if they violate their responsibilities toward the temple. However, the exercise of
such powers is extremely rare in practice considering the patronage and loyalty the
members and devotees have for the Chief Priest and middle-class elite working
committee.
In the Ramanna Nikaya Buddhist temple, the self regulation is imposed on the
governing committee. These regulations are contained in the constitutions documents
of the temple which allows for AGM thus enabling the laity to review and question
the performance of the governing committee headed by the Chief Priest. However, in
reality, the people express too much closeness and over-reliance on the Priest due to
their religious spirit and are reluctant to question any wrong doing. This mindset
persuades them to develop loyalty and patronage relations with the Priest and support
him in his temple activities through various means, i.e. praises, donations and free
labour, etc. to make him happy. This emotional imperative (Northcott and Doolin,
2000), which is common in non-Western societies, is reflected in the peoples perception
of accountability. No one was willing to question the Priest or his working committee
members and their activities, as they feared it might cause harm to the relationship
they maintain with the Priest. As a member remarked:
The temple and the priest are very important to all of us in the village. We need the priests
services and blessings both in our good and bad times. He is an integral part of the village. So,
we have to protect him and then he will protect us. I am very happy about our priest. He does
not do any wrong-doings. We have no reasons to question on his temple work. We all support
him. I always want to show him my gratitude for his service and find ways of helping him.
At the same time, the Buddhist Priest has persuaded the general membership to
appoint his loyal people to the working committee at the AGMs, in order to ensure his
control on the temple activities. One example is the Treasurer, who has been in post
during last eight years and whose appointment was recommended by the Priest due to
his loyalty. This is not to say that the Priest and his loyal followers have been
involved in any wrong-doing. In fact, this is an illustration of how social dimensions
can invalidate the rational mechanisms of accountability in the Buddhist temple and
this highlights how the people are more passionate with the religious spirit behind
the action rather than the action in itself.
Contrastingly, in the Hindu temple, the influence of the Priest is singularly
diminished in that he is technically an employee of the association managing the
temple. His salaries are in fact funded by the Federation and his ecclesiastical
hierarchy is represented by a head Priest at the Federation, who is also an employee of
the Federation. This contractual employer-employee relationship appears to depreciate
to a large extent the potential influence conveyed by the Priests religious legitimacy
as the medium between people and deities. For example, the Hindu temples President
stated:
AAAJ The pandit is outside the committee. He is sometimes invited to our meetings but he is not the
decision-maker. As far as I know, there has been very little conflict between us [the Executive
22,7 Committee] and him.
This is a quite peculiar when compared to the Buddhist temples case and other
denominations. Indeed, previous accounting and accountability studies in the religious
context document a number of cases associated to the resistance of the sacred faction
1018 towards the use of secular practices (Laughlin, 1984, 1988; Booth, 1993) and the
exercise of the Priests power in restricting or controlling (Kluvers, 2001) the use of the
accounting craft. Obviously, Priests in these other contexts also have an employment
contract (Berry, 2005) but these usually have a purely and exclusively legal purpose
(e.g. to satisfy employment and taxation laws), thereby focusing on the form rather
than the substance of the relationship. This is reflective of a legal exception to the
rule, namely that Priests exercise the most influence within their churches or
temples[12]. However, in the case of the Hindu temple, financial and operational control
rests almost exclusively with the executive committee and to a certain extent, from the
more established senior members and elite families (elaborated in the next section).
The Priest states:
I have good and regular interactions with members during weekly or monthly prayers. I come
to the temple every day, so I know what is going on. People sometimes phone me to ask
queries. Very often, this is how I am aware of what the Federation has been up to. People are
more interested in the facilities provided at Mara Shivratree and Diwali [the two major Hindu
festivals]. But overall, from my discussions, I know there is better financial transparency now
and I am happy with that.
In the words of the various interviewees, the temple Priests views were obviously
respected and his views were listened to, but strictly within an informal context. He
interacted principally with the local association president who then brought where
relevant the comments from the Priest. Also, the other executive committee members
concurred that the temple is a duly registered association and thus only members
elected by the AGM can aspire to work within the executive committee. The Priest is
invited to the AGM and is allowed to make contributions but there is no doubt
amongst the interviewees (including the Priest) as to the dominant influence of the
elected laity in the activities of the Hindu temple. The Priest is instrumental and central
to worship but this does not mean that his influence extends or legitimizes his role
beyond the pujas and other ceremonies. And even when it comes to the organization
and co-ordination of specific prayers and rituals, there is evidence of greater control by
the laity as will be detailed in the next section.
As such, there is no sacred/secular tensions when it comes to accounting and
accountability practices and the Priest and executive committee members are aware of
the spirit in which everything is done. Both parties are equally respecting to the
religious spirit and to the holiness of Buddha and Hindu deities. In the case of the
Hindu temple, the employee status of the Priest virtually eliminates the possibility of
dissension or tension with the laity.

Religious spirit social status, power and rivalries and accountability


The elite families and middle class working committee members attached to the temple
administration with the help of their relatives and friends have taken over the key
positions and administrative power of these two temples. In fact, those who were Perceptions of
already powerful have usually been able to manipulate the temple affairs to strengthen accountability
their social status and power over the ordinary laity. The following were the remarks
of an ordinary member of the Buddhist temple:
Our temple working committee is full of elite people. Likewise, in all other local organisations
they want the power in Buddhist Temple too. They know that almost every villager is
attached to the temple. So it gives them a good opportunity to strengthen their social status. 1019
The observations related to the Buddhist temple indicate that the modern knowledge
and financial literacy has given the elite families superiority in the social relations with
others, i.e. appointment as Treasurer and Chairman. The exercise of their social power
as the elite-families perpetually creates knowledge, and conversely, their professional
knowledge on accounting and management constantly induces effects of social power
over ordinary membership. This professional knowledge is not detached and
independent. So, as a source of illumination, it is integral to the operation of their social
power in the temple and community. A member in Buddhist community stated:
You can see that most of the members in working committee are from elite middle class
families. They are retired public servants, private sector employees and school teachers. You
need some knowledge to mange the temple work. Thats why they are appointed to these
posts. They all are educated people and have good contacts with government agencies,
politicians and other important organisations. So it is easy to get support from others for the
temple development.
These narratives thus reveal an unequal interdependence between middle-class temple
administration and general membership. Another aspect of this is shown when the
responsibility of the temples working committee became ambiguous due to the
rivalries between elite groups who seek the control of temple administration for
their own social status and political power over the village/neighbourhood.
The following statement made by an ordinary villager indicates the kind of power
struggle which exists within the temple administration:
There are two rival political groups representing the national political parties operating in the
village. They attempt to gain advantage from every single opportunity open for them. Even
the temple working committee is also in their interest. They try to take over the control of it
through elections [at the AGM]. Sometimes they clash with the chief priest and accuse the
priest of being biased towards their opposition party which is not true. They look forward to
bring regional and national political leaders for ceremonies organised by the temple.
The purpose is to gain political credit. I can remember one group once tried to expel our priest
from the temple as he was not listening to their demands. But all the other villagers were
united in these issues and they knew the priest very well. So they always protect him.
In contrast, according to the recently elected committee members in the Hindu temple,
the influence of some higher caste elite families and senior members in the temples
activities has greatly diminished further to the recent elections and changes made to
the membership of the managing committee. Originally, there was an exclusive
category of middle class families (principally civil servants) living in the
neighbourhood and the running of the association rotated between these families
who viewed themselves as part of a particular caste, and hence worthy of closer
relationships with the Priest and temple activities/management. Such families also had
the financial, logistical and networking ability to contribute more than other members
AAAJ or regular devotees. As such, they expected a preferential treatment, i.e. being part of
22,7 the managing committee and having a more visible role in the prayers and rituals
alongside the priest.
The purpose here is to have a stronger physical presence in the fire rituals and
hence obtain better access for their families to the Gods. It is this very sought-after
status which later on became the symbolic grounds for a challenge in the power and
1020 status of the elite families. Hence, and gradually, more middle class families from
diverse professional backgrounds settled in the neighbourhood and became regular
patrons of the temple. The legally defined democratic structure of the association
eventually provided the opportunity for other factions to bid for a take-over and to
challenge the traditional power base, after more than ten years control by a small
group of families. In fact, it is perceived that it is the professionalism and experience
of the newly elected executive committee members (managers and civil servants)
which partly convinced the people of the need for change.
Shortly after the Hindu temples recent change of the executive committee,
a sub-committee was set up to agree on a roster of families for yajnas and pujas.
As mentioned previously, the ritual fire is the central focus of these rituals and
represents the means of access between human and the Gods. Offerings of different
kinds are sacrificed to the fire and thereby transmitted to the sphere of the Gods
(Kinsley, 1982, p. 106). As such, closeness to the ritual fire translates into being closer
to the Gods. This strong emphasis on offerings is explicitly present in many texts but
is perhaps best illustrated by this passage from the translated Laws of Manu (Doniger
and Smith, 1991):
A man who gives water obtains satiation; a giver of food, incorruptible happiness; a bestower
of sesame seeds, desired progeny [. . .]. The giver of land himself gets land; the giver of gold,
long life; one who gives a house, the finest dwellings; the giver of silver, superb beauty; a man
who gives clothing, the world of the moon; a man who gives a horse, the world of the Divine
Horseman; [. . .] (2001, p. 95).
Every regularly attending family was thus given an opportunity to officiate along with
the Priest thereby effectively removing a key symbol of elite power within the
temple. In the words of a regular devotee:
A recent problem was to decide on a roster of persons who will sit next to the pandit for the
pujas. Some people were not happy with seeing the same people especially from the same
four or five families all the time. So, eventually a sub-committee from the executive
committee was set up and given the task of devising a roster so that everyone and every
family would have the opportunity to do it. This has now been done and everyone is satisfied.
However, the influence of senior members is still present. For example, the current
secretary of the association is part of one of the elite families. He has been part of the
committee since the association was affiliated ten years ago and maintains a close
relationship with the federation. As such, he is a key mediator between the association
and the federation, negotiating for grants and additional funding in contrast to the
newly elected president who has little networking experience beyond this local
association. The Treasurer states:
It has happened in the past that we needed additional money for a specific event or expenditure.
The secretary [one of two nominated delegates to federation] would then write to the federation.
Recently, we obtained some money for the upgrading and painting of the temple.
The secretary is thus perceived as the main adviser relating to federation matters Perceptions of
and as a representative of the temple at the federation level, he effectively decides how accountability
the temples vote is cast. From the point of the view of the other newly elected
committee members, there is currently little interest to involve themselves in aspects
which they perceive to be more political rather than religious. This leaves the
secretary with a limited power to influence the temples activities, in spite of his ability
to obtain grants and funding from the federation. 1021
The above highlights a transactional facet in the relationship between Hindu
devotees and deities. But it also points to the Hindu beliefs towards material wealth
and capital accumulation, and by extension to the instruments and practices used for
wealth measurement (i.e. formal accounting and accountability practices). In contrast,
these values remain quite implicit in Buddhist teachings. Dutta-Bergman and Doyle
(2001) contend that the Hindu texts present multiple meanings of money enacted
within multiple social fields (p. 211). On one hand, it is part of Dharma and on the
other it must be renounced to achieve moksha. Thus, it can be argued that there is no
divide or contradiction in Hinduism (and to some extent in Buddhism as well), insofar
as formal accounting and accountability practices are concerned as opposed perhaps to
the dualities and some conflicting viewpoints inherent to the Judeo-Christian tradition
(Dutta-Bergman and Doyle, 2001, p. 206; Laughlin, 1988; Booth, 1993).
Furthermore, we also see that the influence the lay members in the temples
activities, administration and accountability structures is clearly more prominent than
mentioned in previous accountability studies that focused on large Christian or Islamic
organizations (Berry, 2005; Kluvers, 2001; Abdul-Rahman and Goddard, 1998). One
exception to this can be found in the study of the Iona Community in Jacobs and
Walker (2004), where community members resisted and sought change when
confronted to an increasingly individualized form of accountability.

8. Summary and conclusions


The case data reveal a gap between the rational expectations and the actual
manoeuvres of accountability mechanisms in Buddhist and Hindu religious
organisations. We found that the rational accountability mechanisms were
sacredised by the Buddhist and Hindu religious spirit and subsequently, the
accountability systems and religious activities both were influenced by the structural
elements of trust, aspirations, patronage and loyalty, social status, power and
rivalries. First, the religious spirit in connection with trust aspirations and
loyalty and patronage relations become the main mechanisms of accountability.
Second, modern knowledge such as financial literacy, accounting and administration
becomes a knowledge-power for the particular middle class and elite, and the
responsibility of temple working committee became ambiguous due to the rivalries
between these elite groups who seek the control of temple administration for their own
social status and political power over the ordinary laity. This suggests that the
accountability practices of Buddhist and Hindu religious organizations in non-Western
societies do not operate in the same way as envisaged by rational accountability
principles. We present below an illustration of the relationships we observe between
accountability practices, structural elements and the Hindu and Buddhist religious
spirit (Figure 1).
AAAJ Non-Western
22,7 soceity
Religion and
religious
spirit Trust
Structural
elements
1022
Accountability
Aspirations practices Loyalty and
patronage

Figure 1.
Religious spirit and Social status, power
peoples perceptions of and rivalries
accountability

Our findings imply that the religious spirit is an integral and important part of
accountability in non-Western societies. Their structural elements are being influenced
by the religion and the historically constructed religious spirit of their people. The
religiosity among Buddhist and Hindu people in our study is dominated by the high
religious spirit to engage in actions. The case data repeatedly showed that these
indigenous people do not mind the distinctions between religion and society and do not
face any sacred/secular tensions as the temple communities accept and respect the
holiness of Buddha and Hindu deities. The Hindu and Buddhist religious spirit as
perceived by the people, is seen as not being in conflict with formal accountability
systems and the inherent representations of money and wealth. There is neither
a reliance on the functionalities of formal accountability mechanisms as part of a
theology of integration between the physical and spiritual (Jacobs and Walker, 2004),
nor is there an explicit and conscious intertwining of religious values and financial
practice (Kreander et al., 2004). In addition, there is not also a single world view as
documented in Islamic organizations (Abdul-Rahman and Goddard, 1998). In their
temples, the Hindu and Buddhist people elevate societal values while simultaneously
adopting their religious beliefs and moral values to rationalise their social actions.
They understand the culture and economy through religion and religion through
culture and economy. Thus, to great extent, the social and economic activities of these
societies are sacredised and their religious activities are ceremonially secularised.
What they value most is the religious spirit behind the peoples actions. From this
perspective, we found that the accountability practices implemented in their religious
organisations are perceived by the people as being ceremonial rituals aimed at
strengthening the temples righteous and prudent image to the religious society. Hence,
we do find different conceptualisations of accountability as a result of different
denominations (Irvine, 2005) but we also find that the practices of Hinduism and
Buddhism are inherently quite diverse and are rooted in the social context, principally
due to the absence of central ecclesiastical elites. This is in sharp contrast to previous
Judeo-Christian accountability studies where religious organization is strongly and
hierarchically controlled. On the other hand, Hindu and Buddhist lay people live
by and re-interpret their religion as a way of life and this study therefore contributes Perceptions of
to the literature by showing a different facet of the links between religion, accounting accountability
and accountability.
The findings also assert that in non-Western Buddhist and Hindu societies
consisting of people bounded on high religious spirit and structural elements of
the society the accountability within religious organisations is largely visible as an
informal and social practice rather than a stakeholder-oriented rational mechanism. 1023
It shows how people are more attuned to socialising, informal and identity forms of
accountability in the spirit of religion, whereas the absence of this spirit would
possibly make them demand more formal mechanisms. This high religious spirit
combines with the structural elements of these societies and people, thereby producing
a type of substantive rational calculative practice (Weber, 1968). As the case data
reveals, their judgments on accountability practices rely upon less obvious and
informal social dimensions, i.e. trust aspirations loyalty and patronage relations
and social status, powers and rivalries representative of the features in socialising
accountability (Roberts, 1991, 1996; Jacobs and Walker, 2004; Gray et al., 2006). These
indigenous people are more obsessed with qualitative factors shaping the formal
accountability, i.e. relationships and communitarism rather than rational accounting
numbers and calculations. The central role of the lay people and devotees, rather than
Priests and other Priestly elite, is put forward in this study, although their level of
control might differ to some extent in the Hindu temple as opposed to the Buddhist
one. Overall, these are aspects that have been rarely considered in the literature and
this study therefore contributes by demonstrating the interplay between devotees,
religion, accounting and accountability.
These findings do remind us that accountability is a technical as well as a social and
institutional practice (Hopwood and Miller, 1994). In fact, within the scope of social and
institutional practice, accountability entails a technology of governance and a
language of meanings. These technologies and meanings of accountability become
blended in different forms, i.e. formal/individual/relational to informal/identity/
socialising according to the contexts in which it operates. The accountability rationales
thus become substantive (Weber, 1947) to specific actors in these contexts and, in
turn, are redefined through a variety of cultural, political and social norms and in this
case by the religious spirit. Broadly, the paper implicates that accountability
practices in community-based, grassroots non-profit organizations are not merely
reporting facts of economic activities and a neutral system. Instead, they initiate
new forms of accountability systems and reproduce structural conditions, we observed
in our case studies.

Notes
1. Karma is a Sanskrit word meaning all good and bad actions. It covers all kinds of intentional
actions whether mental, verbal or physical, thoughts, words and deeds. In its ultimate sense,
Karma means all moral and immoral actions. It is neither fatalism nor a doctrine of
predetermination. The past influences the present but does not dominate it, for Karma is
past as well as present. The past and present both influence the future. In fact, the past is a
background against which life goes on from moment to moment (Thittila, 1996).
2. Pin is the concept of merit in Buddhism. Merits could be said to have positive karmic
influences. As the adept of Buddhist meditation practises, merit naturally arises and this can
AAAJ be dedicated to others. This is an expression of the Bodhisattva Vow to strive for perfection
and enlightenment but to forego it to help all beings (Gombrich, 1971).
22,7
3. Wesak is the holiest day in Buddhism. On this day are celebrated the birth, the
enlightenment, and the death of the Buddha. This day is usually in the middle or last two
weeks of May.
4. History states that it was on a Poson (full moon day) that Arahath Mahinda, son of the great
1024 King Asoka of India, and a group of missionaries came to Sri Lanka to spread the word of the
Buddha.
5. Katina ceremony is the culmination of the Vas season. At the end of three months a special
robe known as the Katina is offered to monks of every monastery who observed the Vas.
The word Vas means the rains; Viseema means the dwelling. Therefore, Vas Viseema means
to sojourn during the rainy season (Thittila, 1996).
6. Maha Shivaratri is celebrated in February or March every year. This day marks the night
when Lord Shiva performed the Tandava. On this day, Shiva devotees observe fast and offer
fruits, flowers and bel leaves on the Shiva Linga (Eisenlohr, 2004).
7. Sankranthi or Sankranti signifies the beginning of the harvest season for the farmers of
Indian subcontinent. This is a harvest festival celebrated not only all over India but also in
other countries.
8. Diwali signifies many different things to Hindu people. In north India and in Mauritius,
Diwali celebrates Ramas homecoming, namely his return to Ayodhya after the defeat of
Ravana and his coronation as king. Everywhere however, it signifies the renewal of life, and
accordingly it is common to wear new clothes on the day of the festival and light the house at
night using small oil lamps. Also, it signals the approach of winter and the beginning of the
sowing season.
9. In any case, one must note that a strict observance of Hindu rituals and practices principally
applies to the Brahmin and upper castes (Doniger and Smith, 1991).
10. Nikaya is a general term for those schools of Buddhism that accept only the class of sutras
collected in the Pali Canon as authentic. Historically, there were many Nikaya schools, but
only one still exists today: the Theravada.
11. Oddly enough, trust is usually accepted as an obvious concept (Blois, 1999) without an
explicit challenge of its meaning and implications (Lewis and Weigert, 1985; Seal and
Vincent-Jones, 1997; Swift, 2001).
12. As further evidence of the low level of influence of the Priesthood in Hindu temples in
Mauritius, the Treasurer commented on a recent case where the federation took action to
replace a local Priest in neighbouring affiliated temple. He stated that: the priest was not up
to the standard of making sermons and teachings and embarrassed the devotees in front of
invitees. The employee status of Priests in the temples greatly diminished their power and
influence in the organization.

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Corresponding author
Kelum Jayasinghe can be contacted at: knjay@essex.ac.uk

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