Complex sentence: Vaithalingam and his wife were prominent members of the upper echelons of society; however, he and his wife were both very religious and devout Hindus and were very engaged with charity work.
Split into simpler sentences: Vaithalingam and his wife were very prominent within the upper echelons of society. However, he and his wife were both very religious and devout Hindus and always kept an eye on their charity work.