Why do we go to temples?

[vasanthakokilam]

Recently I had an occasion to answer a question from a 15 year old boy who grew up in the U.S. : 'What am I doing when I go to the temple?'. After some back and forth, it was clear he is genuinly interested in knowing. He was just going along with the motions of visiting each sannidhi like his parents and now he is at a point wondering what that is all about. I gave him a brief intro to Hinduism that I know and my own theories on how that fits into going to the temple. I am not yet sure if he had bought in to it fully but he said it helped.

That led me to my own soul searching for the reasons. Especially, what gives the idol of these new temples the divinity that is consistent with the fundamental tenets of Hinduism, especially Bhakti? Can someone help with answers to such questions?

[kmrasika]

You know, despite growing up in a culturally rich atmosphere I never understood the intricacies of our culture until I grew up and grasped it gradually(am still learning...). This is probably a crucial topic in these times when you're contemplating our children to continue our ancient traditions. Anyhow, Our bodies are like temples:remember the famous ShlOkA: dEhO dEvAlayaH pRoktO jIvO dEvaH sanAtana | tyajEt aGYAna nirmAlyaM sO.ham bhAvEna pUjayEt. Even one of our posters raised the issue that if given thus, why one needs to perform an artha sangakalpa(resolve before a pUjA citing one's desires).
Nonetheless, there is an excellent booklet on temples which I would highly recommend: All About Hindu Temples by Swmai Harshananda, published by Sri Ramakrishna Math. Some pertinent points about the structures of a Hindu temple are raised and could offer basic reading.

[knandago2001]

One of my earliest memories of a temple visit is linked to that Vaithiswaran Koil and ritual tonsure (mottai) at the age of 3; I also have vivid memories of telling my grandmother who had accompanied us to "hurry up" with her prayers so that we could have "prasadam". Visits to Timappa's abode in Tirumala come guaranteed with blessings of tulasi, teertha, shatari, laddoos and pulihora while I mull over the fact that my own parents as well as my aunt and uncle got married to each other on the same day at Tiruchanur - indeed, the blessings of Alamelu manga have been bountiful. It has been nearly 8 years after I returned to India following a 10 year sojourn in the United States. My temple visits are now more leisurely and gives me an opportunity to identify with our cultural ethos more intimately. It integrates my passion for music with our philosophy, language and heritage. On occassion it has even spawned new friendships. During a recent visit to the Kapaleeswara temple in Mylapore, I was reminded of the lines "Kaana kaN kodi vendum ....... Maanikkam vairam ...." permitting myself to reflect on Papanasam Sivan's imagination, Madurai Mani's immortal niraval, and of course, the Lord who inspired them all. As I was leaving, my mind's eye painted pictures of Mylapore Gowri amma performing abhinaya for Papanasam Sivan's "swami naan undan adimai" in Nattaikurinji. I now plan to visit Moova, Kuchipudi, Bhadrachalam and Srisailam. I did know that Bhadrachala Ramdas sang "idigo bhadradri gautami adigo choodandi" at Bhadrachalam but just came to know that Kshetryya sang "rama rama prana sakhi" on his first visit to the same shrine!

[vgvindan]

vk,
some hints on the subject by the mouth of Sri Tyagaraja -
http://thyagaraja.sulekha.com/blog/post ... vam-20.htm

[Gopalakrishnan]

God is all pervading. Ishavasyam idam sarvam yat kincha jagatyam jagat : All this manifest Universe is enveloped by the Divine (Isa Upanishad). Therefore the same God Who is present in the temple is also present outside.

However, the degree of God's manifestation differs from place to place. Inside the temple within the image that is worshipped by all the manifestation is higher and more palpable. This is why when we stand before the deity in a temple we feel a special reverence.

Here is an interesting article you may like to go through:

http://www.religionfacts.com/hinduism/p ... temple.htm

[vasanthakokilam]

Here is a link on this very topic:

http://www.indusladies.com/forums/chitv ... emple.html

[vs_manjunath]

Anyhow, Our bodies are like temples:remember the famous ShlOkA: dEhO dEvAlayaH pRoktO jIvO dEvaH sanAtana | tyajEt aGYAna nirmAlyaM sO.ham bhAvEna pUjayEt.

The famous shrines of Madurai,Kanchi,Chidambaram,Tirupathi,Bhadrachalam, Srisailam and many many more famous shrines in all parts of our country have an unique distinction that in these shrines famous Rishis have worshipped and the pujas are being continued for hundreds of years. The very atmosphere in these shrines are so charged one finds divinity while visiting these shrines. Most of us do perform a simple puja at home before starting the day. I feel the amount of time we are involved in these rituals, atleast during this period, mind is away from mundane thoughts. Thanks to our culture.When we recite a sahasra namam....the words are so complicated to pronounce, one has to concentrate and recite. These are all well evolved for gaining mental peace.

When one has mastered the mind..following...'manasu swAdhInmai' of Thyagaraja (shankarabharanam), very much later.......one can think of dEho dEvalaya Prokto etc., which is much more complicated than doing a japa, thapa,puja etc.

[knandago2001]

a link to potential health benefits:
http://www.trsiyengar.com/id12.shtml


a view towards promoting religious harmony?
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/17317.html

[vasanthakokilam]

Thanks knandago2001 for the links. I went to this one

a link to potential health benefits: http://www.trsiyengar.com/id12.shtml

This magnetic theory seems like a personal pet theory of the author. Has anyone else heard about this before? From known scientific point of view, it just does not make much sense to me ( copper plate absorbing magenetic waves and re-radiating it back etc. ) but I am open for further insights.

[Suji Ram]

This magnetic theory seems like a personal pet theory of the author. Has anyone else heard about this before? From known scientific point of view, it just does not make much sense to me ( copper plate absorbing magenetic waves and re-radiating it back etc. ) but I am open for further insights

NMR? copper? Why is tesla coil wrapped with copper wire.
I'm not an expert in this field but just ringing in my mind

[vasanthakokilam]

Actually NMR was the first thought that occurred to me when I read that. Hmm... if that is the case, getting an MRI scan should be directly beneficial to people in addition to getting the diagnosis done

Definitely magnetism, wires ( copper or otherwise ) and the relationship to electricity etc. are all well understood topics from Physics 101 but the author seems to take it to another level and apply it to the location of our temples. I have never heard of this angle before. I am quite sceptical but let us give the theory a wide lattitude and see if there is anything to it.

[knandago2001]

Vasanthakokilam: To say "I was intrigued" is an understatement. Magnetotherapy does find acceptance in alternative systems of Medicine (along with yoga, yunani, ayurveda...). What surprised me totally was implication in the article that there is a direct interaction between (energy) force fields - one emanating from the idol and that from the human body. I do not mean to trivialize the issue but cannot resist asking "how close to the idol being worshipped does one have to be for a beneficial interaction to occur?" Is this measurable? I do realize that articles of faith are usually not amenable to scientific scrutiny and testing. Perhaps this theory belongs to the realm of metaphysics and could be rationalized with a different approach.

[arunk]

vk,
some hints on the subject by the mouth of Sri Tyagaraja -
http://thyagaraja.sulekha.com/blog/post ... vam-20.htm

Wow! Powerful and very telling lyrics indeed! Thanks vgv for highlighting it.

[mohan]

http://www.hinduonnet.com/2002/06/06/st ... 940800.htm

[karthik76]

I think the sanctity and respect that we attach to mUrtIs in temples is somewhat different from those at home. This may be due to various reasons -

(a) While our AchAram or anuShTAnam towards the vigrahams or mUrtis at home are limited by our individual limitations and demands of daily-life duties, temples have more strictly laid-out procedures that ensure that everything happens as ordained in our scriptures. This gives us a sense of confidence that the mUrtis in temples are more responsive towards our prayers.

(b) Although the different philosophies like advaita or dvaita propose different elaborations of the nature of God, the first and basic step towards bhakti for all of us has been through the physical aspect or the rUpa soundaryam. That is something that we can thoroughly appreciate and enjoy in our temples. One can keep explaining how bhagavan pArthasArathy looked on the kurukShEtra battlefield, but looking at pArthasArathy at the temple in Triplicane, Chennai is a whole new experience.

[Nick H]

It seems to me to be bad science but good reasons!

Some people seem to feel the need to justify by introducing the word "science".

Equally, some people justify by "religion"!

[srinivasasarma]

I am from Mannargudi, Thanjore dt. and had developed love towards Guruvayoorappan, thru lectures of shri Anantharama Dikshitar.
I had been there - first in 69 jan.;then abt 5-6 times. This 19th, I completed 70, I was there, thanks to my children. This time there
was such a crowd I never have imagined- somehow managed to join the Q,near the entrance, and had HIS darshan. only for a
fraction of a second. However we joined the VIP Q at 2.3o am to have HIS 'Nirmaalya' dharsanam, and had it- I cant narrate the
crowd, push ... but I had the greatest satisfaction- i was in HIS sannidhanam. Very much tired- but full of happiness- i could not
pray anything except joining the crowd chanting Guruvayoorappa Narayana....

[baboosh]

Idols in temples are surcharged with the divine powers of an elaborate investiture ceremony which is not as we do in case of our own puja in residences.Also it could be likened to converging of the sun's rays thro lens which though present everywhere is concentarted more thro the lens.Temple worship is meant for community worship where the effect of joint prayers are supposed to be intense

[VK RAMAN]

shri Anantharama Dikshitar in fact popularized Guruvayoorappan to the then Madras State

[srinivasasarma]

In my early days, I go to temples, to get good marks, hoping to get goodname from parents and pass the exams;
then when i joined a pvt.ltd.company, i was a little more regular, beause 'job security'was not there
and also prayed for the welfare of children/wife/parents...
after retirement i had a little more time, loved to go temples praying for a safe retired life,without much problems;
now-a-days, i go to temples to thank HIM for all HE has done, trying to keep myself calm and quiet. Ofcourse
hidden is a constant request to HIM, as all old people have!
---
These days, i have felt that i had missed to see lots of beauties in temples- as I was just going
in to Sannadhies and returning to vehicles; if possible from now on (depending upon with whom I go)
i will try to spend more time to observe pictures, gopurams etc.
-----
Incidentally, 3 days before,'Annabhishekam' to Lord Shiva, and I could go Ratnagireeswarar temple,
Basant nagar, chennai (near to my home at Sastrinagar)- so nice, so pleasant - nice decorations with all
fruits and vegetables, and arrangements for dharshan and then prasaadams! This will be in my mind for some moretime.

[sangeethamquest]

Why do we go to temple, why do we seek god, who is god and what do we try to attain when we think or pray to him.

I have done some soul searching and feel as follows.

God is in every one of us. Our ATMAN or SOUL that we talk about is God but is clouded and covered by the basic and innate desires that overwhelm all human beings in every thought, action and walk of life. However when we overcome these basic day to day desires (thro Gnana and Bhakti) we are able to see and realize this god within us. When this happens we will be freed of our basic desires like wants, greed, jealously, hatred, power, success, recognition, ego, money, envy etc etc and it will (or supposed to) lead us to a permanent state of happiness which is supposed to be indescribable. This is the highest state that one can attain and is called the state of Nirvana or Samadhi. Once you attain this state we are suppoed to be freed of rebirth or death and the miseries attached to being a human.

Most people who go to the temple are unconsciously trying to get rid of the basic desires which constantly haunt us, disturb our mind and leaves us in a state of mental disturbance, anxiety, depression and unhappiness. We go to the temple hoping to realize this god within us and to get rid of the basic desires that haunts and leaves us frustrated and we all hope that by praying to god we can evolve and get over these desires. When you come in contact with 1000’s of souls trying to attain the same goal. The vibrations of these souls come together and charge the atmosphere. Hence when you go to a temple these vibrations charge you and you come back home in a peaceful and somewhat contended mood (although it tends to be shortlived). The energy from these vibrations should be used to quell the basic desires and to evolve ourselves to higher beings or self’s. Once we have felt for a short time this calmness or happiness inside us we tend to seek this state of mind constantly and especially so when we are mentally disturbed.

Most temples are charged with positive vibrations which lead to higher self realisation. You start wondering why you cannot be in this state of calmness all the time.

To put the whole thing in one sentence.

We go to the temple for self realization.

To seek within us the answers to the questions that haunt us. Most people come to the temple to pray to god but you are unconsciously telling yourself (by asking God) to enlighten you and to take you away from the miseries of bondage and attachment and awaken within you the intellect to see beyond the basic desires that cloud our thinking.

One more thing that happens when you go to the temple is that by asking GOD for something (it can be anything) you leave your ego behind and surrender to him saying you have the power to give me what I want. THE AHAM OR "I" for a moment agrees that there is something greater than myself. Which is very difficult to accept for any human being in normal circumstance. Though you can do this at home the powerful vibrations in a temple put you in the right mental state for self realisation. Similar to how a library puts you in a mood to study or a good college or school motivates you to study.

These are just my thoughts. Forgive me if I am wrong or leading people in the wrong direction.

I feel we all think we know however we don’t know till we know and when we know we will not talk about it.

I am enclosing below a short para describing Samadhi I found on the internet.

There seems to be no time and space in a situation like this. This feeling of absolute completeness, a whole totality of things that makes space for intellect is known as samadhi. Many people have tried to define this feeling, and all that they have come up to explaining is there is no time and space. You may notice the person to be in samadhi for three days, but for him the feeling is so overpowering that it would always be a few moments - it tends to pass off just like that. Sometimes even lifetimes can pass off in this fashion.

Because of their evolved intellect, vibrations and thinking, priests or archakas in temples are capable of passing on their positive energy to normal human beings.

[Chandrashekar]

Why do we go to temples? I suppose the reasons would include maintaining one's well-being, whether spiritual or physical. Perhaps temples were meant to provide an environment of calmness, silence and peace, where the person could set aside his worldly affairs for a little while, allow his agitated mind to calm down, indulge in some contemplation on higher things and raise his mind above mundane things. This might provide him with a higher perspective to help him deal with daily life with greater equanimity -- sthitapragnya. Add a few religious discourses, harikathas, chanting of mantras, etc, for better effect.

It is when temples don't offer such an environment that one begins to wonder, what exactly am I doing here? Temples in many parts of North India are quite bad, with extremely uncouth and rude priests, and I was suprised especially at Kedarnath, supposedly one of the holiest of our shrines but quite dirty and messy and with very un-holy-acting priests.

In the olden days some temples had their own water tanks, and devotees could cleanse themselves before entering the temples, thus literally laying the burdens of the world outside (including the dust and dirt) for a short while. Some others have at least water taps where a person can wash hands and feet. And many don't have anything at all. Just wander in from the street as you like. No problem if your hands are covered with the pani puri that you just had on the street. Chalta hai, yaar. God is in pani puri also, NO? Sure. Maybe that cleansing is symbolic. Maybe it is just for the purpose of helping one discipline oneself mentally and develop mental strength. But we would rather take refuge in our "convenience philosphy", which is what has made us flabby not just physically but mentally also.

Regarding the pradarshanam part, perhaps the seers realised that making you walk round and round the temple in the name of God would be a good way to get you to exercise a bit. Rolling around it would be even better: would do wonders for your tummy that liposuction cannot even approach. Your chanting during this time also helps you condition your mind to keep away useless thoughts. And by telling you it should always be done clockwise (one way only), they avoided the problem of people constantly bumping into one another. They knew in advance how Indians behave in traffic.

Many of our rituals seem to be purely practical, for the benefit of mankind, and, just to make you follow them without question, it was implied that it was all "for God". The irony is that we do the opposite: we hold lengthy debates questioning the rituals, but we don't follow them. For example, worship trees as divine. Why? So you don't cut them down and turn the planet into a desert. You don't destroy something that you worship, right? So they told you it is God. But what do we do? We hold debates on how gods can live inside trees, and then we cut them down. Another one: worship snakes. Why? So you don't destroy them and allow rats to flourish, which will eat up all your grains in the fields. But what do we do? We argue about what God will be doing inside a snake, while we kill them recklessly, and our foodgrains are then eaten up by rats. There are tribals in India whose sole existence is based on the rice they manage to dig up from the burrows of rats. That is the amount of rice stolen by rats. Then, worship rivers as gods so that you will respect them and keep them clean and healthy, benefiting yourself as well as the planet. But what do we do to our rivers?

Even a ritual started as late as the 20th century is not understood or followed in its spirit: the procession during Vinayaka Chathurthi. Since the British had banned Indians from gathering in groups, Gokhale found this clever way to enable gatherings by telling the British that it was a religious thing, and people were therefore able to move around together (and discuss their independence plans) at least to give Ganesha a warm sendoff in a river or pond. It was a patriotic act in ritualistic clothing. But today these processions are totally anti-national and a nightmare for everyone. Naturally, 15-year old boys will start wondering why we choose to inflict misery on ourselves.

Instead of asking what purpose a ritual serves, we could ask ourselves, what purpose could it be made to, or intended to, serve. Do we consume ellu and vellam ritually so that we get the benefits of these nutrients at least once a year? Do we ritually distribute them to our neighbours so that even the poorer people get to eat them even if they cannot buy them? And of course, there's the benefit of enforced social bonding there, with people whom we would otherwise treat as strangers. I wonder.

[rajeshnat]

Perhaps temples were meant to provide an environment of calmness, silence and peace, where the person could set aside his worldly affairs for a little while, allow his agitated mind to calm down, indulge in some contemplation on higher things and raise his mind above mundane things.
....
....
It is when temples don't offer such an environment that one begins to wonder, what exactly am I doing here?

Very well written Chandrasekhar. One of the most annoying things in temples is the automatic roll of drums which are mechanized with the touch of a switch, that constant hit of more than 4 drums just punctures your ears and there is no calmness at all nowadays , incidentally all temples are slowly procuring that switch enabled drums.

[srkris]

Regarding the pradarshanam part

It's pra-dakshina, and it literally means "moving forward towards the south" (or towards the right side from the east-facing position, assuming the subject is facing the eastern direction to start with), and is usually used to refer to clockwise circumambulation.

[Chandrashekar]

It's pra-dakshina

Yes, that was a typo due to some mental distraction. I must have been thinking of something else. Thanks for the correction. I remember we were always told strictly to avoid the apradakshinam, or the anticlockwise circumambulation, but never knew why, so I gave it my own spin which, I should guess, might even be right.

The other one, which I called rolling, should of course be angapradakshinam.

[VK RAMAN]

Perhaps temples were meant to provide an environment of calmness, silence and peace, where the person could set aside his worldly affairs for a little while, allow his agitated mind to calm down, indulge in some contemplation on higher things and raise his mind above mundane things.
....
....
It is when temples don't offer such an environment that one begins to wonder, what exactly am I doing here?

Very well written Chandrasekhar. One of the most annoying things in temples is the automatic roll of drums which are mechanized with the touch of a switch, that constant hit of more than 4 drums just punctures your ears and there is no calmness at all nowadays , incidentally all temples are slowly procuring that switch enabled drums.

During my good old days in Kolkatta, I used to go to bed by 10 pm when trams and taxi roar through the streets until 12 midnight and by 4.00 am one could hear the sound of water being sprayed on streets for clean up. It never bothered me and I did sleep. We all have certain expectations when we go to temple and we define how we want the surroundings to be at the time we visit temples. I believe we should go to temple with the sole intention of praying the Almighty and any other distraction should not bother us, IMHO

[VK RAMAN]

Regarding the pradarshanam part

It's pra-dakshina, and it literally means "moving forward towards the south" (or towards the right side from the east-facing position, assuming the subject is facing the eastern direction to start with), and is usually used to refer to clockwise circumambulation.

yani kani cha paapani janmaantara kritaani cha
taani taani vinasyani pradakshina pade pade

[Chandrashekar]

I believe we should go to temple with the sole intention of praying the Almighty and any other distraction should not bother us, IMHO

Raman, I think this is a very interesting point. Yes, aren't we supposed to be cool and calm under all conditions according to our own philosophy too? So, why does that thing bother us?

I think what annoys us is not just the noise itself, but the principle of the thing: that we are being taken for fools. It annoys us to think that someone should consider us so stupid that we will believe that a motorised arrangement of a stick hitting a drum can in any way enhance the sanctity of a temple. It is the feeling that our right to silence is being deliberately violated in such a stupid manner, not for any good reason like someone washing the temple premises, but by an unnecessary banging that offers no benefits whatsoever for anyone. And we wonder, what does the people management want? More devotees attracted to the temple by the banging noise and offering more money into the hundis? Are they doing this out of greed for more and more money? Do they think that the only way to attract people to the temple is by making more and more noise? So, to attract Indians, it is not necessary to offer some useful services, and all that is required is to make some annoying noise and they will come running, like monkeys after bananas? Questions like these and more may arise in the mind, leading to annoyance.

We can sleep through the noise of the sweeper cleaning the street. There is a purpose for that noise, and we perhaps accept it as a "necessary evil". The alternative is to wake up to a dirty street. But what if the neighbour chooses to play his stereo system loudly, or drive nails into his walls, in the middle of the night? Do we adopt the same "I can take anything" attitude?

One can still insist, hey, that just shows you are not sufficiently evolved. Do more and more sadhana, become a real sadhu, and then you will be fine.

Maybe that's why we are like this. We see all the corruption and incompetence around us, but tell ourselves, hey, we are all supposed to be as good as rishis and munis, so aren't we supposed to accept everything calmly, as nothing but "maya"? So we do nothing.

Perhaps this point also explains why our country is so filthy and why our cities are nothing but large slums. We are limited by our own philosophy. After all, aren't things like filth and cleanliness merely perceptions in the midst of all this "Maya" of existence? What is clean, what is dirty? Isn't everything "brahman"? Didn't Sri Ramakrishna do all kinds of experimentation in this area, playing with the filth on the river banks and trying to see God in that filth?

So, ironically, we actually feel superior to foreigners when we remain surrounded by filth. It makes us believe we are an "advanced culture" and see brahman all around us, while the bestial and lowly foreigner, stuck in his "maya", sees only the dirt and filth. Poor, sad, deluded foreigner! Wait another 5000 years and you too may be as civilised as we are. Or, do lots of tapas and pray that you will be born here in one of your future janmas so that you too can see brahman where you are now seeing filth.

Of course, all this still doesn't explain why we choose to transfer the filth/brahman from inside our home to the street outside or into our neighbour's premises; why we don't allow that "brahman filth" to stay inside our homes; why we consider it as "brahman" only when it has been safely moved out of our homes.

yani kani cha paapani janmaantara kritaani cha
taani taani vinasyani pradakshina pade pade

Sorry, can you translate, please? I am able to get only a vague understanding.

[VK RAMAN]

I rotate in my place(in front of the Deity) to kill all my sins
That I may have committed in my past births

[Chandrashekar]

Thanks, vkr. That's nice to know. You said rotate, but I noticed there's the word pradakshina in that couplet. Does pradakshina also have the other meaning of rotating in place? Also, is there a similar explanation for the revolution type of pradakshina, not in one's place but around the temple?

Maybe by sins they also mean the sin of eating junk food and not exercising. Pradakshina certainly could help here by getting rid of all that accumulated fat. Which would prove that my original theory was right :p

[PUNARVASU]

'yAni kAni------padE padE'. Normally we say this when we do Atma pradakshiNam-
The meaning is 'whatever are the sin, committed over various births, all of them will be destroyed by (my) doing this(AtmapradakshiNam).

[ragam-talam]

It is said, the body is the temple of God.

Temple structure is supposed to have parallels to the human body. e.g. the 'mani' (temple bell) corresponds to the throat (manikantan) etc.

[Chandrashekar]

I was thinking a bit cynically, and wondering: since banging of drums is allowed to be mechanised in the temple, why not mechanise other things too? For example, the Atma pradakshinam that came up above.

The sloka does not specify how the rotation is to be performed. So, we can see a great business opportunity straight away: The SinBuster

The SinBuster is a small motorised circular platform that spins clockwise. You stand on the platform, and use the controls to rotate the platform clockwise, so that you can spin away your past sins while you chant that sloka.

A handheld gadget provides wi-fi speed control and also displays the number of rotations completed (can be strapped to arm or hung around neck for convenience). If one can develop an equation between number of rotations and quantity of past sins wiped out, one could even display the corresponding "sin reduction", just like the calorie reduction display in exercise machines.

The device could also have speakers/headphones to play the sloka. Repetition rate for the sloka can be adjusted.

Such SinBusters can be placed not only all around the temple, but also in a lot of other public places where waiting is involved: in front of ticket reservation counters, at bus and train stops, and so on. One could even franchise SinBuster centres everywhere, like gyms--even inside gyms. Coin operated machines in public places could fetch a good revenue.

The device could be portable, and you can take it with you on picnics, bushwalks, etc. Even an otherwise boring train journey can be used to shed loads of past sins.

Apart from past sins, if one could find a suitable sloka to eradicate the sins of the current birth too, sales would really, really take off. One could then wipe the slate squeaky clean once in every few days, like formatting a hard drive.

The market potential is huge, and the best part is, with all this sin reduction going on everywhere, fewer and fewer people will be born as low animals or insects or as poor and suffering people in their future births, and more and more will be heading for heaven.

This is when we would need to compose an updated version of Tyagaraaja's "Chintistunnaadu Yamudu". The original composition of course referred to the fact that since more and more people were beginning to worship Raama, fewer were ending up in Hell, so Yama was getting worried. Now, with this SinBuster, Yama would have a new and even bigger cause for worry!

[vkswamy84]

We know that God exists everywhere. So, a question may be asked why there should be any temples built for Him. God is omnipresent and it is mandatory on everyone’s part to worship Him and get His Blessings. As per Agama-Shastras we have to build temples where we can focus the power of the Lord in a consecrated idol for the benefit of the society, in particular, and for our own benefit, in general in an easy way. Idols installed in the temples will have divinity infused into them and, as such, they have a certain sanctity about them.

Some people say that the places of worship which belong to other religions, are quiet, but our Hindu temples are full of noise. Of course, this is true. Actually, there are two types of noises in our temples. One is the desirable type of noise such as ringing of bells, the sounding of musical instruments like nadaswaram and the shahnai; the recitation of namavalli archana, recitation of mantras, fireworks during procession and so on. The other one is undesirable type of noise in the form of people indulging in idle gossip and purposeless talk and it can be totally eliminated in our temples. Keep silence method should be observed when we go to temple so that our mind will not be diverted.

In our temples a huge bell is rung at the time of puja. This is done so that the evil spirits may go away from temple premises. In our houses, we do not have such a huge bell but we ring only a small bell at the time of puja. We do not offer musical instruments and other upacharas to the deity but only akshata. The puja that we do in our houses is for our own welfare. But the puja done in the temples is for the whole of society

In other religion there is no idol installed and there is no chance for abhisheka of the idol, alankara or decoration of the idol, karpura harati, dhupa, deepa harati, naivedyam, distribution of prasadam, upacharas, etc. We consider God as Rajadi Raja as per our Agama Sastras. The divine presence in our idols helps us to do worthy meditation. Our thoughts are of a high order and we worship the deity in the above manner so that we may get supreme happiness. It is with this idea that we perform abhisheka and decorate the idol with ornaments etc. This kind of worship is possible only in the Hindu religion.

Idol worship is very important in our religion. When we bow before an idol we never think that it is only a piece of stone but we think that the deity in the idol is the protector and the root cause of the whole world and only realize that something is there beyond our control and power. Thus temples help to increase our devotion of a person to God and this devotion helps to overcome or reduce the sufferings.

Ordinary people may not have the capacity and strength of mind to bear their sufferings. But with bhakti or devotion to Ishwara they can face them and get also the mental strength to bear them. It is for this purpose that an ordinary person goes to the temple. People get peace of mind wherever there is no reaction to what they say. In the same method when we prays to Ishwara we get mental peace because Ishwara does not talk at all and there is no reaction to what we say. . Chaitanya in the idol will give complete peace of mind even though we cry before him Have you not ears to listen to my prayers? Have you no eyes to see my suffering? And we may ask Him why He is not giving His grace immediately to us.

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Temples are the great heritage of our country. Our wants are being increased. By increasing our wants we get into trouble. One should bear in mind that happiness can be had only by leading a simple life. Temples are the region to nurture and develop bhakti towards God and help us to lead a simple life. This is why temples have to be constructed at every place.

We should see that the temple premises are kept clean and the deepa is lit every day. We should also see that the cloth that we offer to Lord is washed daily. Since a temple is a place of divinity we have to observe certain rules while we are in the precincts of the temple. For instance, we should not use anything meant for God for ourselves. We should not go to the temple in a purposeless manner. We should not touch the idols or those who do puja to the idols. No one should gossip, laugh loudly, or play games or go between the idol and the bali peetha.

One should not stop Pradakshina with just one or two rounds only but should go round at least thrice with folded hands reciting stotras ranging between 2 and 21 times, preferably in odd numbers and after Namaskara. One should not have darshan of the Lord at odd hours or at the time of abhisheka or naivedyam. One should not go empty-handed to a temple merely for seeing the karpura-harati.

All these rules have been prescribed only for our welfare and to preserve the sanctity of the temples. It is up to us all to observe these rules, protect and nurture the sanctity of our temples which have been the greatest heritage.

REgards,
VKSWAMY

[vkswamy84]

I request the members to enrol themselves. Pls. click the link below for other articles in tamil also.

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Regards,
VKSWAMY

[venkatakailasam]

Benefits of going to temples...

Why Must We Go to the Temple Every Week?

Explain to children that worshiping in the temple is one of the traditional ways Hinduism gives us for connecting with our soul nature and experiencing ananda, the natural bliss of the soul. They can visit the temple in state of discontent, receive the blessings of God and the Gods and go away uplifted and happy. How is this possible? The Deity’s blessings have cleared their mind and aura of congested thought forms and emotions, allowing them to reconnect with their inner self. The blessings lift them out of their instinctive nature and soften their intellectual nature, bringing them into their spiritual nature.

Read more: http://www.periva.proboards.com/index.c ... z26hiaqsOC

[venkatakailasam]

Why you should visit temples regularly - scientific reasons...

read it at...http://www.younews.in/news/why-you-shou ... c-reasons/