Hiya everyone
Not really asking anything, but just wanted to day, I visted a Hindu Temple/ resource centre with my son and his class today and I have to say it was AWESOME.
The temple was so bright and cheerful, the marble altar was beautiful with many of the deities on it.
The children in the class behaved so well and were drawn to the whole thing, it was like they were enchanted.
The preist and president were in the middle or a morning worship when we arrived, I would of loved to of sat through a full service. It just felt so peaceful.
I must admit, after been in a Church and now a temple, the temple really does feel so much more uplifting.
We also learnt a simple song with the words Hari Krishna in it, wonder if anyone could enlighten me to what it was.
The President did mention that the Beatles sang it, but the Beatles were before my time.
Angel x
Being a 'born again' Hindu, I'm not surprised that you enjoyed this visit, Angel. I love Hindu temples, but have to say that they can often be quite noisy, not always peaceful. You would have been chanting the 'Mahamantra' - the great mantra - which goes:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
There are loads of versions on youTube. I picked this one out as it has George Harrison of the Beatles:
Here's the Wikipedia entry:
xxx
Well actually, Sunanda, maybe peaceful wasn't the right word as there was a lot of chanting and bell ringing, but I am not sure what other word to use to describe it......I was just so drawn in by it all. And you know the president did say that he bet we had all forgotten our day to day problems like bills etc while we were in the temple and you know what, I had forgoten.
There were the exact words we sang, he wrote them on A3 sheets of paper, but the teacher kept them. Gonna search Youtube for it, thanks for the heads up.
Angel x
I have to say, I too far prefer Hindu temples to Christian churches, for looks and atmosphere. (Then again, in nations where they let you in, I prefer mosques to churches too.) It might just be in part, for me, a "love of the other" or exotic, as during rambles we visit wonderful little Christian churches ... though, mind you, they are empty! (What does that tell us?)
Sometimes I confess to having a 'problem' with the many Hindu deities. Hindus tend to see them as actual gods - scores of them. I frankly don't believe, for example, in a god with a man's body and an elephant's trunk! (Hindus themselves tend not to realise that these deities are different symbols or forms of the "energy" of Brahma, or the One. And more deities are being created every decade. A famous one whose name escapes me without looking it up was only invented some years back. So I try to "translate" common Hindu belief into my own, focussing on the different gods as being just parts of the one God.
[The Beatles singing Hare Krishna? That would be George Harrison, post-Beatles, in "My Sweet Lord". He inadvertently brought forth the melody of "He's So Fine", from around 1962-3, a single my mother used to have, without realising his plagiarism. So he was taken to court and had to pay-up for the use of the melody big-time. Yet the plagiarism was unconscious.]
V
And more deities are being created every decade. A famous one whose name escapes me without looking it up was only invented some years back.
V
Could this be Sai baba, the president told us that he was a recent deitie, he also stressed to us that there was only one God, and that the other deities were just such. But there was an awful lot of deities to remember, but each having theor own purpose.
Angel x
Could this be Sai baba, the president told us that he was a recent deitie,
No, Sai Baba is a guru not an actual deity, although his many devotees believe that he is an avatar (not the kind we have here on HP as our pics), God in human form. There are millions of Hindu gods. I believe Venetian is referring to a Goddess called Santoshi Ma...
The atmosphere of a Hindu temple can be very uplifting. And there are always people there, worshipping in their own time. For me this is the big difference with Christian churches: in a Christian church service, everyone does the same thing at the same time; get up, sit down, sing a hymn, listen to the sermon...it's all so formal. But in a Hindu temple anarchy reigns and people do their own thing.
I'm 60 next year and I've been told that I should do a big fire puja - a homa - preferably in my own home, but officiated by Hindu priests. My Indian friends were surprised when I said that Fire regulations wouldn't allow me to have an open fire in my living room! Anyway, I'm going to see about having it done at one of the Hindu temples in London. The only problem is that it's bound to cost a lot of money as so much stuff goes into the fire (special wood, fruit, in India whole saris!) At the end we get to put all our negativities and fears into the fire. It's a very cathartic ceremony. Here's a picture of a priest sitting at a firepit before performing a homa in Kerala:
The other thing I love about Hindu temples is that they affect all your senses: there are colours and scents and textures and tastes (when they give you blessed food to eat) and of course, lots of bells and chanting....
Actually Sunanda come to think of it, the president may of said Sai Baba being an Avatar, it was all a little confusing.
The homa sounds very interesting, could the temple not apply to the community for a grant or something?
Well this Hindu temple certainly affected my senses, especially sound, sight and smell. There was a community kitchen and dining area next to them temple and the smells coming out were amazing. At the end of the session, the president asked if there were any questions, and one little boy in our class, raised his hand and said, "Yes, when are you serving lunch?" It was mouthwatering.
Angel x