One may ask why spend the money to build a golden temple — why not a hospital or school. The wisdom gained from Sri Puram will result in the building of a thousand hospitals and schools.
— A signboard at Sri Lakshmi Narayani Golden Temple, Vellore
No matter what the apprehension of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and RSS or BJP for that matter. Hinduism as a religion is alive and kicking raising lot of dust and smoke, speaking literally and figuratively. When dust of a million foot-steps and smoke of havana, arathi and of burning incense pervades the temple, the house of Hindu God, how could the noise of human chatter, chanting of mantras, the ringing of temple bells and the beat of drums be absent? The Brahma Nada keeps reverberating through the hallowed corridors of the temple even as the devotees in their thousands move through them.
In the beginning Hindus worshipped Gods and Goddesses of the Hindu pantheon in different ways. And, as we know, their number is legion. Despite the onslaught of conquerors belonging to Islam and Christian religions and their efforts to convert the Hindus into the religion of the rulers, Hinduism survived and even prevailed happily in its land of birth. Doesn't matter. Sometimes in its very messy, crude and even violent forms. Indeed ours is an eternal country with an eternal religion. Anaadi Anantha. Like the universe. It simply is. The mystery remains. And it is possible, despite efforts from other religions to convert countries and continents into their respective religions, Hinduism prevails in its land of origin. Like the subtle fragrance it pervades over other countries and continents. It may thus, persuade people of other religions to first look at the religion called Hinduism with wonder and later, the wonder may turn into belief and acceptance. Look at ISKCON. Look at Hindu Ashrams and Godmen. You find people of the world belonging to different religions offering pranams and prayers, practicing yoga and meditation that are part of Hindu religious practice. Therefore, Hinduism will persist despite atheists and competition from other religions. Hindu temples will be built despite difficulties.
Last week I had been to one such temple recently built at Tirumalaikodi near Vellore by a young person of 32 years Sri Sakthi Amma. Though the name sounds feminine, the person is indeed a man. It is said he assumed this name, Sri Sakthi Amma, after the energy of the female divinity Sri Narayani entered his body!
The temple was built for the presiding deity Sri Narayani. Incidentally, this is the temple visited by the well - known atheist and the DMK supremo, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. K. Karunanidhi, which made headlines. The renowned journalist and author T. J. S. George, who indeed deserves the Padma award for his tremendous contribution to Indian journalism and, may I say, for taking on issues social and political, has raised a very pertinent question in his column “Point of View”: "In the ageless tussle between Brahminic Hinduism and its challengers, was the balance tipping in favour of Brahminism again?”
After visiting a few important Hindu temples in the South recently, I am inclined to believe that the balance is indeed tipping in favour of Brahminism. And I am also inclined to believe that if Hinduism is to be saved, it is possible only if it has the patronage and protection from Brahminism. After all, Hinduism minus Brahminism is like a body without a soul. To the hardware of Hinduism, Brahminism provides the software that ignites spiritualism among all the followers of Hinduism irrespective of caste, creed and the individual religious rituals. It could be animistic or nature worship where meat and liquor are also offered after animal sacrifice to appease a deity.
Be that as it may, the Sri Narayani temple is making news not because of non-believer Karunanidhi visited the temple, which no doubt is a rare event, but because the temple is made of gold. Yes, solid gold. If seeing is believing, I have seen it with my own bespectacled eyes. No wonder, its cost, according to reports, is more than Rs. 300 crore. Gold used is 1.5 tonnes. How this gold was procured, who paid for it, only the presiding deity and the Trustees of Om Sakthi Narayani Siddar Peedam, the Charitable Trust that built the temple, will know.
Miracles are not Sri Sakthi Amma's sole mission, says a beautifully printed booklet. But what greater miracle is needed to disagree with this statement than this golden temple? Not that there are no other temples or places of worship built with gold, but not to this scale and grandeur. Thousands of people, both believers and non - believers, to quench their spiritual thirst or to quell their curiosity, visit this place every day paying an admission fee enriching the coffers of the temple. If you pay Rs. 250, accounted as donation, you will be given preferential treatment in entering the sanctum sanctorum and a group archana will be performed to the deity in your name. The temple management has certainly mastered the art of management; wonder in which business management school the lessons were learnt. The temple is hidden far away from the main road that no one can see it without entering the premises. For the poor and the meek among the people there is dharma darshana.
The main temple is enclosed by a walkway in the shape of a star. The well laid - out walk way with overhead roof, though too, too long, is a great pleasure to walk with appropriate spiritual messages displayed all along and a wonderful landscaping pleasing to the eyes. At regular distances, the visitors could have mineral water on payment or drinking water provided by the temple authorities. The peace, calm and the drone of chanting AUM inside the temple premises stand in sharp contrast to the dust, dirt and sound pollution outside the temple premises along the road filled with traffic and pedestrians. It is a temple worth visiting either as a tourist or as a pilgrim. I learn, seeing the Golden Temple in the night is a sight for the Gods to see which is also possible for the mortals. This humble mortal, yours truly, however, could not make it in the night. Ah, yes. Incidentally, I did not gain any wisdom from Sripuram such that I will build a school or a hospital! But wait. Miracles can always happen. Some hope this!
Om Namo Sri Narayani:
"Hinduism is unique in world history; it is the oldest continuing religion which comes down to us from the very dawn of human civilisation. There were other religions at that time; there was a great religion in Egypt, in Babylon, in Mesopotamia, and there were other creeds unknown today; but they have all disappeared and survive only in the minds of research scholars or the four walls of museums. It is Hinduism alone that has retained its dynamic and vibrant presence down through the corridors of time. It is not as if Hinduism has not been persecuted. In fact, if you look at the history of Hinduism for the last thousand years, you will see that we have been through the most severe persecution that any religion in the world has ever undergone."
— Dr. Karan Singh,
Former Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir and Former Union Minister, in his Essays on Hinduism
Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."
— Mark, Chapter 11 - 24 Holy Bible
Think of Trichy, now Tiruchirappalli, think of Rock Fort. I had visited this place as a college student in about the year 1957, having vague memories now in the year of our Lord 2008. The only place we could visit then was the Rock Fort with a Ganapati temple perched atop and a few halls along the way as we climbed those 334 steps, partly covered, partly open to sky, hewn out of solid rock. The steps are so well and properly cut, the “tread and raiser”, as our architects call, are near perfect enabling one to climb without strain — for me and to even older people in normal health. More than the temple, the curious find is the inscriptions dating back to the 3rd century BC! A Shiva Temple is also there which is rather “special” because the lingam is in a way Swayambu (that which manifested by itself) as it is a projection of the rock itself. I have heard and seen enough of this Swayambu business.
There are other minor cave temples too as you climb up. At the foot of the Rock Fort is a huge Kalyani (Tank) for the float festival. And for a student of history, near the tank, is the house where Robert Clive, the founder of British Empire in India (remember battle of Plassey?) lived. Sadly I could not visit the house as access by vehicle to this area (full of one - ways and even these roads are too crowded for comfort) was impossible. So I stopped my vehicle at the instance of my friend Sanjay Shetty, who was familiar with this part of the city having been in Tea plantation, and bought a dozen cakes of famous Rani Sandal bathing soap manufactured in Sri Lanka and priced at 27 Sri Lanka rupees. Thinking of Robert Clive, I thought of what he wrote to his sister back in England after his epoch making victory march in Oudh (UP) after the battle of Plassey. He wrote saying in a manner, “Dear sister, as I was leading the victory march, thousands of Indians lined on either side of the road and rooftops looking at us with wonder and awe. Only if each of them had picked up a stone and thrown at us, we would have been routed" etc., etc. Yes, we were so many Indians and they were too few, yet we were defeated. Clive had captured Arcot near Madras with just 210 soldiers!
Earlier I had visited Srirangam, the Vatican of Iyengar Brahmins. Till about 150 years ago “other” Hindus were passse, so to say in the matter of access and offering of prayers. Now, of course, times have changed. All kinds of people are gathered here like swarm of flies. It is a temple, market place, a choultry, an eating place; a place for picnic, even for “circus” with elephant that blesses you by placing its trunk upon your head provided your place a coin on it. There are eateries, a mall et al! Time someone stormed into this place, I thought, like Jesus stormed into the temple in Jerusalem fighting the money-changers and traders.
Seven kms from Trichy, it is the most important pilgrim center and surrounded by two rivers — Cauvery and Kollidam — making it a 600 acres island-town. Here is the famous Sri Ranganathaswami Temple with the deity in a reclining position as in Sri Ranganathaswamy temple at nearby Srirangapatna. It is said to be the biggest temple complex in the country with 21 gopurams and its Rajagopuram is the largest in South Asia! (A 13 tiered, 72 m high Gopuram). Like almost all old, ancient Hindu temples, this too is dirty, with unhygienic surrounding, dilapidated at many places, priests and touts scurrying all over the temple with black idols of many Gods and Goddesses peering at the devotees from deep inside their respective niches or mantaps at all vantage points while priests wait for an offering from the unwary, credulous people. The scene is no different at Madurai Meenakshi Temple also which I was visiting after about 45 years.
Meenakshi is the consort of Lord Shiva. There are 12 temple towers in this massive temple of 15th century expanded over the centuries. It has a thousand - pillared hall and a huge quadrangle as seen partly in the picture. A variety of rituals with small oil lamps are performed by, specially, women. One ritual is praying to an image on a stone pillar for enabling normal delivery! So you can see pregnant women placing flower, pouring oil over the image of Goddess Masanni Amma. These are monuments, very ancient. But living monuments where pujas to deities are performed very religiously and regularly as per tradition but certainly not diligently or with devotion. These temples have survived the ravages of time and of enemies of Hindu religion for the reason they are so massive in size and are built with stones. Many stone sculptures on pillars and walls are disfigured but not totally disintegrated. Both Tiruchirappalli and Madurai are cities that are badly kept. Those who walked the roads looked steeped in poverty, many emaciated. Beggars abound. The divide between the rich and the poor in Tamil Nadu seemed too sharp and stark for solace to any sensitive mind and a compassionate heart.
If you asked anyone on the road for direction he would say Nera Pongo, “go straight”. If you pursue, he would give the direction in one go at breathless speech. You are utterly confused. It is worse if you don't know Tamil. Even if he does not know the route he would still say Nera Pongo and leave you to your fate. You are warned! Generally I found them very humble, unlike in Kerala. Mercifully this time no one prevented me from carrying my own luggage. May be because this time I travelled by my own vehicle or may be the influence of our reformed, “liberated” “neo – capitalist” communists of West Bengal and Kerala.
Part 1 | Part 2
