New Temples

 

Original Source: https://www.jeyamohan.in/168299/
Date: 24-Jul-2022

 

Dear J,

In recent times, whenever I visit the Iskcon temples established in various places, I feel that these temples will form, in future, the support structure of Hindu culture and the modern centers of Hindu worship.

The important points that I observed were that these temples follow the same methods of worship in every country they are established, they have the same simple prayer slogan "Hare Rama, Hare Krishna" and anyone who joins that organization, irrespective of their caste, would've the privilege of performing pooja and delivering service.

Most importantly, the aspects which we think as not possible anymore due to the apathy of the public and the government, like maintaining cleanliness in temple premises, eschewing from commercializing devotion by selling special tickets, forcing people to buy from the shops that have been setup at the temple entrance are not present in these Iskcon temples.

Despite their small shops being present within the premises, there is no compulsion to buy from there.

The marriage halls established in most of their temples give confidence that they would impart devotion and culture to the upcoming generations.

When I shared this with others, they retorted saying that these temples are involved in religious conversions in many countries.

But, I do not feel that they are forcing these conversions. Many foreigners seem to be coming forward out of their own will.

There do not seem to be any negative intentions behind this movement beyond merely the 'bhakthi'.

This letter is to understand your views on this.

Thanks,

Indumathi - Pune.

 

Dear Indu,

I have been continuously writing that it is high time we classified our ancient temples and places of worship into two categories. Many of our places of worship were all constructed a millennium back. Considering the transportational possibilities and the restrictions on who can and cannot enter the temple that were prevailing then, only a few people would have worshiped in those temples.

Some years back, I went to Prambanan temple in Indonesia. This temple complex, touted as the 2nd largest temple for Vishnu, did not contain a single temple with a structure to support more than 10 people to worship in tandem. Looking at the entrance of the Sanctum Sanctorum (Garbhagriha) would reveal that it wasn't constructed to support many people at a time. There isn't any temple even in India that has such a structure to support many people worshiping simultaneously.

Transport is improving day by day, especially as the middle class have started owning cars, the gatherings at temple have increased manifold. As long as economic growth prevails, so does the increase in crowd at temples. The rush would only multiply in coming years. If India's increasing population is considered, this would lead to a destruction of these ancient temples.

Our temples are not equipped to accommodate such huge gatherings. When so many people are inside, the temperature there increases. Things like artificial lights exacerbates this. So, new paths for air flow are needed. After recent fire safety studies, experts have concluded that most of our temples do not have the capacity to face any mishaps during festival days. Several hundred people are packed tightly within a tiny space. The paths for entering and exiting the Sanctum Sanctorum are so narrow that not more than a couple of people can enter or exit via those.

When such a throng starts gathering, our temples start to get devastated. The sculptures get ruined. Restrooms are required to be built inside temple premises. More facilities would be required in future. There are requests being made already for separate paths to be allowed for wheelchairs. If so many people are to be allowed, I would think that such facilities too are definitely necessary.

Air conditioners are fitted without any reverence to sculptural or agama guidelines. Loudspeakers are fitted. Most temples make use of iron bars flexed and sized in myriad ways, resembling prisons. None of the large temples in India has the splendor, peacefulness and sculptural harmony that is expected of a temple.

One can see that temples like that in Udupi do not have the structure to accommodate more than 10 people within the sanctum sanctorum. Some temples have been constructed such that the deity could be seen only from specific view points within the sanctum sanctorum. There are sculptural and agama related reasons for it. Today's situation nullifies all those.

Temples are not mere buildings. They are a kind of sculptural organization when taken as a whole. That is what makes it a temple. If they are destroyed, then it is just a building. There is a saying that temples that do not have puja traditions as per agama or a construction as per the shilpa sastra brings sin to the entire village.

Strange are Tamilians. As far as I know, individual houses do not have Vastu rules or fundaments. Vastu is meant for a village or town. Houses are part of them. Therefore, in old villages, houses would have been constructed considering the overall structure of the village, rather than each house having its own Vastu principles. Fortress have their Vastu based architecture, palace has it too. But our people would consult Vastu for their homes but would disregard Vastu for temples, where it ought to be present.

People consult Vastu laboriously for individual houses in Tamil Nadu. There are thousands of fake Vastu practitioners. Whereas, in temples, where even a tiny deviation from Vastu is considered a sin, every single Vastu principle is being violated. Construction using concrete are done within temples. Toilets are constructed. According to Vastu, the facade of the Gopuram is considered the the temple's face. The sculptures are placed accordingly. Today, concrete portico are constructed in front of this facade for hosting cars during rains. Nobody has objections.

Yet, there is a question of accommodating so many worshipers. Modern temples like Birla Mandir that has the requisite facilities with beautiful sculptures can be created to meet that purpose. I am not in agreement to constructing those in concrete. Temples cannot be demolished and created. Concrete buildings need to be demolished every fifty years. Granite or marble can be used. Today's technology could afford to build such temples cost effectively. Sculptures can also be created quite beautifully.

On the other hand, number of visitors must be regulated. I had  once written about the suitable processes. (Of the people who opposed it, atheists believed that temples aren't necessary. Many among the believers didn't know anything about the principles of temple worship. You needn't have knowledge to provide your views is the norm of social media).

We cannot allow unregulated throngs in temples anymore. Hearing these thoughts brings an aversion initially, but even a little bit of reasoning would help us understand that there is no other choice. (Disregarding these early advises might lead to a disaster and would lead to these same conclusions after learning from that happening).

A rule to restrict the number of visitors below certain count must be formed. There is already a regulation on the number of people entering a forest or a reserved environmental area. Probably around five hundred people can be allowed inside a temple in a day, considering a two-phase entry - mornings and evenings. They can be levied with higher fares. Those who cannot afford can be offered concessions. If such reservations are created for all temples under the HR&CE department, the situation where there is a heavy rush in one temple while another smaller temple nearby is empty wouldn't happen. If people's entry can be streamlined in all the temples, today's heavy crowding inside the temple can be greatly avoided. And if new temples are created, temple worshiping would become comfortable and modern.

Several people haven't understood the reality. People visiting temples today are past their middle age, who carry myriad childhood memories and the associated feelings. Young people visiting temples has greatly reduced, because temple worshiping has turned into a torturous endeavor. It involves standing in queue for 6 to 7 hours. Cannot go to restroom. Perspiration abounds. In the meanwhile, they would be witnessing VIPs entering and exiting via special ways. At the Sanctum Sanctorum, they cannot remain more than few seconds and would be pushed away. Police resort to hitting with sticks and pushing in many temples. It is almost impossible to visit and worship peacefully in any of the important temples.

Rules are never being followed in our temples. After having the prasadams, the cups are thrown within the temples. The sandalwood paste and kumkuma are smeared on the pillars. Oil is spilled everywhere. Our temples are becoming dark and ugly, as we are unable to maintain them. But modern temples can be planned and designed. Rules can be created and followed over there strictly. Birla Mandir and Iskcon temples are quite elegant and very clean.

The primary question though is regarding the divinity. There is popular belief that ancient temples have the divine presence that is lacking in modern temples. One thing that we need to understand is that popular temples are so in media because of multitudinous reasons and not due to its divinity. Similarly, the less visited large temples are not without divinity.

I can vouch for this personally. The temple at Tanjore's Thiruvenkadu is an example. You cannot see a person there, but one who worships or with spiritual leanings or with innate intuition can feel the importance and the divinity of the temple soon as they visit it. Hundreds of such temples are forsaken likewise.

The divine presence of a temple doesn't come automatically from its construction. The sculptural organization is a primary reason for its' divine presence. Beyond that, deification must have been done properly. Thirdly, there must have been deity consecration every day without fail and proper rituals enabling that must have been conducted. When there are orderly rituals happening, temples will definitely have the divine presence.

Even in today's forsaken temples, such solid deification is possible. If we perform the rituals and the procedures properly in the modern temples, they would also be places of divine presence. Several such temples are present in Tamil Nadu. Therefore, we needn't view them as mere tourist attractions. Perhaps, we have to consider the possibility of them becoming a temple of significance in future.

Worshipers visiting temples must be under behavioral rules, especially for cleanliness. Entire temple must be peaceful and clean. This is already being maintained in temples like Birla Mandir. Majority of Iskcon temples have quite a strong divine presence, because they are being consecrated with proper rituals and procedures by firm believers.

Most of the calumny being spread about Iskcon are done by those scared by such intensity. Some may attribute such intensity on conservativeness. I am personally not agreeable to Iskcon's vision due to it advancing just devotion, but as a religious tradition, their intensity provide their temples with divine presence.

Who's spreading the calumny like religion conversions etc about them? What proofs are they providing? Countries like US with underlying Christian mentality profess such accusations on them and try to limit their growth. This is natural, as they are operating in India quite forcefully for the past five decades. Except some gossips created by politicians, no accusations have been laid on them.

What is religious conversion? Any believer has the right to present his side and make others accept it. I have been insisting that Christians and Muslims have that right. False propaganda, coercion, perfidy and playing politics for the sake of religious conversion is wrong. Yet, the right to conversion ought not be denied despite those wrongs. Those wrongs can be identified and pointed out, but banning conversions due to these amounts to handing over religious rights to Government. It is equivalent to denying the spiritual freedom of an individual. If I feel that my redemption is from Christianity or Islam, I wouldn't hesitate even a bit. I will convert. That is my right. Government or Society oughtn't interfere in that.

Who has the authority to deny that right to Iskcon people alone? When Iskcon does the conversion, does it become wrong? Are they indulging in perfidy for the sake of conversion? Are they indulging in any tricky propaganda? Or are they creating falsehood and contrivance? Are they indulging in politics of any nation? What's the point of all the accusations when none of the above is true?

I think that our future temples must be constructed like Birla Mandir and Iskcon temples and I hope it happens.

J

 

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Society_for_Krishna_Consciousness

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puja_(Hinduism)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbhagriha

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prambanan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vishnu

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agama_(Hinduism)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shilpa_Shastras

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopuram

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vastu_shastra

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_Religious_and_Charitable_Endowments_Department

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birla_Mandir

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prasada

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumkuma

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiruvenkadu