Religion Pointers and Thoughts

Here are some things to remember if you ever visit a temple while in India (keep in mind that, while the South may be different from the North, some things are constant):

When in doubt, remove your shoes. Even when I visit ruins of temples, I take them off. Just beware of monkeys taking them. Oh, and for the reason of constantly removing your shoes, it's best to buy sandals with no back straps.

If you're walking around the outside of a temple, go clockwise. Walk to the left of a temple, not the right.

Accept any tika powder or holy liquids with your right hand, not your left. Never your left!

You can apply tika powder to your forehead any way you'd like. I say that less is more. Just dab it at the spot right above the space between your eyebrows (unless you unfortunately have a unibrow!). Dispose of the rest of the powder. When you're visiting temples, you'll be getting LOTS of tika powder and ash. Eventually, you'll have a lot on your forehead anyway; why rush it with the first batch?

Avoid pointing the soles of your feet in the direction of any person or any statue. The only time this is really okay is when your prostrating yourself before a statue.

Darshan is the most important word you'll see and hear. Darshan is most simply a viewing of the god or goddess. For some reason, this is REALLY popular in the South. In Tirupati, for example, pilgrims wait in line for six or seven hours simply to have darshan, which may last for about 20 seconds. This need to see the god confounds me, though I find myself wanting it as well.


Okay, pointers are over. Here is a general amendment to my previous discussion of religion. I don't get it. Religion for me is just a way to find peace, and yet I have a hard time doing so in some of these temples. Take the temple I visited today, for example. I waited for three days in Tiruchchirappali (Trichy) for the pouring rain to abate so I could visit the Sri Ranganathaswami Temple. At 60 hectares (what's a hectare, anyway?), it's the largest temple complex in India. Coming from the absolutely amazing Arunachaleswara Temple complex (10 hectares) in Tiruvannamalai, I was expecting this to be something astoundingly spiritual. No, it was hectic, devoid of actual temples, and it seemingly lacking in anything peaceful. When I finally found a temple, I paid 5 Rs to have a "Special Darshan," which meant that i wouldn't have to wait in the general line for 1.5 hours. No, instead I waited for a half hour. Then, I never actually got to do darshan, because the crowd was so much, I couldn't even see the murti (statue). No peace to be had in all the chaos. I couldn't feel any god within those walls.

Perhaps I'm being too critical. Perhaps my definition of religion is too specific. And I'm sure that many thousands of people find peace within the walls of that temple complex. But not me. And that's really sad. We'll see what the famous Sri Meenakshi Temple holds for me.