My First Visit at the Hindu Temple Essay

Every Culture has a set of rituals that they partake in, that are often constructed over a long period of time. Simple Actions, and special moments contain so much meaning and make everlasting memories. All rituals despite the locations they originate from, or the location they are carried out in contain the same components, they are repetitive, symbolic, remind a certain group of people about their values and beliefs, and these rituals commemorate a significant moment. For example christians commemorate the birth of christ by attending mass, and many other cultures celebrate this moment in many different ways that have in depth symbolic meaning. In the book “Guests of the Sheik” by Elizabeth Warnock Fernea rituals play a major role. Fernea’s husband Bob is an anthropologist studying the occupants of a small village named El Nahra and their culture. Fernea has documented her experiences, and adventures, and her perspective of the many rituals that the townspeople participate in such as, Ramadan, Muharram, weddings, and pilgrimages. In Muslim culture pilgrimages are immensely important and can even lead to an elevated status. Such as the pilgrimage to Mecca. Fernea is able to participate in a pilgrimage to Karbala with a couple of the towns women she had befriended. The Pilgrimage to Karbala is a symbolic, and cultural ritual in the aspect that it is reenacted every year, and is full of symbolic meaning, commemorates an important occasion and reminds a culture about their

32. Which traditional Indian practice came under fire by British colonialists and was outlawed only to later be reinstated because practitioners said it was a religious practice?

The “Hare Rama Hare Krishna” was the very first temple I visited. There was a little garden area that led to the first door. The door to the entrance was quiet simple, not like I expected. I have always thought the temple doors would be highly decorated, representing an elegant line of antique furniture. As I stepped inside, we were to take our shoes off, as an act of respect and devotion. Visitors and worshippers are required to remove any footwear before entering. The shoes are taken off so they don’t make the house of God dirty; it is a normal custom in India. There was another door that led to the hall, where the murtis (statues) of the deities were present. Above my head, I witnessed a bell (ghanta) hanging down. This was to be rung before taking your first step in. Heading into the hall, I immediately noted how lively the atmosphere was and how clean and unsoiled everything was. Large crowds of people gathered around to prepare for the prayer. What I found really interesting was that unlike

Within many known religions, the devotional practices has been known to acquire great importance. The essence of practicing what you preach has scolded many religious groups, introducing true beliefs, righteousness, and a wider connection to the supreme being . In the book entitled “ Living religions” by Mary Pat Fisher, clarified and firm descriptions were introduced about religious rituals. Surprisingly; the author utilized small parts of modern concepts, limiting the reader from a full comprehension of religious practices today, therefore; I will only discuss the basic and traditional rituals. To elaborate; in this paper, I will be providing an opinionated but also, comparative description of the major practices and rituals that undergo in both the Abrahamic and indigenous religions.

Dr. Spencer: well Brian firstly this is one of the most well-known ceremonies in the Far East it comes from the Hindu religion but it is not similar to the Indian fire burials by the river

For my second site visit I went to a ceremony with Karma Thegsum Choling Columbus (KTC). The ceremony was the Chenrezig Sahana which contained different prayers and meditation. The ceremony took place in the basement of the Congregation Tifereth Israel’s Synagogue because their old meditation center was burned down. Regardless of that they still have been able to continue all of their regular programs out of the synagogue. In this paper I will be discussing my experience at the KTC as well as some of the information that I learned about.

The word Hindu has evolved from being the word the Persians used for the Indus River in 500 BC to the accepted name for the primary religion of India this name was originally given by foreign rulers and ultimately used by Europeans in the 1500's as the official name of the religion. History plays an important part of Hinduism because new developments reinterpret an update past practices rather than end them. The Hindu religion is broke down into three periods the Vedic period, the Upanishadic period, the classical period, and the devotional period.

One of the most striking was my grandfather’s temple in the small town of Mahoba where my father grew up. I spent a great deal of my childhood here, thus the pastel pink walls, intricate flower designs, and open layout immediately sparked flashbacks. I remembered the lenghas, traditional dresses, I would pick out to wear even though they were much more formal than the usual attire. I remembered waiting until no one was looking to sneak over to where everyone removed their shoes to try on my mom’s high heeled sandals. I remembered seeing my Dada, grandfather, leading the poojas, religious services, and feeling proud seeing how respected and genuine he was.

When I first pulled up to the Won Buddhist Temple, it was sort of what I had expected. Being that the original Buddha was a human, I did not expect an elaborate building, such as the Hindu temple. I did not have a clear picture in my mind about what the temple would look like, but I did picture a smaller and simpler-looking building. One of the most pleasantly surprising aspects I noticed at the beginning of the visit was how those at the temple were of all different ages, races, and genders. Seeing this made me more excited for the service because it showed that the teachings were something that appealed to a wide range of people.

They bought land when it was cheap and were able to get Visa’s for several architects from India to design each temple in the likeness of the ones located in India, much smaller scale of course. The attention to detail was impressive as no two are alike. The colors inside each temple and the adornments of the gods and goddesses were stunning. Hindus typically come and pray for something that is going on in their lives. People would touch as they walked around each temple numerous times. Many brought food and flowers for offerings. One temple had six gallons of milk in front of it. The Goddess of knowledge was my favorite. Students like to come to her during

A Hindu temple contains a very different religious experience compared to what I 've previously experienced in the past. Perhaps the most obvious difference comes from just how individual it can be compared to a group service for example. While there is a portion of the service that is led by a priest for the vast majority of your stay the experience is really upon you and you alone. While there are traditions to follow it 's still a unique experience. During my attendance at the Hindu temple of Atlanta I almost assuredly didn 't follow all of the customs and traditions but nevertheless, did my best to at least not offend my hosts. The experience was alien compared to anything else I 've ever experienced in this capacity and to be honest

There are other commentators that cite the Aarti ritual originated in the process of illuminating a murti who was located deep in a dark cave shrine of Mandir (a hindu temple). For all believers can see the sacred image of the god, priest must shine the deity from head to toe, while the believers worshiped and sang. Over time, this practice has become Aarti ritual that is practiced today. According to londonmandir.baps.org › Worship, during the Aarti ritual, priests uses various other items as water, flowers, incense, and a white cloth. All of these articles represent the five elements of the world. Space is represented by the white cloth, the air by the wisp, the light by the flames, the water, and the earth by the flowers– and symbolises the offering of the whole of creation to the Deity during the Aarti

My interviewee Tony Khanna, a fellow co-worker, took me to his temple he goes to worship, on a Sunday evening. He took me to the Sri Meenakshi Devasthanam located in Pearland, Texas. The first thing I noticed upon arrival at the temple is the beautiful architectural building design outside. I was in amazement of how beautiful the temple was. I had not seen something so beautiful in quite awhile. The temple is visible from a quite a distance away and has two stunning white towers. When coming up to the temple from the parking lot Tony indicated to me that the temple was established in 1977 and was a replica of a famous temple in India. There was a huge white gate we had to walk through to get to the main temple. Once inside I was greeted by many Hindu's that were quite pleasant and talkative towards this outsider that I was. Before the visit one of my questions to Tony was if Hindu's welcomed outsiders within their temples. He indicated that Hindu's are very open and that I would be welcomed. I was quite surprised for this to be so true. With in the confines of the temple there were many different kinds of symbols that I was not quite familiar with. A couple that I noted was a Diya, Om, and Swastika. There were

Bhagsunag Temple: This is a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is a revered temple among the Gurkha platoon villages in Dharamshala. The waterfall in the vicinity is a stupendous view.

The temple has several of the various Hindu deities that I saw, though Ganesha is their main focal point of at the temple. The temple was painted the to match the climate of Utah. “Granite Goddesses Sri Lakshmi and Sri Saraswathi adorn the entrance of the main sanctum giving special importance to wealth and learning, the main quests of Hindu immigrants to USA”(Skantharajah 33). The addition of a parking lot is probably unusual nowadays for a Hindu temple.There is a cultural center directly attached to the Sri Ganesha temple. Removing shoes is not required to enter the center, only for the main temple as I learned.