On the Gurvayur temple entry

[Guest guest]

I read with interest the discussion on the Guruvayur temple entry issue. In this context I would like to point out that there is a Parsi community in Mumbai area whose fire temples and their crematorium in Malbar Hill are out of bounds for anybody outside their community and religion. Even those who are ex-communicated cannot visit these places. Why find fault with only Hindu temples. It is because the Hindu way of life has become a free for all punch bag with no centralised authority. Actually we are facing a third conquest by the opening up after the conquest by Mugals, and the British. We do not know ,as the Chinese do, how to imbibe the good of the West without hurting our ancient civilization. It is a matter of shame when I see many of naturalised Americans of Indian origin decrying anything Deshi when their own internal make up is

Indian. They are even ashamed of their own language - a Chinese or a Japanese or for that matter the German or French will prefer to talk in their own toungue. In IAEA I have seen them addressing the meetings only in their language. You will be surprised to see the mad rush towards anything American as if our civilization do not have any past! It is a cultural conquest that is going on now. Coming back to the topic, I feel that one of the reasons against admitting everybody into the temples universally is that the places of worship would then degenerate into tourist spots. Imagine a host of

Europeans descending on the Guruvayur temple taking photographs, where will the true devotees take refuge! I have felt this by comparison, the difference a devotee feels by visiting the Madurai temple and the Padmanabhaswamy temple or Guruvayur temple. Another unfortunate corollary of the controversy is that its origin is pure and simple politics and vote bank. Not that the persons making a

hue and cry are interested in making a communion with Guruvayurappan. They could easily do this by praying at home- like Prahlada found Lord Narasimha inside a pillar! But their eyes are on the vote bank to turn the spot light on themselves when they are unable to solve the mundane problems of the people of Kerala like the erstwhile Kings of Tranvancore did! These people are running behind cheap popularity by kicking up any controversy when they are unable to do anything substantial. Today there is a need to organize to neutralize the cultural

conquest that is going on to avoid the Hindu way of life being bundled into history. However, I believe that the resilience of the Hindu culture is quite high and it cannot be buried easily into the pages of history. One has to look at the conquest of America by the Europeans and the conquest of India by the English/French/Spanish. Whereas the native American culture was annihilated and easily buried into history, the Hindu culture survived all conquests by imbibing conquering cultures. Dr.M.R.Iyer

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