'Temples of Unmodern India': Hindu-Only or All Welcome?

[Guest guest]

VARANASI (June 4, 2007): The city of lights offers strange contrasts:

On the one hand, there is the tradition of someone like late Ustad

Bismillah Khan [Muslim] doing riyaaz at Baalaji temple [Hindu] and

performing at Sankat Mochan [Hindu temple to Hanuman]. On the other

there was this instance of pop singer Parwati Khan [Muslim] who had

to sneak into Kashi Vishwanath temple icognito after Shiv Sena [Hindu

fundamentalist group] raised a shindig when her visit was publicly

announced.

 

A marble plaque in front of Kashi Vishwanath declares: " Those who do

not have faith in Arya dharma are strictly prohibited from entering

the temple precincts. " In reality, however, there is no restriction

on devotees of any caste or creed, says Radhey Shyam Pathak, the

chief executive officer of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust, adding

that even foreigners visit temples for their grandeur or architecture

because " sometimes we even find foreign currencies in temple donation

boxes. "

 

Endorsing his views, former mahant of Kashi Vishwanath, Kulpati

Tiwari, says it isn't possible or logical to deny entry to people on

the basis of their caste or religion. But, often people themselves

follow tradition.

 

BHUBANESWAR: The recent incident in Keredagada, Kendrapara, where

Dalits broke a 300-year ban on their entry into a local temple (they

could get in only under police protection), highlights a peculiar

problem: while temples in hinterland observe caste-bar rituals, those

in Puri and Bhubaneswar don't.

 

However, in the both the cities, non-Hindus are barred from entering

temples, whether it is the Lingaraja temple in Bhubaneswar or the

Jagannath temple in Puri. Chairman, Puri Jagannath temple management

committee, Gajapati Dibyasingha, says the tradition will

continue. " But we are ready for a debate. Debates yield consensus and

then only changes take place, " he said.

 

GUWAHATI: Kamakhya does not place any restriction on non-Hindus

entering the temple. But this is because non-Hindus cannot be

identified. Senior official of the Kamakhya Debuttor Board says many

non-Hindu dignitaries being sensitive to the religious sentiment,

prefer to worship from outside.

 

" Generally devotees other than Hindus dont come to Kamakhya for

worshiping. We cannot obstruct if a non-Hindu hides his/her identity.

We cannot make them reveal the identity unless it is externally

telltale. "

 

CHENNAI: " If God is our father, why should we be prevented from

entering his temple? " asks Neelavendan, general secretary of Adi

Tamilar Peravai (ATP), a forum fighting for Dalit rights. His

indignation is understandable. For a section of Dalits still can't

enter temples managed by Hindu religious and charitable endowments

(HRCE) department and the backward classes (BC). ATP has identified

48 temples where Dalits are barred entry.

 

" Earlier, we couldn't enter a temple where Brahmins worshipped. Now,

BC members (Kounder, Naidu, Vanniyar, Kallar, Thevar, and certain

sections of Pillai) disallow us in temples under their control, " says

Vendan. A Dalit HRCE member when asked whether he'd taken any of his

relatives into the temple, said, " I'm yet to muster the courage for

that. "

 

DWARKA: Gujarat's Dwarka dham, one of the four pilgrimages central to

Hinduism, is open to all. There is no discrimination on the basis of

one's religion: Be they Hindu, Muslim, Christian or Dalit. " A person

who comes to worship has faith in his heart and hence there should

not be any restriction, " says Swami Sadanand Brahmachari of Dwarka

Mutt, mutt-adhish and the second-in-command to the Shankaracharya.

 

" The only place out-of-bounds is the sanctum sanctorum where just the

Shankaracharya and the priests are allowed. Even the three

Shankaracharyas of the other mutts do not have access to the sanctum

sanctorum, " says Sadanand Brahmachari. " Brahmin, Dalit, Christian or

Muslim, all are treated equally, " says Brahmachari. " No one is

stopped from performing puja. Anyone can make his offering at

the 'charan paduka' like the Hindus, " he says.

 

 

SOURCE: The Times of India. Temples of Unmodern India. With inputs

from Himanshu Kaushik, T S Sreenivasa Raghavan, Naresh Mitra, Rajaram

Satapathy, Manjari Chaturvedi and Binay Singh

URL: http://tinyurl.com/3xnzq4

[Guest guest]

On Temple Entry:

Different takes on the faith

 

Shashi Tharoor

The Hindu

7/22/2007

 

I suppose it was inevitable that my appeal to the powers that

be at the Guruvayur temple ( " Nature of the Faith " , July 8) to

open their doors to any who cared to enter, should have

elicited a ferocious backlash. My argument was that temple

s exist to open doors to God, not to close them to people;

instead of imposing various restrictions on who can enter, I

argued, the temple authorities should let even unbelievers

in, as other religions do. Many readers - including several

who began by describing themselves as my admirers -

made it clear that they emphatically disagreed.

 

For the status quo

 

R. Rajagopalan of Alappuzha writes on behalf of " a silent

majority of ardent devotees who would like to have it as at

present - a calm place of only real believers in the Lord,

chanting His name, and not crowded with tourists " . Frankly

I think that description of Guruvayur is an utter fantasy,

since I have never known the temple to be calm or

uncrowded. Indeed, Mr. Rajagopalan rather undermines his

own case by conceding that " already it takes, on any

ordinary day, nearly three hours in the queue for a genuine

devotee to get a glimpse of the Lord " . But he adds: " how

long will it be if tourists also are allowed in? " My response

would be that any tourists who are willing to brave that

three-hour queue (and the priests shouting " move on! " in

tones hardly conducive to piety) deserve admission: there

are unlikely to be so many of them as to make the crowding

significantly worse than it already is.

 

But Mr. Rajagoapalan's real point lies in the words, " What

real business do non-Hindus, opposed to idol-worship, have

in the temple? Unlike the Semitic religions, Hinduism does

not believe in conversions. Therefore we don't believe in

saying to unbelievers, 'come in and see what we have to

offer'. We are not on offer. " Let others pursue " other paths

to God " , he says, " but let us peacefully follow our [own]

path " .

 

Intrinsically different?

 

Mr. P. S. Leelakrishnan of Koyilandy in Kerala tells me that

mosques and churches " are mere places of worship. A

temple, on the other hand, is the seat of an idol installed

according to Thantra Sastra and worshipped as a symbol of

God and daily pujas are performed by trained priests

according to Tantric rituals. Purificatory rites are part of

daily pujas. Every Tom, Dick and Harry cannot enter a

Hindu temple at his sweet will and pleasure even if he is a

bo rn Hindu. One goes to a temple only for worship, not for

sightseeing as you suggested. Utmost purity of body and

mind should be maintained by worshipper. The Hindu

knows when he can go to a temple and when he cannot.

Who will teach these matters to non-Hindus if doors of

Temples are kept open for all as you wanted? "

 

V. Jayapal of Thrissur says the exclusionary practices did

not exist in the ages of the yagnas and yagas, when temples

were open to all, but arose more recently " to safeguard

Hindu values and scriptures? 1; - perhaps, he speculates, to

protect " the valuables of the temples from the Mughal

attacks and onslaughts, and by local Muslim Rulers like

Tippu " . He admits that such considerations are no longer

relevant, and goes on to laud the contributions of non-

Hindus to the development of Hinduism, mentioning K.J.

Yesudas, Yusaf Ali Kechery and Kalamandalam Hyderali.

 

The case of Yesudas, the singer whose devotional songs are

routinely played at Guruvayur while he himself is refused

admission, divides my correspondents. A majority feel he

should ideally be allowed in, but several argue that an

exception cannot be made for one individual, however

deserving. Mr. Rajagopal, however, argues that Yesudas " is

only a professional singer. He has sung in praise of not only

Lord Guruvayurappan, but also Muhammed Nabi, Jesus

Christ etc. He has sung even songs questioning belief in

God, even ridiculing God. If he is particular about

worshipping at Guruvayur, even now he can, after getting

formally converted as a Hindu " . (This from a writer who

says Hindus don't believe in conversions.)

 

The individualism of Hindu practice is a weapon in the

writers' armoury. As Mr. Rajagopal says, " each temple has

its individual customs, which gives it its uniqueness. For

instance, even non-Hindus are allowed in Sabarimala; but

there women are restricted " . Mr. Leelakrishnan adds: " Of

all the temples in Kerala, Guruvayoor has a tradition of its

own. Many devotees from the north say real Bhakti

flourishes only in Guruvayoor in its pristine purity in India.

We should not do anything in haste which may bring

discredit to its great tradition " .

 

The other side

 

On the other side of the debate, A. Vijayakumaran from (of

all places!) Rishikesh, tells me that I have " boldly expressed

the sentiments of lakhs of human beings " . Professor

S.A.Thiaga Rajan of Tirunelveli recounted visiting

Guruvayur with his wife in 2004, " but [we] dared not enter

the temple, being Christians. We went round the temple and

returned with a sense of disappointment. We enter other

places of worship freely and respectfully watch people

performing puja or saying prayers - be it Hindu, Muslim,

Sikh, or any other, where the custodians are not so orthodox

about allowing entry " .

 

Tinatin Japaridze, a young Georgian woman in New York,

writes: " I have been increasingly fascinated by Dharmic

religions.... However, I could never quite comprehend why

of all the different traditional religions, Hinduism has been

viewed as more of an 'ethnicity' as opposed to a path to

spirituality open to all cultures of any ethnic or racial

heritage and background. Although there doesn't seem to be

a formal process for converting to Hinduism (which perhaps

is for the better, as I personally believe in spirituality more

than a set of mere formalities and rules), as an outsider I

have noticed how reluctant, territorial and utterly 'precious'

many representatives of this religion can get if anyone from

a group of 'outsiders' demonstrates an obvious interest. On

numerous occasions, I've heard some of my Hindu friends

refer to Hinduism as 'our religion' or 'our path to

spirituality', thus excluding the non-Hindus. "

 

What will it be?

 

Ms. Japaridze adds: " From what I've read and heard,

Hinduism is extremely diverse and open-minded in its

philosophy, spirituality and beliefs. And yet, its doors still

remain closed to most of us... " She laments that this should

be so " in the increasingly spiritless world we live in, " where

so many are seeking the truths that Hinduism has to offer.

Her appeal goes to the heart of my case. Which is true

Hinduism - the self-centred exclusionism of today's

Guruvayur, or open hearts, open minds - and open doors?

 

http://www.hindu.com/mag/2007/07/22/stories/2007072250

060300.htm

or

http://tinyurl.com/2lde9b

 

 

, " Devi Bhakta "

<devi_bhakta wrote:

>

> VARANASI (June 4, 2007): The city of lights offers strange

contrasts:

> On the one hand, there is the tradition of someone like late Ustad

> Bismillah Khan [Muslim] doing riyaaz at Baalaji temple [Hindu] and

> performing at Sankat Mochan [Hindu temple to Hanuman]. On the other

> there was this instance of pop singer Parwati Khan [Muslim] who had

> to sneak into Kashi Vishwanath temple icognito after Shiv Sena

[Hindu

> fundamentalist group] raised a shindig when her visit was publicly

> announced.

>

> A marble plaque in front of Kashi Vishwanath declares: " Those who

do

> not have faith in Arya dharma are strictly prohibited from entering

> the temple precincts. " In reality, however, there is no restriction

> on devotees of any caste or creed, says Radhey Shyam Pathak, the

> chief executive officer of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust,

adding

> that even foreigners visit temples for their grandeur or

architecture

> because " sometimes we even find foreign currencies in temple

donation

> boxes. "

> [....]

> SOURCE: The Times of India. Temples of Unmodern India. With inputs

> from Himanshu Kaushik, T S Sreenivasa Raghavan, Naresh Mitra,

Rajaram

> Satapathy, Manjari Chaturvedi and Binay Singh

> URL: http://tinyurl.com/3xnzq4

>