The Hindu temple in Madurai is the largest in India; it is called “Meenakshi”. It covers about 4 square U.S. blocks. It is enormous. The handwork of the craftsmanship is exquisite and detailed. The towers are filled with ornate hand carvings from stone of the many deities being worshipped in all their forms. One can’t but be amazed at the grandeur of it all.
As we came to the entrance, we saw a small building adjacent to the entryway where there was a primitive shoe check. No shoes allowed inside the temple at all, not even in backpacks. It cost 6 rupees to check three pair of shoes. He gave us a hand written claim check and stuffed the shoes into a little cubbyhole.
Next, as we entered we noticed the gift shops along the entry way selling everything you could imagine dealing with the worship of the Hindu gods; from icons to statues to post cards and imitation plastic flower wreaths. Flower wreaths are very important in worship and are made daily in the marketplace. They are significant in the worship and adornment of the deities in the puja ceremony which is performed daily. I will speak more on this later. They are beautiful and smell wonderful. I wish I could bring one home but within a day or two they are basically toast. Worshippers will occasionally wear one for special occasions.
Next we had to enter into a security metal detector and have our bags checked. The officer seemed more interested in whether or not we had our shoes in our packs than weapons. It would be a major offense to wear them in the temple (socks are ok but you might as well throw them away when you’re done they’re filthy).
Everywhere in the outer court were various people groups either sightseeing, worshipping, picnicking or begging. These people could be Hindus or foreign tourists. A non-Indian could be expected to get the brunt of the beggars to follow them. There were venders selling fruit (for offerings) or jewelry. The jewelry was beautiful and the women traveling salespeople were quite aggressive. They figured if they could get it on you, you’d have to buy. Both the jewelry venders and beggars would follow you for a block or more, but they were only found in the outer court.
Once inside it was dark and filled with the smells of incense. Room after room was filled with idols and various representations of the gods on the walls or paintings on the ceilings. Oils for burning and incense were sold all around. At some worship locations there might be a temple priest to put some stuff on you for worship purposes. Couldn’t always tell exactly what they were doing.
One site we saw a priest dressing the statues representing the heavenly bodies. This is called puja and is a ritual performed three times a day; in the morning to wake the deity, in the afternoon upon completion of the midday rest and putting them to bed at night. Not only was he dressing them, he washed them, put on flower garlands and incense as he chanted his mantras. People would stop at the various stations and do different sorts of obeisance such as bowing, kneeling, laying prostrate on the floor, various hand motions around their bodies, etc.
As we went further into the inner chambers we saw several signs that told of a camera fee; fifty rupees for still camera and 200 for video cameras. This is common practice here in that they may charge you an entrance fee per person but also charge a per camera fee. At the temple there is no entrance fee, hence worshippers don’t pay, but the camera fee gets the tourists.
We found a section inside the deepest part of the temple that had a large sign saying: no cameras, only Hindu’s, and one other restriction I can’t remember. A couple guys wanted to go in but someone stopped them at the gate. That didn’t deter their resourcefulness; as we walked around they found the exit and went in there. No one immediately stopped them, but soon one was caught and escorted out. The other one, Steve, got all the way into the inner part where he stood in line with other devotees before three security guards unceremoniously escorted him out. I have no idea how they figured out he wasn’t a Hindu? J
We continued on our journey and saw a holy man. He was very old (in India, old starts at about 50 due to the rough life these people have) and he had an entourage with him of healthy strong young men, all dressed similarly; basically a towel wrapped around their waists. People would stop him and seek a blessing from him which he did by touching them. They literally would fall at his feet; this makes walking too fast or too far difficult. I couldn’t get a picture because too many people were around him.
I had heard a rumor there was an elephant somewhere in the place where you could be blessed by the elephant if you gave him a coin or some fruit. The blessing consisted of a bonk on the head by his trunk. I felt we could not leave the temple till I got blessed by the elephant.
After an hour of searching we found him. Offering the elephant a coin would cause him to sniff it up his trunk (in which case you got elephant snot on your hands), then he would drop the coin to his handler and bonk you on the head. If you gave him fruit, he immediately dropped that into his mouth but you still got bonked. For 10 rupees you could get a posed photo with his trunk draped over your head; hence the attached photo. I did both by the way and have a video of me walking up to the elephant, giving him a coin and getting bonked. I can truly say, this was an experience of a lifetime.
In retrospect, I wonder if the elephant blessing was somehow responsible for the karma (karma is the Hindu concept of good or bad luck dependent upon how good or bad you are) I experienced that evening at my meetings J (just a joke folks!)
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Oh, by the way, there was a crucial detail I left out of my previous blog. During our meeting Monday night at the backyard gravel pit, I neglected to mention a cow stumbled upon our meeting and became quite upset at the number of people in her way. She began to shuck and duck like a running back trying to avoid tacklers as she ran through the crowd. Of course the crowd began running too! It was almost like the running of the bulls but not quite.
I never expected writing a blog would be this much fun. It forces me to remember details of experiences each day. I don’t have to dig to deep or embellish at all; real life is much more exciting and challenging than making this stuff up.
Keep us in your prayers, my illness hasn’t progressed and is holding. I believe in the power of prayer and I believe your prayers are making a difference here.
God bless, Pastor Kevin
As we came to the entrance, we saw a small building adjacent to the entryway where there was a primitive shoe check. No shoes allowed inside the temple at all, not even in backpacks. It cost 6 rupees to check three pair of shoes. He gave us a hand written claim check and stuffed the shoes into a little cubbyhole.
Next, as we entered we noticed the gift shops along the entry way selling everything you could imagine dealing with the worship of the Hindu gods; from icons to statues to post cards and imitation plastic flower wreaths. Flower wreaths are very important in worship and are made daily in the marketplace. They are significant in the worship and adornment of the deities in the puja ceremony which is performed daily. I will speak more on this later. They are beautiful and smell wonderful. I wish I could bring one home but within a day or two they are basically toast. Worshippers will occasionally wear one for special occasions.
Next we had to enter into a security metal detector and have our bags checked. The officer seemed more interested in whether or not we had our shoes in our packs than weapons. It would be a major offense to wear them in the temple (socks are ok but you might as well throw them away when you’re done they’re filthy).
Everywhere in the outer court were various people groups either sightseeing, worshipping, picnicking or begging. These people could be Hindus or foreign tourists. A non-Indian could be expected to get the brunt of the beggars to follow them. There were venders selling fruit (for offerings) or jewelry. The jewelry was beautiful and the women traveling salespeople were quite aggressive. They figured if they could get it on you, you’d have to buy. Both the jewelry venders and beggars would follow you for a block or more, but they were only found in the outer court.
Once inside it was dark and filled with the smells of incense. Room after room was filled with idols and various representations of the gods on the walls or paintings on the ceilings. Oils for burning and incense were sold all around. At some worship locations there might be a temple priest to put some stuff on you for worship purposes. Couldn’t always tell exactly what they were doing.
One site we saw a priest dressing the statues representing the heavenly bodies. This is called puja and is a ritual performed three times a day; in the morning to wake the deity, in the afternoon upon completion of the midday rest and putting them to bed at night. Not only was he dressing them, he washed them, put on flower garlands and incense as he chanted his mantras. People would stop at the various stations and do different sorts of obeisance such as bowing, kneeling, laying prostrate on the floor, various hand motions around their bodies, etc.
As we went further into the inner chambers we saw several signs that told of a camera fee; fifty rupees for still camera and 200 for video cameras. This is common practice here in that they may charge you an entrance fee per person but also charge a per camera fee. At the temple there is no entrance fee, hence worshippers don’t pay, but the camera fee gets the tourists.
We found a section inside the deepest part of the temple that had a large sign saying: no cameras, only Hindu’s, and one other restriction I can’t remember. A couple guys wanted to go in but someone stopped them at the gate. That didn’t deter their resourcefulness; as we walked around they found the exit and went in there. No one immediately stopped them, but soon one was caught and escorted out. The other one, Steve, got all the way into the inner part where he stood in line with other devotees before three security guards unceremoniously escorted him out. I have no idea how they figured out he wasn’t a Hindu? J
We continued on our journey and saw a holy man. He was very old (in India, old starts at about 50 due to the rough life these people have) and he had an entourage with him of healthy strong young men, all dressed similarly; basically a towel wrapped around their waists. People would stop him and seek a blessing from him which he did by touching them. They literally would fall at his feet; this makes walking too fast or too far difficult. I couldn’t get a picture because too many people were around him.
I had heard a rumor there was an elephant somewhere in the place where you could be blessed by the elephant if you gave him a coin or some fruit. The blessing consisted of a bonk on the head by his trunk. I felt we could not leave the temple till I got blessed by the elephant.
After an hour of searching we found him. Offering the elephant a coin would cause him to sniff it up his trunk (in which case you got elephant snot on your hands), then he would drop the coin to his handler and bonk you on the head. If you gave him fruit, he immediately dropped that into his mouth but you still got bonked. For 10 rupees you could get a posed photo with his trunk draped over your head; hence the attached photo. I did both by the way and have a video of me walking up to the elephant, giving him a coin and getting bonked. I can truly say, this was an experience of a lifetime.
In retrospect, I wonder if the elephant blessing was somehow responsible for the karma (karma is the Hindu concept of good or bad luck dependent upon how good or bad you are) I experienced that evening at my meetings J (just a joke folks!)
\
Oh, by the way, there was a crucial detail I left out of my previous blog. During our meeting Monday night at the backyard gravel pit, I neglected to mention a cow stumbled upon our meeting and became quite upset at the number of people in her way. She began to shuck and duck like a running back trying to avoid tacklers as she ran through the crowd. Of course the crowd began running too! It was almost like the running of the bulls but not quite.
I never expected writing a blog would be this much fun. It forces me to remember details of experiences each day. I don’t have to dig to deep or embellish at all; real life is much more exciting and challenging than making this stuff up.
Keep us in your prayers, my illness hasn’t progressed and is holding. I believe in the power of prayer and I believe your prayers are making a difference here.
God bless, Pastor Kevin
1 comment:
Ah I see you have found A friend.
Your looking in good health there Kevin.
And whare else can you have an elephant rest his trunk on your head.
George
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