Sacred space invasion

Laura and Mom at the Mandir temple, originally uploaded by angusn77.

While in the town which has the museum for the soft drink that is the REAL THING, we toured the Hindu temple or mandir(officially the Shree Swaminarayan Mandir). My aunt arranged for the tour for the family. What a place of beauty it is. Not a single nail is used in the structure as it is all put together like a puzzle with interlocking pieces.

I've never been to a Hindu place of worship and don't know much about the faith. This temple was built in a very short period of time (less than 2 years I think) with many many volunteers dedicating hours to complete this house of worship.

As we walked in, we were instructed to remove our shoes. We walked upstairs to the room where prayers were said to their gods. I know this is very much a simplification of a faith that I am sure is complex.  What I did not realize was that there would be people offering prayers and worshiping at the time I was there touring the area. I did feel like it violated their worship space and time.

Interestingly, the property butts into a couple of strip malls which detracts from such a beautiful structure.

I feel like I have only been exposed to the tip of the iceberg with the information on this faith. The little bit I do know is difficult to process because it seems so different from the faith in which I live.

Have you ever been to a Hindu temple? What did you experience?

Comments

[Mindy]

Not one nail was used? That is fasinating!

[Allison]

I love the picture of you and La!

[Auntie Knickers]

I haven't been to a temple, but my SIL and niece and nephew are Krishna Consciousness people, and celebrate Hindu holidays by chanting and inviting lots of people to special dinners. They also tell the stories about the various holidays and their origins. It's very interesting and the food is great. I agree that I too, would have felt uncomfortable realizing that people were worshiping while I was touring, but maybe it's more like going to a cathedral in Europe on a Tuesday morning when there are a few people there in private prayer. ??? Who knows?

[zorra]

We have a big Hindu temple near here. Elaborate and beautiful,apparently it's known by Hindus (at least in this particular sect)the world over. Our former pastor was a friend of one of the leaders of the temple,so a group of us from the church got a guided tour one day. (not during worship) We always take out of town visitors to see the temple.

When we lived in California, the Scientist and I were once guests at a Hindu wedding, which lasted hours but was interesting. At the end, statues of various gods were unveiled and everyone was given a piece of sugar cane, which we in our ignorance did not eat, lest we be inadvertently paying homage to Krishna or something.