My belief in god has been fluctuating ever since certain incidents in my life. But I still have my attractions for a temple, for its beauty, architecture, its majestic appearance and what not. But my most recent venture into a temple has induced certain thoughts in me. First i would like to talk about is the step stone of the temple that many people touch and pray before entering the temple. I recently found out that the step stone and the god's idol share the same parent stone, ie both are made out of the same stone. my immediate thought was the difference with which both are being treated. One of them receives the foot of all the devotees while the other one gets all the abhishekams and grandeur. Possibly this shows the difference of the rich and poor in this world.
There is another persistent symbolic presence that opens the differences again. Its nothing but the special entrance queues to the main god's sanctuary. In the particular temple that i went into, there were 4 entrances. 1. normal (no money to be paid) which has the longest que, 2. Rs.10 entrance which is a bit shorter, 3. Rs.25 which is shorter than the previous and 4. Rs.100 which almost gives a direct entrance. Also the 25 and the 100 get an extra privilege of going further near the god. From what i know people believe that god is the same to all, whether rich or poor. If that is what is true then why do the temples have such a system. Is it to earn money for themselves. Even if it is so, do the people who come in through the special entrance believe that they can gain the favor of the lord just by coming closer to the idol, or are they trying to bribe the god himself. There is a logic missing here that people have failed to understand.
The next common thought that crops in is the number of people who have flocked in hoping that their troubles are solved. If you carefully try to analyse the facial expressions of people who are praying that itself will give you an idea of the pain that they are facing and are hoping to get relieved from. The amount of trust and faithfulness envelops the atmosphere inside the temple which tends to give you a peace of mind even if it is highly crowded. Visiting a temple is always a pleasurable experience.
People who dont have faith in lord can still walk inside a temple and enjoy what it gives you without giving up your policy. So dont miss it, especially on festive occasions.
