| « Previous | Home | Next » | pamphlets 04 June, 2006 |
 photo: david lindley we visted a temple dedicated to the worship of the king cobra: quite where this deity sits in the pantheon of hindu gods i'm not sure, but the place was absolutely packed with worshippers. it was fascinating to walk around, watch what was going on and try to work out the big why! everything was a slightly eerie colour of orangey-yellow colour, all the statues and shrines: it transpires that the spice tumeric is considered a purifier and warder-off of evil and so everything is smothered in industrial quantities of the stuff. there were large queues of people at what reminded me of betting windows at a race track who were buying prayers and offerings to be given to the priests or the shrines; there was a large board by the stalls telling you what prayer option you could buy and at what price, a menu if you like. one of the most interesting things in the grounds was a set of scales, obviously set up to weigh people. the congregation (for want of a better word) of this temple are supposed to make offerings to the gods when they can but one important occasion is the first birthday of a child. at this age a ceremony is held and the child weighed, the parents being obliged to make an offering of something to the equivalent weight of their offspring: what they give is up to the parents and of course depends on their wealth; but it apparently has been known for the offering to made in gold! unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photos within the precinct of the temple so i had to content myself with taking this photo of a pamphlet stall taking in the temple's car park; i can't say what they're about but i recognise pictures of some of the major hindu deities, perhaps they're primers about their roles. | |
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Posted by davidlindley Archived under: india |
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