Modern
Temples and Other
Sacred
Sites
of
India
in
Delhi, Jaipur, and Varanasi
Delhi
The
following photographs are of the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir
(better
known as the Birla Temple, from its builder's name)
in
New Delhi. Built in 1938, this impressive site is the
largest
Hindu temple built in India since the twelfth century CE.
Despite
what you may read in travel books, non-Hindus
are
welcome in many if not most modern Hindu temples
(though
their shoes and other leather goods are not).
(viewed from the back)
Ganesha,
the
Remover of Obstacles (god of good fortune)
greets the
visitor just inside the entrance and to the left. The
first prayers
are directed to him, in order to make subsequent
prayers to
the other deities more effectual.
Ganesha's
father,
Lord Shiva, has a shrine inside this temple,
as does one
of Shiva's consorts, Durga, who is often seen
riding a tiger
(as here) or a lion.
But this
temple
is dedicated to Lakshmi, consort of Vishnu,
so not
surprisingly
one sees more shrines to her and to one
or another
of Vishnu's avatars (incarnations) -- such as
Krishna,
pictured
with the flute.
Extremely
popular
in modern Hindu piety is Hanuman,
the general
of the monkey army who aids King Rama (another of
Vishnu's
avatars)
in the ancient epic, the Ramayana, and is
later promoted
to the status of deity.
Hindus
regard
Siddhartha Gautama (aka "the Buddha") as the ninth
avatar of
Vishnu, so it is not surprising to find an image of him
in this
temple.
There are also images of Nanak Dev, founder of
Sikhism, and
of some of his more important guru successors.
Again Hindus
regard Sikhism as merely a sect of their own
faith rather
than as a separate religion.
The
following
images are of two other modern sacred
sites in
Delhi.
The first two are of the memorialized
cremation
site of Mahatma Gandhi (the serene ambience
of which is
not unlike that at the Peace Park in
Hiroshima).
The Hindi words
inscribed here are Hai
Ram, "Oh God,"
reportedly
Gandhi's last words after being shot by
his assassin.
Another modern
sacred site in Delhi is the Baha'i
Lotus
Temple.
Its twenty-seven "petals," which
grace its
nine sides, are made of white Italian marble.
Visitors are
welcomed at the entrance and invited inside,
but cautioned
to keep silent out of respect for the place.
As at all
Baha'i temples, donations are neither solicited
nor accepted
from non-members of the faith.
Over 10,000
people visit this site daily, including many
Hindus who
know little or nothing about Baha'i, but merely
appreciate
the architectural splendor and perhaps the
serenity of
this place. The following photo shows a
typical day,
with the colorful crowd of visitors (as seen
from the level
of the temple and looking back
toward the
entrance).
Another impressive
sacred site in Delhi is of this
rather new
fifty-foot standing Shiva, located on a
busy city
street.
Jaipur
A
six-hour drive to the west of Delhi is Jaipur,
the
so-called "Pink City," in the state of Rajasthan.
Not
far from the Hotel Taj Rambagh is a modern
temple
dedicated to the goddess Lakshmi,
consort
of Vishnu. The following images capture
its
awesome affect at night.
Inside, the
images of Vishnu and Lakshmi
dominate the
central holy of holies,
with the
sacred
Sanskrit syllable OM
as their
backdrop.
Vishnu holds his
usual symbols:
discus, mace, conch
shell, and
lotus. Lakshmi holds only
the lotus,
while giving the mudra
(hand gesture)
for reassurance
with her right
hand.
As is the case
with all Hindu temples,
this is an
eclectic place in that it does not
exclude images
of other deities. The following
photos
actually
shows the holy couple,
Vishnu and
Lakshmi, shunted to one side
to make room
for Lord Ganesha, who is the
son of
Shiva.
To the right is an image of Sai Baba,
a great
teacher
of the oneness of God and the unity
of all
religions,
who died in 1918. Since then,
he himself
has become an object of religious
devotion.
As one shopkeeper in Agra said of him, in
response to
a question about the saint's picture
above the
cash register, "He is our god."
Outside the
temple, in a little cupola, a
seated Lord
Shiva greets visitors, holding his
usual trident
and drum, sporting a symbolic
serpent, and
raising a hand in a
mudra of
reassurance.
Speaking of
Shiva. . .
His special city is
Varanasi
On
the campus of Benares Hindu University in the
city
of Varanasi (Benares) sits a modern temple
dedicated
to Lord Shiva, where his many symbols
are
prevalent.
Outside, visitors
are greeted by a standing Lord Shiva.
(The swastikas
above him are ancient Indian symbols
of
spirituality
and have nothing to do with Nazism.)
Above an
entrance
to the inner sanctum is a Shiva
Nataraja,
that is, Shiva as "Lord of the Royal Dance."
The inner sanctum
itself is dominated by the lingam,
the
phallic-symbol
of Shiva that indicates that he is
a lord of
life as well as of death. The attending priest
receives the
worshippers, who come to pay darshan,
literally,
a "viewing." The brass container above
bathes the
lingam
with a mixture of milk and
Ganges River
water.
In one side
chamber there is another image of Shiva
and one of
his son, Ganesha, and in another, an
ornate lingam.
The flowers and other gifts
are left by
devotees.
Outside the
temple reclines Nandi, the sacred bull
associated
with Shiva and a deity in his own right.
Delhi Briefly Revisited
Though
hardly sacred sites, many if not most hotels
in
India sport gods and goddesses in their lobbies.
Pictured
below is Dr. Laughlin's wife, Randy, posing
next
to an eight-foot-tall Shiva Nataraja in the lobby
of
the magnificent Taj Palace Hotel in Delhi.
The
second photo details Lord Shiva's face.
Namaste!