Sacred Sites: Temples as Places Of Deep Insight

By DINESAN NAMBOODIRIPAD

Sacred Sites: Temples as Places Of Deep Insight

Temples and other places of worship play a significant role in cultural reformation. The innate vibrations, cultural complexion, and spiritual qualities resonate all around the devotee. So they are more than places of worship; they are cultural rendezvous centres for traditional community activities. They are also meeting places for families and friends.

The serving and server concept between the paramatma (cosmic consciousness) and the jeevatma (body consciousness) is discernible during worship. Temple means body or embodiment. Our ultimate goal is to attain moksha-renunciation with-out pre-conditions. On obtaining liberation from worldly possessions, the seeker becomes one with the Brahman. Regardless of the kind of worship, truth-realisation can remove the pall of gloom cast by worldly possessions. Knowing oneself is to know the truth and for this, regular interaction with the learned is necessary.

Once sage Narada asked Lord Vishnu to explain the guru-shishya relationship. Lord Vishnu asked Narada to travel to earth where a worm would explain the relationship to him. Narada reached the worm. As he was about to speak, the worm died. Narada returned to Vaikuntha . Lord Vishnu next asked him to go and meet a newborn calf. The moment Narada met the calf, it too fell down dead. Narada returned, disappointed. Next, Vishnu sent him to a king's newborn son. Narada reached the palace where the newborn welcomed him and said that the worm and the calf he had earlier visited were in fact he, and just the sight of Narada had been sufficient for the two species to attain liberation. The baby's reply removed all of Narada's doubts.

The story suggests that even one's proximity to an enlightened person can have a positive influence. However, not many people get an opportunity for this kind of interaction. Herein lies the importance of a temple. The thanthri or head priest breathes life into the temple. Literally, thanthri means someone who helps one to escape from worldly wants. The thanthri does that by chanting sacred mantras, which are powerful when chanted in special ways, described as udaatham , anudaatham and swaritham . There are five different types of pujas: physical cleansing of the temple, collecting flowers for rituals, offering flowers to the deity, chanting different mantras, and meditation.

Temples enable devotees to share sacred and blissful experiences that the yogi has attained through rigorous and painstaking sadhanas. These experiences are often displayed and illustrated on temple walls. The sringara rasa is given importance in such illustrations. Sringara denotes the sublime union of prakriti and purusha or jeevatma and paramatma . The temple is constructed, taking into consideration the intellectual, mental and physical aspects of the devotees.

Since the same intricate methods with which a human body is created are also employed in the construction of a temple, the rich cosmic vibrations present in the temple get transmitted to the devotees. When the devotee walks around the deity in a clockwise direction the vibrations from the sanctum sanctorum reach him through the surya nadi or eda. Similarly, acts like prostration, and giving offerings to the temple equip the devotee for realisation. Temples also help the devotee realise goals in life and thus gradually detach from worldly pleasures. Through noble deeds, the mind is equipped to absorb and realise the truth. The 'realised' devotee tends to evolve from temple worship to self worship. One starts to worship oneself and this helps realise that the devotee is one with the divine and is thus heading towards nirvana.

The author is chief priest, Srikrishna temple, Guruvayoor