Hereinbelow I furnish a link to an article I have come across, by Shri (Dr.) K.C.Varadachari, titled "Post Vivekananda Religion", which is quite lengthy. Interested readers may go through it:
http://www.drkcv.org/Books/kcv2chap_16.htm.
There was much theoretical discussion. I am interested in facts:
1. Few months before his death Swami Vivekananda sacrificed a goat to please Goddess Durga (1900). Even in 2007, the animal sacrifices are continuing.
2. Notwithstanding the merits of "saguna worship (worship using forms)" and "nirguna worship (worship without using forms)" , idol worship has reached extreme levels. Temples and monasteries are accumulating gold to cover temple walls.
3. No temple allows discussions or permits its premises for discussing the malpractices prevailing in Hinduism or the merits and demerits of Hindu scriptures. All the time, speakers have to praise and sing the glories of the contents of scriptures. They are expected to skip over inconvenient verses.
4. Every temple and its Managers and staff spread stories which blow up the miracles and powers of the Gods and Goddesses located in their premises, quoting Skandha Purana.
5. Temples levy inflated charges for admission. Very little time is allocated to "dharma dars`an (free admission)". Poor do not have any hope of entering Hindu temples without 10 x 10 Rs. bunch in his pocket, and exit with honor after praying the God(desses) to heart's content. The position does not vary between Government run temples and private temples.
6. Now, because temples have become commercial organisations, their physical appearance through repeated painting of walls, use of modern electrical fixtures and gadgets, plastic flowers and glitteratti etc. has improved.
7. Traditional musicians who play "Mangal`a vaadyas" such as "Naadaswaram, tavil (d`oolu)" etc. in temple warrandahs no longer do so, because cassettes and CD players replaced them. Recorded music is the state of the art.
8. The priests no longer wear daily washed cheap hand-woven garments. Unwashed expensive red silk garments have become the niche. Their conversations centre around only one thing: Which is sub-temple in the Temple Complex is the most lucrative? Who is working in it? When will my and your turn will come? Philosophical discussions among priests is very rare. Then how can they guide the devotees in understanding the philosophical aspects of God and religion?
9. Even Ramakrishna Math managed temples follow practices similar to Mainstream Hindu temples.
GIST
The temples have spruced up themselves externally, but have lost their souls.
4 comments:
i would really agree with all the points that are laid in the post. These are hard realities that has to outcasted. i would wish knowledgable people shoud stand against it and protect the true culture.
Niguna Brahman concept has get propogated, i feel the purohits have to be scanned for their knowledge and their true eager to serve god rather than money being their criteria.All this can happen if people proceed in the direction of knowing the facts put behind in our books. Younger generations are moving out of it and where will be there a check for all this.
We see many people who highlight these issues but they are not educating people in raising their voice against all this.
I wud request you to put more posts to educate people and impress younger generations to understand the need of all these.
Thank you very much. Noted for compliance.
What you have said is 101% true. But the sad thing is that religion (including Hindu Religion)has become fully commercial. And there are many so-called spiritual "Guru"s sprouting every day! We often hear now-a-days that one cannot attain 'mukthi' (or, iRaivan thiruvaDi, in the case of Sree Vaishnavas) without a 'Guru'. Most of the people pride themselves about who their guru is and how many 'upadesam's of manthras they have received!
So long as there are enough gullible people around, things will NOT improve, I am sure.
I am an old man and my memories go back to my chidhood. In those days casteism was very powerful. But the Brahmins, who were considered the top-most caste did not frequent the temples as much as they do now and were generally content to have their pooja, prayers etc., in their house. This I find very amazing. I can very well understand the other castes who were barred temple entry feeling very enthusiastic about the new-found temple worship.
That is also one aspect of the commercialisation; priests now find most people willing to pour money into temples.
Anyway, we need not be very sad; the Somnath temple was a great treasure chest and that was why it attracted Muhammad Ghasni (Ghasnavi) 17 times! So, things have changed very little from then!!
Thank U very much. I agree with you.
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