Belief in
God is an inborn feature among people of all faiths.
They get a religious tag on birth which
sustains till their
end. Of course that tag can
be changed ( voluntarily or
through coercion ) which is a regular occurrence till this day. The first
factor is not problematic and also has a stamp of legal validity, unlike the
second one which sometimes gives rise to social tensions. That is the problem
with anything done clandestinely. For the Atheists who question the very
existence of God, nothing matters, as they are a secluded lot. Their sermons
are restricted to their clan which is numerically insignificant.
Believers
cling to Providence
for anything and everything, from birth to death. They submit innumerable applications
and petitions before the Almighty, towards satisfying their wishes at every
stage of life. Unstinted belief and unblemished devotion to God alone would see
Divine blessings being showered and enable
humans to move closer to Him.
This has been proved time and again over the ages in Bharata Varsha, which has
given hundreds of divine personalities to the world – Buddha, Mahavira, the
Sikh Gurus, Adi Shankara etc.
Devotion
and belief are purely personal, and for committed believers there is no interregnum
between the Supreme Power and themselves, as the hot line is always kept
ringing and remains busy. Steadfast and pure devotion alone would suffice in
this regard. Now there is a stamp of artificiality everywhere, and natural
behaviour and conduct have taken a severe beating. Everything associated with
earthly life is measured in commercial terms and value, and this disturbing
trend has also permeated into the places of worship.
I was a
direct witness to the disquieting aspect of commercialization in temples when I
visited Vaideeswaran Koil, ( Chevvai Sthalam ),
one of the Navagraha Kshetras, situated between Mayavaram and
Chidambaram. It is a world renowned pilgrim centre with devotees streaming from
far and near, throughout the year. It is believed that Lord Vaidyanathan, the
Presiding deity of the temple, cures all bodily ills and provides good health
and longevity to the devotees. Every
Hindu household will have their own Kula Deivam – family deity at a particular
place, and owe prima facie allegiance to that deity, even though they generally
worship all Gods in the Hindu pantheon. It so happens that our family deity is
Lord Vaidyanathan at Vaideeswaran Koil.
Precedent has it that devout Hindus will normally make an annual visit
to their family temple and offer prayers, and most of them fervently stick
to this timetable. Being lackadaisical, I somehow
failed to keep my yearly date with Lord Vaidyanathan and kept on seeking
adjournments, which by the birth of the year 2015 had exceeded over eight years. Whenever
friends and relatives make it to Vaideeswaran Koil, I used to send my donation
( kanikkai ) to the temple through such proxies.
It so
happened that Mohanram, my college mate and close friend, mooted the idea of
visiting Vaideeswaran Koil and nearby temples at an informal meeting, to which
I too readily consented. He being a stickler, insisted that we take up the
journey within a week of our meeting and initiated necessary action and
completed the rail ticket reservations at one shot. This sudden turn of events
and feverish pitch of activity saw us juxtaposed in the Coimbatore – Mayavaram Shatabdi Express,
which traversed the distance at commendable speed and deposited us at hot,
decrepit Mayavaram. We settled for a double room in a moderate hotel and
stretched our overworked nerves.
On getting
refreshed, we trudged by foot to the famous Mayuranathaswami Temple,
the presiding deity of Mayavaram, before the fall of dusk.. While I
went empty handed ( as always ), Mohanram who would never
budge an inch from his style, pattern, and observation involving worship,
collected all the pooja items and surprised me by his adherence. Viewing his
resolve, I could understand that his religious belief had got strengthened and augmented with the passage
of time. At each shrine he meticulously followed the prayer rituals and
surpassed me in devotion. The temple had
very few devotees and Lord Mayuranathaswami was all free when we entered the
sanctum sanctorum, save for a couple of locals. Mohanram desired to perform
archana for his family members and started to spell out their names with their
birth stars, as is the normal practice, to the temple priest (Gurukkal). Having
traveled all the way from Coimbatore, and this
being our maiden visit to the main temple
of Mayavaram, he wished
that archana be done for all family members. When he had spelt out around five
names, the Gurukkal, an intemperate man, felt irritated and interrupted by
saying that – “ What is this. Are you reading out a grocery list for a
provision store. It is enough if the name of the men folk is spelt out and
archana done collectively for the family, instead of reciting individual names
“, and commenced the pooja. We were
taken aback by this sudden outburst, which was not only surprising but also
shocking, especially from a member of the priestly class, whose main duty is to
help and guide the devotees in having a peaceful worship, and see them return
in a happy, contented manner. Standing in the altar of God, we prayed and stood
in silence, feeling quite sorry for the despicable behaviour of the
priest.. However our hurt feelings got
assuaged and soothed at the Ambal Shrine, the consort of Lord
Mayuranathaswami. The elderly, learned
and seasoned priest who officiated at the Ambal shrine was all receptive to our
request and performed archana in the individual names of our family members,
without exhibiting a sign of impatience or irritation, which was very
heartening. After offering salutations to the deity and respects to the priest,
we trooped out of the temple. While the imposing temple towered in our minds,
that irrational priest shrunk low in our esteem.
That
evening saw us visiting some more local temples, where the level of sanctity
was high, which lifted our spirits and we were encompassed with a sense of
satisfaction on reaching our lodging house.
The next
day, ( after a hearty breakfast at the famous Kaliakudi Hotel of Mayavaram,
) saw us trooping to Vaideeswaran Koil,
the main and pivotal spot in our itinerary. On descending at Vaideeswaran Koil,
the change was glaring and glossy. What was once a peaceful, serene pilgrim
centre has got transformed into a bustling commercial place, with the entry of
even star hotels into the tiny village. The place had undergone meteoric
transformation over eight years, since my earlier visit. New commercial
complexes, hotels, business houses, hotels have sprung up at all corners of the
once sleepy hamlet. Every street had an army of astrologers – Nadi Joshyars,
another main avocation associated with this place. They beckoned the devotees
from glitzy neon and flex boards, offering solution to all earthly ills.
Frankly speaking, I have never solicited the services of a fortune teller.
Mohanram’s interest to take the shot with one was cut short at my interference
and insistence. Given the grandiose appeal and outlook, I could perceive that
with such a huge following, the astrologers’ time was working out fine, but I cannot
say the same about the clients’ who come calling on them.
The element
of commercialization is embedded from the doorsteps of the temple, with hawkers
selling pooja items calling out to the devotees and striving overtime to strike
a good deal. We collected the basic, requisite pooja items and entered the
temple. After completing the temple rituals ( dissolving jaggery piece at the
temple tank, depositing salt and
pepper at the designated boxes ), we
entered the shrine of Lord Vaidyanathan, the curer of all bodily ailments and
insurer of good health. We engaged a priest ( Gurukkal ) and performed archana
for all family members individually. After the pooja got completed we were
offered prasadam by the priest. The highlight got enacted at this stage. When
we offered dakshana to the priest, his faced turned sour and pat came the
demand from him that our contribution falls less than his expectation. It did
not stop with that. He demanded us to
shell out extra reward without nonchalance and unmindful of the milling crowd
of devotees. I acceded and parted with some more currency. Even this sign of
generosity failed to enthuse the priest, which could be deduced from his rueful
expression. It had it’s immediate
repercussion, in that when we asked for an extra pocket of the sacred ash from
the priest, it was turned down immediately with a stern overbearing
attitude. We could only feel sorry for
the deplorable state of affairs and behaviour that had crept into our holiest
precincts.
We
methodically completed our prayer at the other shrines and trooped out of the
temple with a sense of helplessness and burden. On our way back we had a look
at the imposing temple tower, and felt dejected that the internal happenings
fail to impose the devotees. It rather intrigues and irritates them.
Commercialization has overtaken devotion and dedication, which is explicitly
seen and cannot be assiduously hidden now. The disturbing experience at the
divine place generated sultriness in the mind which dwarfed the outside heat.
While
rattling down home in the Shatabdi Express and deliberating on our experience,
it dawned on me that to reach and interact with the Divine Creator, there is no
need for an intermediary and that it is not mandatory to worship from a
designated place of worship at specific, ordained times. Obeisance can be submitted from anywhere and
there are no hard and fast rules to stick to rituals and customs, which are
secondary aspects, and which I propose to hold primary to heart, henceforth. grace a Dieu.
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