eg.Hindu Temple
My personal experience during my visit to the Hindu temple was enlightened. This was
my very first exposer to a Hindu temple, and of course I had plenty of questions hoping to get all the answers for myself and my class project. My friend and I started on our journey, we were fortunate to be driven by her husband, which gave me a sense of security knowing that a male figure was with us. As I mentioned earlier this was new to me.
Upon entering the compound my first admiration was the building, the architectural designs reminded me of those fairytale castles you read about in story books. The walkway to the main entrance had steps that had paintings on them. As we opened the main door there was a strong aroma of incense and the sound of male voices could be heard talking. The door to the inner temple was open we took the liberty to peek inside, of course I was unsure what to do, a bit nervous because I did not want to do any thing to offend their religion or their gods. There were about five pairs of shoes at the side of the side, we took ours off and waited.
As we waited a medium built men partially dress from waist down with painting on his mid fore head, and his right arm approached us. He wore a long bead and a string around his neck. He gave us a warm welcome; we then explained to him our reason for being there, he offered us chairs to sit which were very few, I counted about four. I was very appreciative of his offer because I was not in the frame of mind to sit on the floor especially on a rainy day like it was. Slowly I find myself less tense and my attention was drawn to the colorful paintings and statues, confirming the things I learnt in class regarding Hinduism their practices and rituals. I could not but notice the painting of Kushner dancing with the beautiful ladies, there were several alters with different statues, a total of about nine.
The statues were beautifully decorated with vibrant colors, they all had black faces both males and females. As a black woman I was curious, I could not but wonder why all the faces were black. In that very moment I reflected on my Christian faith and the paintings that are usually in the church they all had white faces. I was determine to find the answers. As we waited we were told that the clergy would be with us shortly. I was anxious to speak to him, but I was enjoying my visit by looking at the different paintings and statues. I felt like I was in an art museum. The clergy was ministering to a couple from the main alter in the middle of the temple. I noticed that the couple had something in their hands looking like a container of some sort. By this time I could actually taste and felt the numbness from the strong aroma of incense on the tip of my tongue.
The atmosphere was peaceful; they sat on the floor with their feet cross, with hands clasped in such humble position. I intensely observed their way of worship and comparing theirs with mine thinking how different. My god is supernatural cannot be seen by the natural eyes only by faith and here I was in the presence of their gods admiring them, the way they are dressed, the color of their faces, and how they are shaped. In that short moment I felt as though I was transformed into another world, it was then the main clergy approached us. He greeted us and of course me being from an English background I extended a hand shake while asking him permission to do so, which he accepted. My friend and I took turns to ask questions about his religion, the different alters and the different gods. He willingly explained as we went to each alter I noticed there were offerings of apples, banana, broken coconuts, and rice. He explained that this was a way of offering offerings to the gods. I saw this in a natural sense, that’s when I asked myself the question “how can a statue eat” that question I refrained from asking out loud fearing that I would offend his religion. There was the god of wisdom the one that they pray to during their studies. I thought I could use some knowledge while studying at Mercy. Finally there was the god of wealth and immediately I hope for some blessings of wealth for an early retirement, but as fast as these thoughts pop into my head they were out as fast because of my Christian faith. I felt as though there was a strong debate between my Christian faith and Hinduism. I quickly dismissed these thoughts and focus on the information the clergy was giving.
Upon completing our tour I asked the infamous question “why are all the faces black?” My question was answered in a simple and humble way, because we are from the southern part of India where the people have darker skin. We offered him an offering which he accepted in a humble manner. He did not verbally extend a return invitation, but his poster gave us the approval that we would be welcome to return. My experience was wonderful, I enjoyed my visit and the experience was awesome.
my very first exposer to a Hindu temple, and of course I had plenty of questions hoping to get all the answers for myself and my class project. My friend and I started on our journey, we were fortunate to be driven by her husband, which gave me a sense of security knowing that a male figure was with us. As I mentioned earlier this was new to me.
Upon entering the compound my first admiration was the building, the architectural designs reminded me of those fairytale castles you read about in story books. The walkway to the main entrance had steps that had paintings on them. As we opened the main door there was a strong aroma of incense and the sound of male voices could be heard talking. The door to the inner temple was open we took the liberty to peek inside, of course I was unsure what to do, a bit nervous because I did not want to do any thing to offend their religion or their gods. There were about five pairs of shoes at the side of the side, we took ours off and waited.
As we waited a medium built men partially dress from waist down with painting on his mid fore head, and his right arm approached us. He wore a long bead and a string around his neck. He gave us a warm welcome; we then explained to him our reason for being there, he offered us chairs to sit which were very few, I counted about four. I was very appreciative of his offer because I was not in the frame of mind to sit on the floor especially on a rainy day like it was. Slowly I find myself less tense and my attention was drawn to the colorful paintings and statues, confirming the things I learnt in class regarding Hinduism their practices and rituals. I could not but notice the painting of Kushner dancing with the beautiful ladies, there were several alters with different statues, a total of about nine.
The statues were beautifully decorated with vibrant colors, they all had black faces both males and females. As a black woman I was curious, I could not but wonder why all the faces were black. In that very moment I reflected on my Christian faith and the paintings that are usually in the church they all had white faces. I was determine to find the answers. As we waited we were told that the clergy would be with us shortly. I was anxious to speak to him, but I was enjoying my visit by looking at the different paintings and statues. I felt like I was in an art museum. The clergy was ministering to a couple from the main alter in the middle of the temple. I noticed that the couple had something in their hands looking like a container of some sort. By this time I could actually taste and felt the numbness from the strong aroma of incense on the tip of my tongue.
The atmosphere was peaceful; they sat on the floor with their feet cross, with hands clasped in such humble position. I intensely observed their way of worship and comparing theirs with mine thinking how different. My god is supernatural cannot be seen by the natural eyes only by faith and here I was in the presence of their gods admiring them, the way they are dressed, the color of their faces, and how they are shaped. In that short moment I felt as though I was transformed into another world, it was then the main clergy approached us. He greeted us and of course me being from an English background I extended a hand shake while asking him permission to do so, which he accepted. My friend and I took turns to ask questions about his religion, the different alters and the different gods. He willingly explained as we went to each alter I noticed there were offerings of apples, banana, broken coconuts, and rice. He explained that this was a way of offering offerings to the gods. I saw this in a natural sense, that’s when I asked myself the question “how can a statue eat” that question I refrained from asking out loud fearing that I would offend his religion. There was the god of wisdom the one that they pray to during their studies. I thought I could use some knowledge while studying at Mercy. Finally there was the god of wealth and immediately I hope for some blessings of wealth for an early retirement, but as fast as these thoughts pop into my head they were out as fast because of my Christian faith. I felt as though there was a strong debate between my Christian faith and Hinduism. I quickly dismissed these thoughts and focus on the information the clergy was giving.
Upon completing our tour I asked the infamous question “why are all the faces black?” My question was answered in a simple and humble way, because we are from the southern part of India where the people have darker skin. We offered him an offering which he accepted in a humble manner. He did not verbally extend a return invitation, but his poster gave us the approval that we would be welcome to return. My experience was wonderful, I enjoyed my visit and the experience was awesome.
3 comments:
interesting that all the faces are black..mainly because I was in church the other day and I was listening to a sermon from a converted brahmin. The one comment I clearly remember is the first time someone tried to convert him his saying " I have a thousand Gods why Do I need another one especially a white one?"
Very interesting you sound like you had a great time good for you
Sandra, you've done a great write-up of the experience. I'm curious though. Now that you know why the temple statues were black (reflecting the racial/ethnic background of those worshipping there) what do you make of Christianity, where most of the time the statues/paintings have white faces?
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