…. i realised when i was looking through my Flickr Stream, that i have more than a fair share of photographs of places of worship, of emblems of faith. Here are some of my favorites :
The Brahma temple at Pushkar is a rarity – legend claims that it is the only Brahma temple in Hindudom – though i have been to one in the South as well. It is said that Brahma – the creator of the universe, committed a great sin. And, he prayed to the greatest of all Gods – the God that Gods worship – Mahadeva to expunge his sins. And there by the lord’s grace sprung a lake – that washes off all sins. People come here from everywhere to pray for the soul of loved ones, who are no more.
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Orange, the colour of sacrifice. For many of us, a person wearing orange is a charlatan who uses religious symbols to get us to part with our money. but, in many temple towns – the sanyasis and sanyasins – those who have renounced the world – are just that. You wish to give, you do. You don’t – you don’t. they just sit there and see the world go by.
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What i find fascinating about relgiion is not the great edifices or the theology or the arguments for and against, but faith. Pure and simple faith. The fact that people believe that there exists a set of supreme beings who watch out for them. And, in many of my travels what refreshes me is not the fact that devotees reach out with fear to their God, but love and adoration. And, it is this faith that sustains ….
Any faith,belief that is not based on evidence is one of the world’s great evils. Sorry to differ, but I have different set of feelings arose in me on visiting Ajmer and Pusker.Written here—
http://yayaver.blogspot.com/2008/03/ajmer-puskar.html
Well written Gargi and lovely pics – all of them! 🙂
Beautiful pictures. I see that you prefer people at places of worship instead of mere places of worship.
@ Himanshu – faith is belief, it can’t be based on evidence 🙂 there is no point even going down that path ! i have been through dozens of ‘prove god exists/ doesn’t exist’ arguments. it is not about what is, and what isn’t … but what people truly believe in their minds/hearts. it’s a bit like proving that you love someone 🙂
@Prasoon – thank you
@ Patrix – thank you … places of worship are mere stone and mortar. they come alive & become sacred because of faith . and faith is people !
Hmm…true but then as an architect, I can attest to the effect that physical spaces can have on people. But I agree that ultimately it is the people that make a place what it is.
Patrix – you are of course right – there are some places that create the ambience of peace. And, then there are temples in which i just can’t pray – it seems terribly discordant !
@gargi,when one human discriminate other just because of his birth in low caste or spill blood on the issue of religious conversion ..all the faith sublimes in me..we live in country where higher caste call ‘chamaar(a low caste)’ as abuse for insulting others.I will argue with you till end against justification of the faith without reasons. Hitler belief lead to holocaust or taliban belief will create more havoc in this world.People belive what they are told ,not what they have find through self observation or realization. My only belief is that a life is precious. More precious than any abstract ideology. Or concrete cause. Any motherland or fatherland. Any zid, jehad or junoon
It might interest you to know that there is a shrine to Brahma in Bangkok as well. In quite a central part of the City (opposite the Erawan Hotel in Rajdamri Road), is this quite popular shrine. You will find Thais, Chinese and Indians come here to offer a prayer or ask for a blessing.