had to take some stuff back home and was driving back alone. He asked me if I could accompany him and I said yes. I was looking for some sort of a change too. It was not only a jolly experience , but a huge learning experience. First and the most important lesson from the trip, hospitality. I can probably say , quite comfortably, that I have never experienced hospitality of this magnitude. His parent's were so kind and generous , not only with words , but with thought and action as well. 
I have never felt so important. I don't want to talk about what I ate there , for I lack patience to do that , the list is long :-) But I would just like to mention that some words which are really pleasing can make a guest feel extremely comfortable. The only regret about the food part is that he had to remain vegetarian for the weekend , because of me.
We visited a couple of temples there. Very , old ones , I must say. A Shiva (Pashupatheeshwara - The Lord of the animals) temple, built by the Chola dynasty. Huge is an understatement and that is a common factor for most Chola architecture's. Intricate , another understatement. The main deity is characterized by a Shiva Linga ( A manifestation of the Lord ) being bathed by a cow , by milk , from it's udder. Another characterization is that there are two Eshwari's (Wives of the Lord , there is generally only one) , one who performed severe penance just to marry Shiva and was granted her wish.
I have never felt so important. I don't want to talk about what I ate there , for I lack patience to do that , the list is long :-) But I would just like to mention that some words which are really pleasing can make a guest feel extremely comfortable. The only regret about the food part is that he had to remain vegetarian for the weekend , because of me.We visited a couple of temples there. Very , old ones , I must say. A Shiva (Pashupatheeshwara - The Lord of the animals) temple, built by the Chola dynasty. Huge is an understatement and that is a common factor for most Chola architecture's. Intricate , another understatement. The main deity is characterized by a Shiva Linga ( A manifestation of the Lord ) being bathed by a cow , by milk , from it's udder. Another characterization is that there are two Eshwari's (Wives of the Lord , there is generally only one) , one who performed severe penance just to marry Shiva and was granted her wish.
The temple was filthy outside. People having dinner ( in the name of prasadam ) inside the premises. Another food for thought , people's perception of God and approach towards spirituality.
I don't know if evolution and classification of people resulted in Vegetarians and Non-vegetarians. I have a feeling human beings were Omnivores and only later a few fine tuned to being pure vegetarians. I also believe we do follow quite a few practices , without knowing their significance, with the assumption that what our ancestors did were probably right. I am not saying this is wrong , I follow quite a few myself. But , what I want to drive is to approach pragmatically the customs of other people and respecting the possibility that there is probably a good reason for people to do this.
Now, why I am I discussing all this ? I visited my colleague's family deity , a secluded and an isolated temple. Things like meat offerings happen
to the God's here. Sounds cruel , at first , ain't it ? But I was just talking to him and he was explaining the reason for why people could possibly be doing all this. Mind you he was not passing a judgment about right or wrong , but was speculating about the possible cause for the custom. He was telling me , we were all hunting for our food at some point in time. At some other point in time , we came across the notion of an almighty. And shortly, we came up with the notion of offering what we eat, to the lord. This is probably exactly what it is , and it seems cruel , since we are 'supposed' to be civilized and killing animals is cruel.Interesting , isn't it ?
I am back home , celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi , after a show of "Rock On" , the latest hindi movie. May God , if he exists , keep us all happy.
Tata.
I don't know if evolution and classification of people resulted in Vegetarians and Non-vegetarians. I have a feeling human beings were Omnivores and only later a few fine tuned to being pure vegetarians. I also believe we do follow quite a few practices , without knowing their significance, with the assumption that what our ancestors did were probably right. I am not saying this is wrong , I follow quite a few myself. But , what I want to drive is to approach pragmatically the customs of other people and respecting the possibility that there is probably a good reason for people to do this.
Now, why I am I discussing all this ? I visited my colleague's family deity , a secluded and an isolated temple. Things like meat offerings happen
to the God's here. Sounds cruel , at first , ain't it ? But I was just talking to him and he was explaining the reason for why people could possibly be doing all this. Mind you he was not passing a judgment about right or wrong , but was speculating about the possible cause for the custom. He was telling me , we were all hunting for our food at some point in time. At some other point in time , we came across the notion of an almighty. And shortly, we came up with the notion of offering what we eat, to the lord. This is probably exactly what it is , and it seems cruel , since we are 'supposed' to be civilized and killing animals is cruel.Interesting , isn't it ?I am back home , celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi , after a show of "Rock On" , the latest hindi movie. May God , if he exists , keep us all happy.
Tata.
1 comment:
Looks like you have had fun dude. About the topic of sacrifices for god, we should discuss that further when we next meet :D. I too have couple of interesting points, and needless to say those two will be contradicting statements ;)
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