Temples - 4

...The temples were places of worshipping the God, spiritual realization and salvation of soul. Being the abode of god in the form of idol, they were as sacred as they could be. These religious places were sacred and pure and hence the entry of untouchables was prohibited. Here we have a case of the strange kind of God who could be defiled by the mere presence of human beings. Any defilable God has to be less powerful then the defiler; all this goes contrary to the notion of all powerful God; actually such a weak God by definition cannot exist. There is no defilable God by definition. Dharma Shastras prescribe severe punishment for an untouchable who dares to enter the temple. They also prescribe purification of temples that have been defiled by such an entry by a human being. However any purifying act after a contact with any untouchables actually meant a defilement of untouchables and not that of God. The untouchables who dared to enter the abode god were severely punished sometimes even with death. May be the spiritual and cultural people thought that it was a nice way to help them to get rid of their wretched lives. Still an untouchable who dares to enter a temple runs the risk of his life in many parts of this pure land. In the same tradition none of the great untouchable saints of Bhakti movement were allowed to enter the temples not withstanding the large followings they had. The spiritual equality that was taught by Bhakti movement gurus was in respect of personal attachment to God. The benefits of devotion were to be reaped in next birth only which is correctly in nice alignment with Karma theory. No amount kind of Bhakti could to make them pure and thus eligible for temple entry. The pollution embedded in them could not be removed by any kind of devotion to any god.

Religion and faith in God is essential part of life of a man who is not an atheist. It gives him the reason for his existence. It gives him mental and emotional support. For his own satisfaction a religious man can complain to God or ask him to alleviate his wretched conditions. The support of religion is essential for a religious human being. It provides him support in his troubled times. The troubled times always accompany an untouchable from street to street. By denying him the reach to temple the mental well being of a religious untouchable is destroyed thereby wrecking his emotional state. Further the actual effect of Bhakti movement on untouchables’ lives has been worthless....

Temples - 3

...The priests in temples were Brahmans only. The people from other Varnas were not eligible to become priests. It was in accordance with Vedic dharma where the pure and pious people of highest social stratum, the lawmakers, controlled divinity and all the sacred things and god. These lawmakers were the only people who could recite the word of God. They were the only people who could worship the sacred temple gods.

Over a period of time the temples became highly popular. They came to enjoy the patronage of kings, Kshatriyas and Vaisyas and this made them quite rich. The temples received various land grants. Everybody was damn interested in improving his next world, which nobody had seen. By making donations to temples people expected to prevent their rebirth in lower categories lives like jackals, cats, dogs and others. Not only that, their social status, with in their Varna, also increased directly in proportion to donations made by them. It was actually a transfer of wealth from kings, Kshatriyas and Vaisyas to Brahmanas; the deviceful spiritual people. The lawmakers were very happy. With people controlling the resources of society attaching themselves with the temples, the temples became centers of religious and social activities. The Brahmans who controlled temples were not under the rulership of kings. As a result the temples emerged as parallel power centers in Hindu society. This was the section of society which accumulated ample wealth and which was not under the purview of kings. The development of super rich temples under the renunciating and sovereign Brahmanas had its harmful effects. No Hindu king or robber dared to attack the temples with a view to take away the wealth without hurting the supreme dharma. Unfortunately the coming Muslim invaders did not think so. They did not believe neither in Hindu gods and nor in the Hindu dharmic theory of divine retribution. And they met with no divine retribution thus falsifying the Hindu theory of divine retribution.

However the distribution of wealth went in favor of temples and thereby in favor of renunciating and spiritual lawmakers who were forever interested in welfare of people through dharma by denying all the rights to Shudras and untouchables. These epitomes of spirituality happily enjoyed all the wealth that came their way. Such a high level of rationality was never seen. It was a divine reward for their social and religious control...

Temples - 2

...The decline of Vedic gods was related to the decline of popularity of animal sacrifice due to intense competition from Buddhism. Any invocation of Vedic gods involved fire worship essentially meaning animal sacrifices. This made the Yagyas very costly. The Yagyas became limited to only kings and Kshatriyas who were landlords and could afford costly sacrifices. The Yagyas were still important to kings. The Vaisyas could not do it because if they sacrificed their animals then their survival would be at stake. By the time the Vaisyas gave up agriculture and cattle rearing the Brahmanas had also given up animal sacrifices and shifted mainly to temples. Thus to attract the general population and mainly the Vaisyas the Brahmanas gave up their Vedic gods and took up new gods to please. It was not necessary to offer animal sacrifices to please these new gods. The rituals in temples did not generally involve animal sacrifices.

With the growing importance of agriculture and kingdoms in Vedic society, there was also a need for the gods who could look after the whole of the affairs of these ever enlarging areas. The gods were needed who could handle growing importance of state territories, agriculture and all prevailing nature of rulership. More powerful gods were needed to look after this new universe and also those who could do without animal sacrifices. One alternative was to increase the powers of Vedic gods but it meant rewriting Vedas, which was not permitted. Thus the gods needing animal sacrifices fell out of general use. The general people needed other kinds of gods for their religious needs in this world and here after, with little cost attached to them. The donations in tmples were voluntary which did not impose involuntary cost on people like animal sacrifices. Thus costly Vedic gods needing costly animal sacrifices like Indra, Agni became minor or small deities or fell out of use. However, these costly gods who ensured victories in wars continued to be popular with the kings. The new gods were happy with worship and devotion of a devotee and, of course, a lot of donations. The temples also had the advantage of getting donations round the clock whereas the Yagyas had to be actually performed on a given occasion to get the donations and fees. The donations pertaining to Yagyas were related to certain specific activities. There was an enlargement of scope of taking donation and as well as that of powers of gods. The Stupas and temples were actually a regularization of worship that did not need any special occasion; they were open all the time with their daily rituals...

Temples -1

...The temples are an integral part of Hindu society. Whole of the India is littered with temples, big and small; old and new; rich and not so rich. Some temples are very well known and rich beyond normal imagination. The Balaji Tirupati and Nathdwara are quite rich and have very large following of devotees. These devotees come from every nook and corner of India.

The temple system is very old in India but not as old Vedas, the word of God himself, which are not older than the multiple Vedic gods. There are no temples mentioned in either Vedas or Manusmriti. The temples made their entry about the same time as Buddhist Stupas. The Vedic gods had lost their importance along with animal sacrificing rites of Yagyas. With the entry of temples one thing happened, it was the demise of importance of Vedic gods like Indra, Agni, Varun and Mitra etc. But the Yagyas maintained their mystique and fascination though with limited animal sacrifice. More powerful and significant gods came into existence. The most famous of them is the trinity of Hindu pantheon, Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. These gods were not nature specific like Indra and Agni but all powerful and looking after the affairs of whole of the world. These gods did not need animal sacrifices for their appeasement; Aartis could please them. Still all the rituals to please the gods were to be performed by a Brahman priests. The priests became divine middlemen between men and gods like in Vedic times.

.The functions of the trinity of gods are creation, nurturing and destruction. Brahma is the creator of the world, Vishnu nurtures the world and Mahesh (Shiva) is the destroyer of the world. The followers of Lord Vishnu are called Vashnavites and those of Lord Shiva are called Shaivites. Initially there were disagreements and tensions between these two cults but with the formation of trinity the tension disappeared and now there is no discernible antagonism between them. The followers Lord Vishnu are in majority and Shaivites are in minority, but generally there are worshippers who cut across this line. The worshipping of a different Hindu god is not a major or minor issue. This is proclaimed as an indicator of tolerance of Hindu religion not withstanding the fact that defiling untouchables are not allowed entry into pure and sacred temples. However any Hindu is free to worship any deity from Hindu pantheon, which is full of innumerable deities. With the increasing importance of minor Vedic and non-Vedic gods the idol worship came into existence...