Hope and Faith drive people..... and at times to the point of insanity and thoughtlessness. Such are the selfish ways of humans. I say humans because everywhere at some point
people due to selfishness driven by faith, hope, religion or impatience too lose the one quality that makes them human.Such was the feeling that rendered me speechless and disgusted on a pilgrimage to the most sort after god in the south that seems to grant
people their dearest wishes for a selfless donation by them to his "hundi". I'm not an atheist and i'm sorry if what i'm about to say rages anyone that reads it due to their immense faith in this particular god. But its not just HIM but most of the deity abodes in the country that seem to have a fanatic effect on their worshipers. Most people have lost faith in themselves and only tend to believe that a higher power will grant them "moksha" or eternal salvation whilst they go about committing crimes against every fellow being on the planet.
I know its pointless to believe that such people actually would ever understand these nuances so blinded by the aura of the gods failing to understand that a prayer only wont get your deepest desires fulfilled.
Anyways let me fill you in on what a pilgrimage to any deity in the country ( popular ones) feels like.
You start your journey with immense hope and pray that you get to have atleast a glimpse of the idol as you know the road to get there is sometimes tough and most often filled with human obstacles more than physical ones. A glimpse is all one can hope for with a slice of luck. Chants and one liners are sung all the way till the main temple. All is rosy and sometimes fun filled. You get to meet various sorts of people who seem extremely ritualistic and with absolutely no value for their own time or energy. It's as they say all in the name of god.
Funny how one believes to reach a place of worship one must go through hardships but in the journey of life one should not bear the same view. God will solve your problems! Funny how when all else fails and especially courage to try and try and keep standing up for the beliefs you've based your life on and on which society somewhat lives is shattered one looks to a higher being to get them through to the difficulty but not by asking for courage or strength but for the end product in general. I think most of these blind devotees need a manual on what a prayer should consist of. I remember once as a child being told to pray for things that i longed for and be a good person so that god thought i'd be worthy and fulfill my wishes. A small child since then is made to believe that if all else fails ( mental block that is) GOD will grant you your wishes.
Most people that come to these place and i mean majority are there hoping that this is a short cut to success. God will see them through. And then a few do get their prayers answered and the whole popularity of that place of worship is heightened making that deity the current #1. Wow a God that gives you what you ask for and for a small price of dakshina or offerings. This particular god i was visiting - btw frankly coz my mum was so so excited to go there as she had made a promise to visit him years ago and was trying to just keep her promise- is sorta like the Michael Jackson of gods u see. He seems to have tons and tons of believers lined up for days and weeks together just to get a glimpse of him and offer a prayer. He is also believed to be a dream catcher and frankly that's his MO. I personally don't believe in prayer for materialistic gains at all cause it doesn't really appeal to my logical brain but then again there is no logic in religion anyways. So we reach the God's palace and trust me it is a palace with security stations, queues for the affluent, the impatient and even the completely blinded by faith devotees. Flanked by a row of residences for in-house ministers of the gods and their families and small business that thrive on the "blinded by religion" folks that visit this place in the thousands on a daily basis. Strategically located on a hill/mountain with picturesque views that most people often miss out on due to heavy human traffic in the temple itself it is so cut off from the rest of the civilization that one would think that all those who do live there have to do what they are doing just to survive.The queues of people that have bought various tickets for admittance are all battling it out with their loved ones just to get ahead in line. Its initially hilarious and somewhat scary a scene when you know soon you'd be amongst those people gasping for air and water in line trying to fight the hands and legs and bodies of people being pushed like grains of sand that slide down an hour glass. Once you reach the main house or room where the god is kept most often you are just fighting people and also confused trying to find where the idol is located. It almost feels like you're a contestant in Richard O'Brian's - crystal maze! I guess in my case luck and a healthy gene pool which accounted for a decent height gave me a clear edge over the average Indian to spot my god who lay calmly placed 3 doors internally in a chamber with absolutely dim lighting making it even more difficult to spot in complete air conditioning adorned in gold and precious stones blessing the thousands that fleetingly passed by his chambers with a thousand words mumbling in their heads hoping for him to listen and act on. On exiting the chambers of the god there is this sudden peace and quiet like the feeling one would get after a war is over and the survivors come out to see the remains of the day only to find a sense of peace that they survived the entire ordeal. A few bruises and swollen nerves and maybe cuts if you're that unlucky but overall all in one piece you're out. I am amazed to see that people actually visit as often as once a year and still manage to keep the faith.
After all that one goes through just driven by hope one would think if only people had hope and faith in themselves would all the idol worship and half the problems of the world cease to exist!!!
Everyone needs to realize hurting your neighbor on the road to even a heaven is not really going to see you through the gates. It is after all an idol kept there in hope to unite people in belief of a higher power which only actually resides in the human being itself. This thought once made universally accepted only can all the killing / hurting in the name of god stop. This particular incident did not see bloodshed but imagine this was just when all believers of the same god were moving in the same direction towards him caused pain to one another then why wouldn't wars based on religion bias not cause bloodshed. Its not the gods but the humans that worship that make these rules. No god expects money to grant what you truly deserve - you give the money and hope to bribe him to make you get it because somewhere deep inside you know you don't deserve all you ask for. Greed drives all into believers of GOD!
I know its pointless to believe that such people actually would ever understand these nuances so blinded by the aura of the gods failing to understand that a prayer only wont get your deepest desires fulfilled.
Anyways let me fill you in on what a pilgrimage to any deity in the country ( popular ones) feels like.
You start your journey with immense hope and pray that you get to have atleast a glimpse of the idol as you know the road to get there is sometimes tough and most often filled with human obstacles more than physical ones. A glimpse is all one can hope for with a slice of luck. Chants and one liners are sung all the way till the main temple. All is rosy and sometimes fun filled. You get to meet various sorts of people who seem extremely ritualistic and with absolutely no value for their own time or energy. It's as they say all in the name of god.
Funny how one believes to reach a place of worship one must go through hardships but in the journey of life one should not bear the same view. God will solve your problems! Funny how when all else fails and especially courage to try and try and keep standing up for the beliefs you've based your life on and on which society somewhat lives is shattered one looks to a higher being to get them through to the difficulty but not by asking for courage or strength but for the end product in general. I think most of these blind devotees need a manual on what a prayer should consist of. I remember once as a child being told to pray for things that i longed for and be a good person so that god thought i'd be worthy and fulfill my wishes. A small child since then is made to believe that if all else fails ( mental block that is) GOD will grant you your wishes.
Most people that come to these place and i mean majority are there hoping that this is a short cut to success. God will see them through. And then a few do get their prayers answered and the whole popularity of that place of worship is heightened making that deity the current #1. Wow a God that gives you what you ask for and for a small price of dakshina or offerings. This particular god i was visiting - btw frankly coz my mum was so so excited to go there as she had made a promise to visit him years ago and was trying to just keep her promise- is sorta like the Michael Jackson of gods u see. He seems to have tons and tons of believers lined up for days and weeks together just to get a glimpse of him and offer a prayer. He is also believed to be a dream catcher and frankly that's his MO. I personally don't believe in prayer for materialistic gains at all cause it doesn't really appeal to my logical brain but then again there is no logic in religion anyways. So we reach the God's palace and trust me it is a palace with security stations, queues for the affluent, the impatient and even the completely blinded by faith devotees. Flanked by a row of residences for in-house ministers of the gods and their families and small business that thrive on the "blinded by religion" folks that visit this place in the thousands on a daily basis. Strategically located on a hill/mountain with picturesque views that most people often miss out on due to heavy human traffic in the temple itself it is so cut off from the rest of the civilization that one would think that all those who do live there have to do what they are doing just to survive.The queues of people that have bought various tickets for admittance are all battling it out with their loved ones just to get ahead in line. Its initially hilarious and somewhat scary a scene when you know soon you'd be amongst those people gasping for air and water in line trying to fight the hands and legs and bodies of people being pushed like grains of sand that slide down an hour glass. Once you reach the main house or room where the god is kept most often you are just fighting people and also confused trying to find where the idol is located. It almost feels like you're a contestant in Richard O'Brian's - crystal maze! I guess in my case luck and a healthy gene pool which accounted for a decent height gave me a clear edge over the average Indian to spot my god who lay calmly placed 3 doors internally in a chamber with absolutely dim lighting making it even more difficult to spot in complete air conditioning adorned in gold and precious stones blessing the thousands that fleetingly passed by his chambers with a thousand words mumbling in their heads hoping for him to listen and act on. On exiting the chambers of the god there is this sudden peace and quiet like the feeling one would get after a war is over and the survivors come out to see the remains of the day only to find a sense of peace that they survived the entire ordeal. A few bruises and swollen nerves and maybe cuts if you're that unlucky but overall all in one piece you're out. I am amazed to see that people actually visit as often as once a year and still manage to keep the faith.
After all that one goes through just driven by hope one would think if only people had hope and faith in themselves would all the idol worship and half the problems of the world cease to exist!!!
Everyone needs to realize hurting your neighbor on the road to even a heaven is not really going to see you through the gates. It is after all an idol kept there in hope to unite people in belief of a higher power which only actually resides in the human being itself. This thought once made universally accepted only can all the killing / hurting in the name of god stop. This particular incident did not see bloodshed but imagine this was just when all believers of the same god were moving in the same direction towards him caused pain to one another then why wouldn't wars based on religion bias not cause bloodshed. Its not the gods but the humans that worship that make these rules. No god expects money to grant what you truly deserve - you give the money and hope to bribe him to make you get it because somewhere deep inside you know you don't deserve all you ask for. Greed drives all into believers of GOD!
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