--- In SriRangaSri@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "rvv21" <ranjanvv@xxxx> wrote: >> I think it's unlikely you'll find a "Vishnu-only" temple in the > UK (apart from ISKCON temples) - but I could be wrong. However, the > sizeable Sri Lankan Tamil community in many parts of London have > retained their Shaiva temple culture to a relatively high degree and > have constructed many 'south-indian' style temples, if you were > interested in seeing them for interest. Many have a sannidhi for > Lakshmi/Naaraayana as well. **************** Dear members, This is a very interesting thread of discussion and I like your exchanges. One of the odd things I have noticed about Hindu temples abroad is this: they are designed to accommodate and built to serve the sentiments of all denominations of Hindu religous society. Such design and architecture is no doubt well-intentioned but the results are sometimes a mixed bag. I toured parts of USA East Coast last year. My host was kind enough to take me to a very beautiful temple in Maryland. It was called Shiva-Vishnu temple but inside I was surprised to see many more special "sannidhi-s" (shrines or sanctums) for a number of other deities in the Hindu pantheon -- Ganesha, Murugua, AmbAL, AyyappA, Venkateshwara, Krishna... I saw devotees come in throngs and each proceeded straight to that shrine he or she wanted to particularly worship. Thereafter he or she spent a few moments at other shrines before exiting. I couldn't help thinking it all vaguely resembled the modern and convenient "multi-cuisine cafeteria" concept applied to temple architecture i.e. you come shuffling in a long queue with a plate in hand, go slowly around the table and help yourself generously to the dish you particularly like, and just a little bit of everthing else in the spread. Don't get me wrong. It's not that I want to be critical of "Shiva- Vishnu" temples, I hasten to add. Who knows, perhaps the "Agama sAstras" themselves do, in fact, permit such "cafeteria" design of temples. But I must say this: I cannot help sometimes wondering if the presence of more than one Deity within a temple-precinct does not go against the essentially monotheistic grain of Hindu religious thought and practice. My own personal experience is that when I am in the presence of the main Deity inside a temple I'd rather fully concentrate on worshipping that one Divine Entity alone. But instead, I often find that, at the back of my mind somewhere, I'm being distracted by the anxious thought of having to rush for "darshan" to the "next crowded counter" -- viz. other satellite shrines or "sannidhi-s". The result is that a temple visit, far from affording one an opportunity for experiencing a certain sense of abiding One-ness with God, leaves the devotee with a strange feeling, instead, he's just concluded a long and hectic series of business appointments. Let me confess to one more thing. I always come away from a temple feeling a little guilty and disappointed if, after I've had "darshan" of the main Deity first, for some reason or other, I've been unable to offer worship at subsidiary "sannidhi-s". I've never relished such a feeling. It has always robbed the first experience a little of its joy. An exclusively Vishnu temple (with His other divine forms serving perhaps as smaller satellite "sannidhi-s") seems to me OK. An exclusive Shiva temple too seems OK. An exclusive Devi or AmbAl temple is OK too. But a "Shiva-Vishnu temple", and many of similarly newly-built, multi-themed, composite "designer temples" (in India and abroad we come across these days) -- they all seem to me to be somehow straying far from the central monotheism of that very Faith they are actually meant to reflect and enshrine. What do members think? I'd like to hear your learned comments. respectfully, dAsan, Sudarshan ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> In low income neighborhoods, 84% do not own computers. At Network for Good, help bridge the Digital Divide! http://us.click.yahoo.com/hjtSRD/3MnJAA/i1hLAA/VkWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SriRangaSri/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: SriRangaSri-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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