Today morning went to a temple near Sergazhi as my mother has given for Abshigam(Not sure about english alternate)… Right from the beginning it was chaos & we found the temple… Since it is a Vishnavite temple it is managed by priest who are called patters or Iyangers… Normally I’ve aversion to visit these folks as they make the entire preying experience a misery… They treat devotees(their customers) as shit…
There is a saying in tamil Sami Varam Koduthalum Poosari Varam Koduka Mataru (Even if god offers help Priest doesn’t allow it)…
As we entered the temple we offered prayers to Lakshmi Perumal Deity… Misery starts from now & we were asked to wait out and come in & really unorganized management… They let the whole crowd in as people standing behind couldn’t see the god… I wished if they broke slots and allowed people inside or streamlined them…
After all rituals were over we were asked to sit for lunch (which we call prasadam)… All Iyengars were made to sit seperately and they got everything first & we all were made to sit on the other side… They priest threw the food as if he puts it to an unwelcome guest…
What made me angry we they make a living by the offering we make and by cross selling religious services & products… As a customer who help him make a living I deserve more respect…
Coming back I had following myseries;
- It was suffocating as we had to fall on each other to offer prayer…
- The humidity lead to dehydration…
- Long hours of standing made me tired…
- Food offered for prayers collapsed my stomach & there was not public toilet…
- I was not let out until the prayers were over & I had to control my stomach…
It was totally not a pleasant way to reach god because of these priest… Finally priest said god doesn’t give such an opportunity as the prayers got over quickly… That really made me wild as they make a devine thing for granted…
By the time I returned I got down with Fever all because of the atmosphere in the temple… I’m sure god doesn’t wish his devotees to suffer when we visit him as a guest… Sadly the reality is otherwise…
Then by evening in my cousins engagement I was standing in a tea shop & was telling my experience and thoughts to my cousins… That is where someone who preaches Christianity over heard my experience and started preaching his religion on me… He said his god will accept me in his fold and he went a bit over board by degrading Hinduism… This irated my cousins (also myself to some extent) who are religious & I had to calm them and bring them back…
Couple of days back I read an article where the author compares Religion & Business where it has lot of parallels to each other… When the preacher was marketing his religion I was thinking how he is trying to increase his number of followers like marketing department tries to bring in more clients… This article claims this is in India but I’d say it is in the entire world…
Does any religion has a system where we can goto temple and prey to god without a priest??? All rules are made by the priest for their convenience and for them to make a living…
When I was discussing this with my mother and my cousins they started telling I’m in the verge of becoming an atheist… The reality is I’m not questioning god or his existence and even I believe in God… But I’m sick of priest who often makes it difficult to reach god…
AnandNataraj 