My Experience
On a personal front it was a eye opener in many respects. The trip to the Jagannath Temple in Puri (one of the dhaam) started with me being questioned before entering the temple. My straight long hair, grown up beard and possibly a different dressing style made the security guards think I man not be a Indian/Hindu. I was asked for my name, my father’s name, place I come from and my gotra. I replied in a typical hindi accent confidently. And this is how I succeeded in entering the temple. Perhaps I shouldn’t have. It is well known that only born Hindus are allowed inside the Jagannath Puri temple. And silly me I always thought everyone is equal in the eyes of god.
For all those who come to worship in the temple do bring positive energy and fell good vibes. Which many a times is shadowed by the greedy priests who just want your money. Even before you arrive the entrance door you will be surrounded by priests and sellers trying to take a piece of your pie. We decided to go DIY style and not take a priest which was a good decision.
Reason 1 – God only for born Hindus, not if you are a foreigner
I believe any god’s place be it temple, church, mosque, etc should see all human beings as equal and not discriminate by keeping its doors open only to a certain group. This is the single biggest deterring factor that I choose not to visit a place where my fellow humans are not allowed in the name of god.
Reason 2 – More money more blessings
Yes the mantra of the temple is give more, donate more and you will get all the blessings. Priests will approach you even before you enter the temple complex for arranging a good meeting with god in exchange of money. The more money you willing to give/donate the better prayers and rituals can be performed. In the end you realise you can do most of it all yourself. Mindful of the fact that there aren’t many donation boxes and all the money goes to priests pockets. What can be more obvious than the largest Indian currency note of INR 500 being displayed next to the most important Jagannath diety wooeing followers to shell out even more.
Reason 3 – Less time more money, no problem use premium service
How many times have you heard that by paying a little extra you can have a closer meet with the temple and with smaller queues. Yes its possible. Pay INR 50 (approx 50 pence GBP), get a ticket and you can get 1 feet away from the 3 dieties. If you don’t the closest you can get is around 15 meters (rough guess).
Reason 4 – No feeling of peace
Consider you have been able to enter the Jagannath Temple and hope to have a peaceful darshan, you simply cannot. There is always a mad rush of people who like to just go and view the 3 dieties in person. There is noise, priests shouting chalo chalo (move on), a person can’t pray still peacefully for 30 seconds. Its is simple of place driven by faith (blind according to me), people whose life are driven by fear of god or wanting something from god.
Reason 5 – No camera, no memories
This is not a big reason but combined with above if you come back home without a decent memory,without good pics of a rather beautiful and very old monument its no biggie that soon all memories will fade away.
Out of all the chaos it is still possible to look through the actual temple, the stone carving, the scent and the hymns prayed. Take out all the priests, throw in few coordinators, open it to everyone and it will be a beautiful place. The traditions are so old, they just need to be kept pace with time. My only last words would be that I regret visiting this temple, only if I could change it.