Tuesday, 8th February - 11:00 am
I think temples are pretty much like stocks - once they become famous and people start flooding in, they become overvalued and the return on investment usually dips. At least personally, I go to the temple for some piece of mind and for sufficient time to stand there in front of god and clear my thoughts (standing before him is like being in the confession box where I neither try to convince myself or think of anything conceited). But in temples like tirupathi and Guruvayur, you first have to make sure you are on your feet and not on somebody else's thanks to all the crowd. And just when you get to glimpse the lord, they push you away. Of course, Guruvayur is miles ahead of many other temples I have been to. They go a long way to make sure the temple is clean (they once emptied the whole temple because a toddled wet his snuggies!). Money doesn't really speak too loudly in there - everyone's got one queue. They are quite strict about the dress code - guys cant cover their chest, have to wear dhotis and even the women should be dressed traditionally. Don't know if all this really matters - but does help in everyone taking the temple's rules quite seriously.
My parents simple revere the place. They make a trip here every two years at least and for them to be here on their silver jubilee was definitely much more lucrative than the house boat in munnar that I had suggested. After the visit, My bro and I pulled their legs asking mom to show us the heavenly sight of she falling in my father's feet and getting his blessings. Knowing our dad, I know he would faint if anyone did something like that. He's just not that kind of a guy - who can have a sacrosanct expression and bless someone five wives and sixteen children. My mom, knowing this too well, agreed to it immediately. End of the day it didn't happen, but my pathivratha-mom did get five points for agreeing to it from our side :)
- posted by Super Ted @ 8:53 AM