Being a Hindu: an experience

It was an autamn morning of 1985. I was standing at the queue as a Tourist along with my parents.We were in a conducted tour from Madras ( Chennai), waiting at the gates of Kamakshi Temple of Kanchipuram. A fat priest was standing at the collapsible door holding a club in his hand.To his right, there was a small signboard reading " Non Hindus are not allowed".A young lady tourist from downtown London was standing in front of me. When her turn came at the gate, the priest without saying her any thing pointed out at the signboard. And the lady tourist gently said, " I consider myself as a Hindu". The priest , to my great surprise allowed her to go into the temple inspite of her Western dress.

Perhaps it was three to four days earlier, the scene was Padmanavaswami Temple at then Trivandrum( Thiruananthapuram). I and my father had to discard our T-shirts and trousers and had to change into the South Indian style dhoti provided by the temple authorities to enter the
temple.Not even a vest was allowed. My sister, then a school student, was not allowed as she was wearing a western frock.

At the threshold of youth, after leaving school stepping into the adult world of the College it was quite baffling for me.Two opposite experiences in two different temples in the same region of the country left me confused. But later on, only I came to realise that Hinduism is not a set of dogmas, it is a way of life. It was and still is like the story of the elephant and the blind men, each of whom understood the shape of the elephant in a different manner.

Technorati Tags: Religion/Philosophy

Vote Result

Score: 0.0, Votes: 0