Spiritual Intensity - Tamil Nadu

We have had a really intense time visiting the temple here in Tamil Nadu. The temples are amazingly beautiful and their construction seems to defy reason especially when you know when and how they were built. I am sure it is similar to how folks feel when they see the pyramids. Many of the largest temples have been expanded by various dynasties over 400-500 years. So the structures create a particular awe for sure. But I have to tell you, by far, the intensity is about watching the Hindus themselves, falling prostrate before the inner sanctums, kissing the ground, marking their foreheads with white and red dyes, walking around the planets 9 times, bringing the garlands, burning the candles, warming their hands with flames and breathing in the incense, getting their blessings from the priest. Every time I walked into a temple, I could not deny the spirituality, the sincerity and the sacredness of it all.





The powerful feelings that I have experienced are also about hearing the many mythological stories of the Gods and the values and ideals they stand for. It’s about their philosophy that looks at the life of man as a mere blip in the greater cycle rather than a linear path which ends. For someone like me who is from a western culture of individuality, constant competition, restlessness and striving, it is amazing to witness what looks like a spirit of acceptance. I detect no anger or resignation; instead I can feel their belief in living life as a good person and their faith in their God’s ability to care for them in this life as well as others. The other thing I saw in the temple is so many young people and so many families worshipping together.





I know that i am just seeing all this from the outside, but there is a tending to one’s faith that really seems different. Their spiritual life seems to be integrated throughout their days and weeks and lives- their festivals, attending temple morning and night and temples everywhere even on the roadside and in the middle of fields. I think they say that there are 30,000 temples here.