Hindu Liturgy

From Sunday November 7

Nestled In the middle of the University of Varanasi is the Shree Vishwanath Temple, dedicated to the god Vishnu. (Hence the name Vishwanath? Did I just inadvertently write something like, "Here is the church of St. Andrew, dedicated to the saint Andrew?" Stupid foreign languages.) We drove to the outskirts of Varanasi to tour what we assumed would be an architecturally interesting temple, based on the famous and most holy Kashni Vishwanath Temple a few miles to the northeast of the University. And the architecture was impressive and interesting, but new and not historically significant. What we got instead was a chance to witness and experience how a Hindu worships God.

The temple has a main hall, the holiest place in the temple which contained a huge fat lingam personifying Vishnu. The lingam was in the corner of a roped-off area with a priest sitting inside the ropes. Attending the the priest was a line of supplicants with offerings in hand. Our guide (whose name, forgive me, I didn't record) took his place in line while we waited patiently outside the ropes. When he reached the priest he handed the offerings he had bought in the kiosks outside the temple. In one hand, our guide had marigolds, what looked like a hyacinth blossom and a bag of rice wrapped in a lotus leaf. In the other hand he held a bowl of milk. He handed the solid objects to the priest and received his blessing, consisting of a red dot on the forehead. Our guide then went to the lingam and poured the bowl of milk over the phallic lingam - talk about powerful imagery of fertility. The priest also gave our guide a string to tie around his wrist, a custom we had experienced in Thailand when receiving a blessing from a Buddhist monk.

We were given the opportunity to also receive a blessing from the priest but I, and most of our group, declined. I don't know why, I couldn't put my finger on it, but participating just didn't feel right. I had eagerly participated in a Buddhist blessing in Thailand, going so far as prostrating myself before the monk and receiving my braided string, which I wore until it fell off almost a year and a half later. I mentioned my hesitation later to Charlotte. She told me she skipped the blessing because the priest looked so severe and mean. She was right; I think I had caught this vibe also.

Offering offered, our guide now took us through all of the alters and shrines located in the nooks and crannies outside of the inner sanctum of the temple. Before each shrine he would perform the appropriate prayer actions and explain the significance of the shrine. The shrine in this picture is to Brahma. He draped it with some of the marigold necklaces we had received when our hotel welcomed us. In one shrine, another priest arrived as our group approached the shrine. This guy was as joyful and vibrant as the priest in the inner sanctum had been dour. He told us all about this particular shrine and we all eagerly accepted his blessing, proudly sporting our bright red forehead smudges. Then the priest destroys the mood by holding out his supplicating palm.

I must say, though, that this temple touched the spiritual side of me. The atmosphere was reverent and peaceful. Worshipers who passed our group were welcoming and friendly. (One family pleaded for a group picture of them with me in the middle.) Over the years, I have been in only two places that made me feel completely at peace and close to a supreme entity. Both are in Thailand. One is Wat Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai. The most unlikely place is the loud, gaudy, raucous Wat Phanan Choeng, a Chinese Buddhist temple in Ayuthaya, just north of Bangkok. And now, Shree Vishwanath, but much of that may be due to the reverent explanations and devotions of our Indian guide.

As we left Shree Vishwanath Temple, we were entertained by a baby monkey who was pestering his mother beyond bearing.