I buy my God

Posted on August 10, 2009 by Kushagra

This weekend I visited Srisailem, a National Forest near Hyderabad. Srisailem also happens to be one of the twelve sacred Jyothirlingam of Lord Shiva and is a very religious place. The Srisailem temple has a chapter dedicated to itself in the ancient Skanda Purana called “Srisaila Kandam.” Srisailam is also referenced in the ancient Hindu Puranas, and the epic Mahabharata.

The point that I am trying to make is not intended to hurt any religious sentiments, that said I felt a need to pen this down and share the story

The temple runs like a corporation. Look at the images below:

The Devalaya (temple) attracts thousands of devotees everyday who based on their purchasing power are queued accordingly to meet God himself.  And this is not the only temple which puts you into a priority queue if you are willing to pay, there are 100s of 1000s of others all across the country.

The time conscious, soft cushion job lover that I am, who also has money to buy an express ticket worth 100 bucks to see God, I was game to buy one. Guess what, the tickets were over for the day. No problem, my friends with no hesitation bribed the temple guard 100 bucks to get in, which he gladly accepted. Spreading corruption, are we? I think yes.

I was saddended and went inside the temple like a tourist who has bought a ticket to an ammusement park not feeling spritual at all. I went in because of the peer pressure and was back in about 10-15 minutes.  Once I was out, I saw this queue of 1000s of devotees who are probably standing there for about 2 hours already and will take about the same time to offer their prayers, I felt even more disgusted.

Religion should not be mixed with economic parity. God doesn’t loves you based on your bank accounts. That said, the pandits, temple association do love you more if you willing to spend more.

I am not a super religious types but I’ve decided that going forward I am not going to visit these commercial entities who claim serve God. I am ofcourse going to visit many temples, churches, and mosques throughout my life but I am not going to pay a paise to get in. If I can’t stand in line to meet God, I will rather not go in and offer my prayers outside.

For those of you who believe that this money is needed to run, and manage these temples and they are right to give a preferential treatment to the one who pays. I don’t give a damn. I’ve my own school of thought you’ve your own. All said, we are never visiting any temple together.

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  • http://friendfeed.com/manki Manki

    I don’t see the people running the temple to be devoted to God or spirituality or religion or anything. They manage a temple, and they provide a service to the people who want to visit the temple.

    I think of the Express Darshan as First Class in electric trains. You pay more to travel in a less-crowded compartment of the train. Just a convenience. In the same way, temples let you save time and the trouble of going amidst a big crowd. But why do it based on money? Maybe because there is no easier/more practical way to keep more people in the ordinary queue?

    I am not saying what they do is correct; but I am thinking I’d do the same if I were them.

  • Kushagra

    For all practical purposes it is a good system. Somehow, I do not agree w/ it. There has to be equality somewhere.