Aug 26, 2006
Hyderabad
Sorry for the dearth of entries recently. Last weekend Rock came to Hyderabad and we went to see some of the sites in the city. For all the time that I have spent in that city, I hadn't been able go see the sites, so it was a treat. I really love Hyderabad. It is a beautiful, well-maintained, clean city.
One of the sites that we saw was a beautiful Hindu temple to Lord
Venkateshwara, which is another name for Lord Krishna. While there are many deities in Hinduism, there are three main ones: Brahma the Creator, Krishna the Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer (of evil) who is often represented with phallic symbolism and associated with the creation that comes after destruction. Each of these is married to a counterpart. If I remember correctly, Brahma's wife (can't remember name) is the Goddess of Knowledge / Wisdom, Krishna's wife (Laxmi) is the Goddess of Wealth, and Shiva's wife (Parvati) is the Goddess of Power.
The temple was absolutely gorgeous with beautiful architecture. The structure itself was made of white marble and was built onto a hillside. Everything was open, and there were several different shrines to different Hindu deities along the way until you reached the top of the hill, where the room for main shrine to Krishna was located. This room, like all the others, was open to the outside. Lower down the hill, at the shrine to one of the gods (can't remember his name), people could make him an offering of a coconut and flowers. Someone from the temple would take the coconut, break it in acknowledgment that the god had received it, and give it back to the patron. We were told by an American Hindu friend who was with us that over the centuries the coconut has come to replace animal sacrifices. At another shrine, when people paid their respects they received a powdered / pasty red dot on their forehead. You always know when someone has been to a temple recently because of this mark. I have been told that it represents Shiva's all-knowing third eye of wisdom, but I have not verified this.
The top of the hill was beautiful – the temple was itself beautiful and the view of the city was beautiful. It was there that I leaned over to Rock and told him that I felt a huge sense of peace at this place, not unlike what I feel at an LDS temple. He also felt it. In the past we have both also discussed how we independently have felt a sense of kinship with our Hindu friends as fellow believers. We have met so many good, good people who are doing their best to live according to their beliefs – very devout and very sincere, and while they freely share their beliefs they are not “fanatic” in terms of trying to force those beliefs on others. (Sometimes negative press highlights the very few Hindus who do try to force their religion on others, perpetuating a negative stereotype.) Many of the details of our beliefs are different, but the fact that many of our Hindu friends also strongly and sincerely believe in Deity and try to live in accordance with Deity's desires makes us feel connected to them and understood by them. This we have in common. While as a Mormon I have particular beliefs about God and the Afterlife, I also believe God honors the sincere efforts of all of his children to commune with Deity according to their understanding, as evidenced by the beautiful sense of peace that we felt at the Hindu temple.
After visiting the temple we visited Hyderabad's planetarium and museum of science. The planetarium was better than I expected, although it made me homesick to see Chicago's planetarium (which I grew up with and haven't seen for years). The museum had a lot of hands-on activities to teach physics concepts, which was fun. It also had a genuine dinosaur skeleton that had been found here in India.
We later went to famous tombs of former sultans and rulers of Hyderabad. When I say “tombs,” I mean “buildings,” not unlike the Taj Mahal (except smaller and less elaborate). They were beautiful. Several gorgeous mosques were interspersed with these tomb-memorial buildings. Perhaps I (or Rock) will write more about these later... this entry is getting rather long.
Finally, we went to the ruins of Golkanda Fort, which is another fascinating site that pre-dates Hyderabad's existence as a city. Also beautiful and laced with a rich history of different peoples intermittently conquering and co-existing with one another. Such is India's history.
Hyderabad
Sorry for the dearth of entries recently. Last weekend Rock came to Hyderabad and we went to see some of the sites in the city. For all the time that I have spent in that city, I hadn't been able go see the sites, so it was a treat. I really love Hyderabad. It is a beautiful, well-maintained, clean city.
One of the sites that we saw was a beautiful Hindu temple to Lord
Venkateshwara, which is another name for Lord Krishna. While there are many deities in Hinduism, there are three main ones: Brahma the Creator, Krishna the Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer (of evil) who is often represented with phallic symbolism and associated with the creation that comes after destruction. Each of these is married to a counterpart. If I remember correctly, Brahma's wife (can't remember name) is the Goddess of Knowledge / Wisdom, Krishna's wife (Laxmi) is the Goddess of Wealth, and Shiva's wife (Parvati) is the Goddess of Power.
The temple was absolutely gorgeous with beautiful architecture. The structure itself was made of white marble and was built onto a hillside. Everything was open, and there were several different shrines to different Hindu deities along the way until you reached the top of the hill, where the room for main shrine to Krishna was located. This room, like all the others, was open to the outside. Lower down the hill, at the shrine to one of the gods (can't remember his name), people could make him an offering of a coconut and flowers. Someone from the temple would take the coconut, break it in acknowledgment that the god had received it, and give it back to the patron. We were told by an American Hindu friend who was with us that over the centuries the coconut has come to replace animal sacrifices. At another shrine, when people paid their respects they received a powdered / pasty red dot on their forehead. You always know when someone has been to a temple recently because of this mark. I have been told that it represents Shiva's all-knowing third eye of wisdom, but I have not verified this.
The top of the hill was beautiful – the temple was itself beautiful and the view of the city was beautiful. It was there that I leaned over to Rock and told him that I felt a huge sense of peace at this place, not unlike what I feel at an LDS temple. He also felt it. In the past we have both also discussed how we independently have felt a sense of kinship with our Hindu friends as fellow believers. We have met so many good, good people who are doing their best to live according to their beliefs – very devout and very sincere, and while they freely share their beliefs they are not “fanatic” in terms of trying to force those beliefs on others. (Sometimes negative press highlights the very few Hindus who do try to force their religion on others, perpetuating a negative stereotype.) Many of the details of our beliefs are different, but the fact that many of our Hindu friends also strongly and sincerely believe in Deity and try to live in accordance with Deity's desires makes us feel connected to them and understood by them. This we have in common. While as a Mormon I have particular beliefs about God and the Afterlife, I also believe God honors the sincere efforts of all of his children to commune with Deity according to their understanding, as evidenced by the beautiful sense of peace that we felt at the Hindu temple.
After visiting the temple we visited Hyderabad's planetarium and museum of science. The planetarium was better than I expected, although it made me homesick to see Chicago's planetarium (which I grew up with and haven't seen for years). The museum had a lot of hands-on activities to teach physics concepts, which was fun. It also had a genuine dinosaur skeleton that had been found here in India.
We later went to famous tombs of former sultans and rulers of Hyderabad. When I say “tombs,” I mean “buildings,” not unlike the Taj Mahal (except smaller and less elaborate). They were beautiful. Several gorgeous mosques were interspersed with these tomb-memorial buildings. Perhaps I (or Rock) will write more about these later... this entry is getting rather long.
Finally, we went to the ruins of Golkanda Fort, which is another fascinating site that pre-dates Hyderabad's existence as a city. Also beautiful and laced with a rich history of different peoples intermittently conquering and co-existing with one another. Such is India's history.
posted by Jen at 9:04 PM
2 Comments:
I often feel that way in Catholic cathedrals in Europe. The people who built the building must have really loved God. And the people who still come there to worship, even with all sorts of tourists around, I think still love Him. Maybe the Mormon missionaries need to do more tracting just outside of cathedrals where people who already know God can be found; they know Him --- they just don't know everything or always the right things, however.
You guys are having waaaaaaay to much fun. God bless you.
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