Temple Entry for All - a closer look at secularism &deity worship.

8/2/2019 Temple Entry for All - a closer look at secularism &deity worship.

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Temple Entry for All--a closer look at secularism &deity worship.Dr. A. P. Sukumar, Vancouver, Canada

People visit Hindu temples for different reasons- spiritual, religious and even political. In

the case of most of the ancient Hindu temples, their operations have long been

established based on various spiritual concepts, rituals and traditions. Rituals and

observances vary according to the spiritual concepts behind the consecration of the Deity

and the Vigraha(s) (Vigraha 1- Idol of a Deity, specifically conceived and consecrated)

installed in temples. It is the wide variety in rituals, styles of building architecture and the

age-old traditions that make Hindu temples so attractive to ardent believers, pilgrims and

the general public alike. Let us look at the relationship between Hinduism as a religion

and the temple worship rooted in Vigraha-pooja (deity worship).

Philosophy and practice in the context of the pursuit of the higher Reality is the

‘Sanatana Dharma’ of India which is known widely as Hinduism. The defining

characteristic of this Dharmam (essential nature) that differentiates it from other religionsis its framework which is so vast and varied that it has practically no boundaries –

philosophical or practical. One cannot define the beginning of this religion nor can one

attribute a person as the founder of Hinduism. There are believers and non-believers

among Hindus. There are Hindus who give the utmost importance to Vigraha worship,

rituals and observances. There are also Hindus who see God as One, indivisible, unique

Chaitanyam (i.e., Pure Consciousness and Power) with no form attributable to it. A

Hindu may be a worshipper of deities such as Maadan, Marutha, and Chaathan, etc., full

of Thamogunam (negative tendencies or fierce forces). A Hindu may be a worshipper of

deities with noble qualities or just be a meditator of noble thoughts with no external signs

of rituals. A Hindu can even be an atheist. Within Hinduism, there are followers of

Dvaitham (duality-the concept of man being different and subservient to God); Advaitham (non-duality-man and God are essentially one and the same; but at present we

do not realize it due to a veil called Maya); ViSishta-dvaitham (qualified duality- man

attains higher realms by the reflected glory of God) and the Chaarvaaka's philosophy of

materialism (atheist). They all fall within the periphery of the Indian system of the six

religious and philosophical (Shad-DarSana) pursuits. This is akin to having several

‘religions’ (or mathas) within Hinduism. Therefore, when we talk about secularism, we

need to examine two kinds of secularism - the secularism within the Hindu Dharmam,

and the secularism among Hindus and people of other religious faiths. We need to

determine how secularism becomes practicable at which levels in our civilized society.

Secularism within the context of Hindu Dharmam

Relatively speaking, there are no pragmatic difficulties facing secularism within the

ambit of Hinduism. There are many possibilities for cooperation on many levels among

1* I prefer to use the word Vigraham instead of Deity or Idol as the latter words have

pejorative connotations from our colonial past--APS1



those Hindus who believe in a formless, attribute-less Para Brahman and those Hindus

who believe that the presence of God is alive and potent in the vigraha-s in a temple, as

personal god for the devoted. If they have mutual respect and an attitude of live and let

live, there need not be any ideological conflict amongst them either. As I write this, I am

not forgetting the historical conflicts between the Shaiva and Vaishnava doctrines in our

land. I am just suggesting that such divergent groups do find some common territorywhere they can co-exist without conflict because both Shaiva-s and Vaishnava-s are

believers in the efficacy and legitimacy of Vigraha worship. If a Hindu has no interest or

adoration for the Vigraha of a particular deity in a particular temple he or she can refrain

from worshipping at that specific shrine. He or she is free to offer worship at his or her

favorite deity only. According to the Hindu custom, a Shaivaite may occasionally enter a

Vishnu temple just out of curiosity or for making an offering or conducting a ritual for

attaining a special wish that she or he might have and a Vaishnavaite can do that at a

Shiva temple as well. The only constraint is that the worshipper should abide by the

customs of the particular temple. In short, there are no obstacles to do DarSanam at any

temples in a peaceful manner as long as one obeys particular customs. In essence, a

Shaivaite or Vaishnavaite is not bound inextricably to the worship of their Ishta-Moorthi (favorite deity) exclusively. Similarly, there are no restraints whatsoever for the

follower of Advaita philosophy (Vedanthin) who profoundly believes in the Brahman

(the God principle) as the formless, attribute-less absolute if she or he would like to have

DarSanam in a temple. The Vedantin splits the word "Vigraham" etymologically as

"ViSeshena Graahyam = realizable in a special way" and attain the ecstatic feeling of

seeing the One in Many. According to the Hindu deity concept, there are 330 million

deities (quoted usually, to indicate infinite number) and each can have its own unique

worship customs ritual celebrations. There exist temples for a few thousands of these

deities or divine beings. For this reason, no single code of conduct can cover all the

temples in our land.

Further, in the context of the philosophies on temples, an Advaita Vedanthi considers

everything that he or she can perceive (or can conceive a form or function) to be

equivalent to a temple. Everything and anything is, for him or her, a manifestation of the

Supreme Brahman, the ultimate God principle. A Vedanthi reveres what is circumscribed

by the Vigraham and what is beyond all limitations of any kind. If conceived and

constructed by a Vedanthin, there is no need for any customs or regulations and all kinds

of people are allowed to enter that Temple. There are such temples with no sanctum or

even walls to demark their boundaries (Ochira Parabrahma temple, in Kerala, for

example). Not only are the followers of the six systems in the Hindu path welcome there

but also believers of other faiths and even non-believers may enter those temples. Such

sites are comparable to any public sites where the common etiquette is to be followed.

Even followers of other religions who shun Vigraha worship may enter there. The

famous Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple follows this kind of a concept.

Temple Entry for All

Not all Hindus who visit a Temple are required or expected to be believers. If a non-

believing Hindu (atheist) follows the Temple etiquette, he or she faces no sanctions either



because such a person will automatically be in the ambit of the six systems of Hinduism.

If a person says that he or she does not want anything to do with being a Hindu even in

that minimal sense is a non-Hindu although he or she may be an Indian. They have no

reason to have any interest or opinion with regard to Hindu temples, let alone on Vigraha

worship. Their status is similar to that of the relationship between the public at large and

the members of various professional bodies. It would be childish for an engineer to insiston membership in a medical doctors’ society. If an engineer wants membership in the

medical association, he or she better get the appropriate qualifications and follow through

the rules and regulations of the society’s governing board. It is his or her duty to present

the proof of qualification to seek such a membership. In a democracy, all citizens can

enter as visitors in the parliament or the legislative assembly, but if one wants to become

an MP or an MLA, he or she has to believe in democracy, contest elections, and win a

majority of votes. If a person does not believe in democracy or elections, there is no

legitimate way in which she or he can become an MP/MLA.

Temple Concept in concord with the sacred precepts of the Vigraham

The rules and regulations of a Temple are determined at the time of its establishment in

accordance with the original builders’ (not just the craftsmen but the central group of

worshippers which may include the artisans) concepts about the Deity. We know that

business concerns obtain registrations such as ISO 9000 and ISO 14000, etc., depending

on their line of business. This registration essentially means that the concern enters into

an agreement with the public saying that “our firm has decided that we will conduct such

and such businesses in such manner to ensure such and such quality Standards and the

public can count on us for maintaining the said Standards”. Once registered, it is the duty

of the management to conduct the affairs of the firm according to the agreement. If it

swerves from the Standards agreed upon, it might lose its registration. Many Hindu

temples also are establishments built up on the basis of such “registration” based on the

original founder’s conceptual framework and philosophical intentions. The liturgy,

qualifications of the priests, worshippers, rituals, festivals, proper attire, etc., may be

altered only to accommodate the requirements of changing times, that too with the

approval of those who are in charge of keeping those customs. If the bye-laws of a temple

thus established on the basis of the original builders’ vision are changed improperly, that

will destroy the authenticity and relevance of the particular Temple. There cannot be a

single law governing all temples as the temples are conceived and built with widely

varying needs and philosophies behind them. Again, it is like the variety in business

organizations in a society – a single law cannot cover the entire spectrum of businesses

Who are non-Hindus?

There is a controversy in Kerala around the fact that non-Hindus are denied admission in

certain temples that are built on specific philosophical concepts. At least a few do not

agree with this proposition and the politicians are quick to take it upon as a matter to

pursue. Many of the temples with restricted entry define the term non-Hindus as “those

who do not believe in the Hindu path or the Sanathana Dharma”. But Most of these

temples are ready to admit those who provide a written statement that says “I am a



believer in Hinduism and deity worship”. Why is this important with regard to some

temples and not others? Let us examine the relevance of questions such as “Does the

Omnipresent God have a religion?”.

Some Temples have been set up on the basis of Tantric concepts and the Vigrahas in

such temples are conceived to have life; and have a father and a mother as in commonhuman relations. In many cases, the worship ritual is set up on the basis of the routines of

a human life: the deity, as the ‘king of kings’ engages on many activities on time,

including bathing, sacred rituals, eating, and other daily routines. In some temples of

Goddesses, the deity is observed even to have menstruation periods and rituals to suit

that. All this is based on sacred concepts and in such temples how can we justify entry of

those who have no faith in worship of the vigraham at all? There is no right and wrong

sides in this issue; what matters is respecting what is appropriate and to have a secular

reverence for each other’s religion. As mentioned earlier, the reason why an engineer is

not allowed membership in a doctors’ society is that the two groups of professionals do

not share a common territory, albeit professionally. There are no impediments to their

working together in a realm where they have a common goal. Likewise, Hindus and non-Hindus can work together in public service, artistic activities, etc. Why insist that such

cooperative activities have to be within all temples?

It is praiseworthy when a neo-rich benefactor builds a huge temple and allows everyone

to enter it. But to do the same in temples such as the Guruvayoor temple (where there is

a well-established, ancient, time honored set of customs) to make them public sites has to

be seen as a violation of our secular culture. If, through political intervention, everyone

including those opposed to Vigraha worship is allowed entry into a temple such as

Guruvayoor that has strict rules and customs, what will happen? Of course, nothing will

happen to Krishna and His consort Radha! But the sacred concept behind the

Guruvayoor temple will be totally ruined! It is customary for believers to attend

Christian church services wearing pants, suits and shoes. If that dress code is allowed in

the Guruvayoor temple, what will be the feelings of the worshippers who follow the time-

honored customs, including a dress code? If Guruvayoor becomes a tourist center where

anyone can enter without observing any customs or standards of cleanliness, what

relevance will Guruvayoor have? Traditions have their own relevance, socially and I am

not suggesting that the Lord Krishna will be affected at all by us changing them!. Any

religious custom that does not negatively impact any other religions will add to the

quality of a secular culture in a society. But, we know from history, cases where one

group of people banded together to destroy another group’s religious culture. The

Taliban in Afghanistan destroyed the mighty Buddha vigrahas there although it did not

affect the status of the Buddha or Buddhists all around the world. But it is a wound in that

country’s history that will never heal.

Let us examine now whether the following arguments have any relevance here: shouldn’t

temples be opened up for those who adore the beauty of them, students of temple

architecture, and connoisseurs of art? And, the temples in northern India are, in general,

open to all. Shouldn’t that be the norm for the South Indian temples also?



As mentioned earlier, there are many functioning temples and all of them do not forbid

entry to non-Hindus. Students of architecture, art appreciators, etc. can easily go to the

free-access temples. Is it not better to leave alone the religious observances of those who

follow them emotionally and culturally without harming anyone else? To use an

analogy: If a host says or implies that the guest has no entry beyond the sitting room of a

house, isn’t it the right thing to do for the guest to respect that rule? If a housewife saysthat the visitor has to take off shoes when entering her house, we do respect her wish,

don’t we? Another view that ought to be respected is this: priests in some temples are

required to be those who have grown up with—even from the in utero times - the strict

adherence to the Vedic Hindu rites. A civilized secular society should respect the custom

of having priests as individuals who have been brought up through the 16 Vedic rites

(Shodasha Upacharas) that govern a person’s journey from the moment of conception

through the time after death. All Hindu temples do not adhere to this level of ‘quality

standard’ and rightfully so, because our unity is expressed in co-existence of our

diversity.

Temple Entry by Non-Hindus

I suspect that we might be violating the regulations and injunctions of other religions

intentionally or accidentally if we encourage those from at least some of the world

religions entry into the Hindu temples. If a person who belongs to a religious group that

considers Vigraha worship to be despicable (sinful) enters and worships at a temple that

has very strict rules of Vigraha worship, won’t he or she be disrespecting his or her own

religion? Also, in ordinary circumstances, that person might not view the temple Idol

with devotion and respect the temple rituals if he or she is deeply rooted in his or her own

religious faith. However, if such a person visits the temple with sincere devotion and

respect, then he or she would not feel any sense of guilt for disobeying the rules (i.e.,

injunctions against idol worship) of their own religion. And such a person will not have

any difficulty declaring that they believe in Hinduism and the deity in those temples that

he or she is entering. If this happens in large number, perhaps, members of other

religions will thus get the right and privilege to enjoy several religious faiths at the same

time as they do in Hinduism.

I am a Hindu and I feel no compunction in saying that I believe in Christ (or making a

written statement to that effect) and in going to a Church although I cannot make a

statement that I believe only in Christ as I see unity in diversity. And as a student of

Advaitha philosophy, I have no objection in members of other religions entering Hindu

temples. But as a supporter of secularism, my opinion is that, in the name of secularism,

we should not merely ‘tolerate’ each other’s religion and allow it to preserve its own set

of beliefs. We should actively study multiple faiths and encourage the preservation of

their customs wholeheartedly.

Temple Entry of Celebrities

The issue of temple entry attempts of the famous singer Sri. Yesudas at the Guruvayoor

Temple has been a topic of controversy for some time in Kerala. None of us can



comment or judge on his Bhakti or faith as it is a personal matter of an individual and that

should not even be discussed. His renderings of soul stirring devotional songs on Hindu,

Christian and Islamic traditions have moved millions of people – believers and non-

believers. I am waiting for that glorious day when he enters the Guruvayoor temple after

declaring that he is a believer and devotee of Krishna, the deity of the temple.

It is also to be noted that Sri. Yesudas’s situation was considered as a special case by the

Guruvayoor temple authorities in the past, according to the famous writer Sri. Puthoor

Unnikrishnan. He represented the employees of the temple in the meeting held to

consider Yesudas’s temple entry. The famous poet/lyricist Sri Vayalar Ramavarmma

(Guruvayoor ambalanaTayil oru divasam njaan pOkum…) was also present in that

meeting. It was almost decided to give Yesudas temple entry as a special consideration

when someone in the meeting asked for the same treatment for Sri. Vaikom Muhammed

Basheer, the veteran Malayalam writer. Then the meeting didn’t proceed well and was

adjourned without making any decisions regarding special entry to celebrities and the

status-quo remained. I remember reading a statement lately by Sri Yesudas that he is not

looking for any special consideration for himself in this matter.

Sri. Yesudas’s entry at the temple without compromising the Guruvayoor temple’s

fundamental sacred concepts will be a true revelation of his whole life’s secular message.

He doesn’t have to declare anything against his faith to proclaim this either. If someone

says that he is not duty-bound to convince others about his own devotion and faith on the

deity of a temple, then the authorities have a right to deny entry to such a person.

Yesudas certainly knows that the spiritual and consecration concept of the deity as

Guruvayoor Krishna is not the same as that of Lord Ayyappa in Sabarimala or Goddess

Saraswathi in Mookaambi in the Tantric sense. People from other religions including

some of my friends have entered the Guruvayoor temple without making any written

statements. As they did not know much about their own religions, they probably did not

feel any sense of guilt about their action. But in the case of Yesudas, he cannot enter the

temple anonymously given his celebrity status. Anyone who believes in unity in

diversity will not feel like reducing diversity just into “my own chosen way.”

In my opinion, there is only a way out of this dilemma: Everyone has a chance for an

intimate DarSanam in a future birth—the concept of reincarnation being one of the basic

tenets of the Hindu belief. Anyone who believes in Hindu theology and Vedanta with

respect will have belief in re-birth as well. In secularism, all religions must be enabled to

preserve their own rituals and tenets of faith well. When Sree Rama returned to his

kingdom after the14 year exile in the forest the question he asked of Bharata was: “Is

anyone obstructing the Chaarvaaka-s (atheists with no belief in God or religion) in our

kingdom from practicing their faith?” To sum up, what one does for one’s own soulful

happiness should create joy for others or at least create no unhappiness in the lives of

others. I hope those who believe in Vigraha worship will get a continued opportunity to

observe their own religious rites in cooperation with others who believe in such a mode

of worship.

Temple Entry for All - a closer look at secularism &deity worship.

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