Whose Your Idol?

Rain in Chandigarh

This time of year is supposed to be dry except for a rain or two. It is the end of the winter and the weather is supposed to get drier and hotter from here on out according to the pundits.

Then why has it been raining for two days non stop? And why are they still calling for rain again tomorrow, and why does it feel like we are in the middle of a monsoon? And why are there puddles all over our little guest house that are moving like snakes across the floor?

At first it was a welcome change. The air cooled off and it made being being in the park more pleasant because the sun wasn't shining on us directly. We carried umbrellas and rain hats. I only brought a yellow poncho from the dollar store since the rain was supposed to be minimal. And its not like you can even find an umbrella.

But then it grew harder and continued. It has rained continuously for almost 36 hours, non stop from light to mostly hard rain, today. If this was Atlanta, the news trucks would be covering the flooding of all the creeks and it would be overflowing the Chattahoochee River by now.

But here, everything turns to mud, and people just get wet. You don’t see umbrellas or rain coats. You see women with wet saris and men with wet turbans just being their usual patient selves, understanding that it stops when it stops. Some of the stores don’t open and people just stop doing what they do every day.

Of course, as westerners, we just can’t understand how we would let rain stop us from doing anything. We just plow ahead as usual.

A group of seven of us agreed to visit two Hindu temples on  the outskirts of town this morning, even though everything about the weather said stay in bed and putter around the house in your pajamas. The Indians are smarter than we are. They stayed in bed and puttered around the house in their pajamas.

Typical Hindu temple worship scene

We, crazy westerners, met at 9am in the monsoon and were among the ten people who visited the Mata Mansa Devi Mandir and Chandi Mandir temples today. They pre-date the city of Chandigarh to the 1800s, and in fact, the city is named after the deity Chandi, the deity worshipped in the second temple. She is the goddess of power evidently, but there are so many different interpretations, it is hard to really figure out what she does. She has 18 arms so she can kill you in lots of way. She was popular in Bengal in her earliest carnation.

The first temple worships Devi, the deity who is considered the essence of female energy. I prayed to her to stop any hot flashes I might be having during this trip, though truth be told, hormone therapy beats idol worship 10:1.

Hindu temple scene

You see, at a Hindu temple, you take your shoes and socks off before you enter into the temple out of respect for the deity and leave them outside the temple. Usually, this is not a problem, except that you walk from the first temple across an open esplanade to get to the second temple and it is monsooning. We already stand out because we are westerners, and now, I look like a condom in my dollar store yellow plastic poncho that is stuck to me.

But we soldier on. And for me, it was worth it. You never know when you will see something amazing, but today was not that day. Apparently, Hindu temples are updating their technology, cause the first one had a flat screen television in the walkway leading up to it in case you wanted a static video view of the decked out idol we were going in to view.

If you have never been to a Hindu temple, they are more or less the same. You walk through an initial vestibule where you ring a loud bell to become focused on praying to the gods. I think it is also to alert the priest that you are in the temple and that he should come get some rupees. In return, he will give you what looks like an Altoid, or maybe sprinkle some scented water into your hands. At the second temple, the priest actually gave me a garland of chrysanthemums. I think he thought they would look nice with my yellow condom poncho.

From a vestibule, you walk into an open sanctuary and somewhere, partially hidden, and usually behind  stanchions or some other restrictive device, there is a large idol of one of the gods (there are 330,000 at last count) who is draped in bright red and yellow colored fabrics with tinsel-type adornments applied to demonstrate what appears to be adoration and glory. (And of course for 300 rupees, you can buy them outside the temple) Then there are wall paintings or pictures of the deity or other ones around the sanctuary.

In these two temples, the priest, who looks after the deity and the temple, sits comfortably and dry (I might add) on a pillow, humbly accepting your rupees in exchange for the Altoid. Hindus make all kinds of offerings to the deity of their choice including garlands of flowers, Altoids, rice, cookies, other foods, etc. Once the deity is full, which of course the priest decides, they distribute the remaining offerings to the priests and others. You get blessed by the priest, and then you go home or wait around for leftovers.

Families have all kinds of deities. There are regional gods, family gods, personal favorites, in-law idols,  or basically, any god you feel most connected to. You can visit the temple or put them in a cabinet at home in your kitchen if you like, so you can do your worshiping with your morning Pop Tart.

I kind of like it. There is no building fund and services are short and to the point. And you get a breath mint as part of the deal. I think westerners might want to review this monotheism thing again.

I personally would choose Joni Mitchell as my deity. I could offer her some locally-grown produce and  dark chocolate, which would make me popular since I could distribute it to friends after she has had her fill. Maybe she would bless me with a better singing voice.

So much for reverence today. The water is inching its way across the floor and all we have are napkins to mop it up. I’ll ask Joni to make it stop raining.

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