Wednesday, October 31, 2012

A Pilgrimage

Guruvayur is famous - for Lord Sri Krishna resides there. If one goes early morning(3:00 a.m. - 3:20 a.m.) for Nirmalya Darshanam then one sees the Lord adorned with the flowers and garlands of the previous night. From then on, as the day progresses, one can see Him in various forms from childhood till adulthood.



Anyone who has gone there knows that for a 5 second darshan of the Lord, you have to wait for near an hour, sometimes three hours. The time spent in the queue is very interesting. All kinds of people, poor and rich stand in the same queue to have their 5 seconds with Him. Some chant, some are more concerned about when they will be able to leave, some about what they have to do once they are back home, some about sedentary things in life and others are concerned about how to overtake the person in front. Through all this most of us try to think of him and meditate maybe on how miniscule we are on earth and how our actions and reactions to people around better be good for the little time we have.

Through all this there was one couple who were discussing about watching 3D Titanic after leaving the temple. It sounded so ridiculous (to me atleast). Yes, Lord Krishna had eight wives(16000 odd were those who were kept in the harem of King Narakasura and asked for Krishna's protection. He granted their wish by declaring that they were his wives). Yes, we see Krishna as the divine lover. However, standing there in front of the temple, waiting for a darshan and wishing that they watch a movie. They might as well have watched the movie and then come in peace.

Or maybe Krishna was testing our capacity to keep our mind from going astray - from wandering away from him. 

3 comments:

Tanmay Chakrabarty said...

I never found a single reason for travelling thousands of miles, waiting hours after hours to watch a temple or making a prayer or for presenting a wish to God.

Its God who is everywhere, deep in me too.

Off-Topic : Do you know that why Krishna didn't marry Radha?

अनामक, संज्ञारहित (Anonymous) said...

Well, accepted God is everywhere, within you too.

However, there is something in temples too - a good feeling. Maybe a feeling that you are one in the world before a larger power, or that you are a very small entity in the scheme of things, or just for reassurance that there is someone whom you can turn to. Different people go for different things. I for one go there because I feel at home in that sea of humanity, I feel safe even though I visit maybe twice a year for a day each and I do not know that place much - and yes, I smile a lot even when I stand in the queue for three hours sometimes and it teaches me patience. In that huge crowd, I, who cannot stop thinking of things all the time am able to calm down and think of him and the beauty of life, am able to meditate standing in a crowd. Somehow, there is a good vibe in that place. When I am there, I look at people, young, old, firm, infirm, rich and poor standing in the same line, waiting for their turn and understand that God does not have power by himself but his power comes from our collective belief in him - from the goodness of humanity not otherwise.

Guruvayoor is for me like going home in some ways. It gets me refreshed despite the journey and fills me with positive energy.

Tanmay Chakrabarty said...

OK, its up to you about how you gonna get refreshed. However, I asked you an off-topic question, leave a reply if you know or you can manage finding it out.