It’s been over eight months. I want to go visit a Temple.
Not because I think I can find God only in temples. I’ve reached an age where I’m quite clear that God is everywhere, and I can talk to him from anywhere. But I want to go visit a Temple.
I want to go to a large temple complex and marvel again at how our ancestors managed to build those monuments from raw stone by hand!
I want to go again to Simhachalam and wonder at the concept of an idol over an idol, and a temple built over a much more ancient temple, and how both avatars live as one.
I want to go to Sri Rangam once more to walk around the world’s largest temple complex and to wonder how much more advanced our previous generations were that they made a temple the center of their community and flourished around it.
I want to go back to Arunachalam and be amazed at the heat inside the sanctum sanctorum. I want to walk around the hill and admire that the hill, the temple, and the entire area is worshipped as Shiva.
I want to go visit Manakula Vinayagar in Pondicherry and be told once more the story of the idol coming back from deep sea; and to be fascinated by the temple elephant Lakshmi’s anklets.
I want to drive again to the six shrines of Muruga in Tamil Nadu and experience the devotion of millions of devout folk.
I want to head up Tirumala and enjoy the build up to a dazzling darshan of our Lord, who revels there in all his glory.
I want to go back home to Kashi and sit in the smaller temple facing Viswanathji and not be bothered for an hour or two. I want to spend a day on the banks of Ganga, watch life go by, and contemplate over nothing at all.
I want to go again to Kedarnath to be awestruck seeing the boulder behind the temple, which saved the structure during floods, and smile at it all being a part of a divine plan.
I want to go once more to Dwaraka and dance in queue waiting for darshan. I want to sit in Balaram’s mandir and gaze at the beauty of the sanctum. Then I want to look up at the Dhwaj on top of the gopuram in pride.
I want to revisit Badrinath to go for the 4 am puja and see the idol be stripped bare, washed, and then redecked again, ready for yet another day. And to be reminded that inside it is indeed quite simple.
I want to visit Shringeri and sit in front of Mother, leaning on the barricades, and behold the compassion in her eyes. I want to fall asleep on the cool stones beside the Tunga while watching the teeming fish, to be woken by chants of students studying the Vedas.
I want to go to Kamakshi and mentally thank the modern crew who restored Her abode marvellously, without letting down the people who built it in the first place.
I want to go to Annapurna at Hornadu and stand once more dumbfounded at the lifesize idol of the mother who feeds us all, and then to eat delicious sambar-rice in her bhojanalaya.
I want to go to Puri and gaze at the large eyes of the deities in the light of the arati given by the pujari. And then I want to peep through the windows into the temple kitchen at kichdi being cooked by stacking pots, before devouring a whole pot by myself.
I want to revisit Omkareshwar, and after darshan, engage a boat to go all around the hillock. While on the other side, I want to pay the boatman extra to stop his engines and just float on mother Narmada for an hour in bliss.
I want to drive again through Tamilnadu, and stop in Tanjavur. I want to sit in front of Dakshinamurthi and gaze at him imparting primordial knowledge through his silence.
I want to go back to Bhadrachalam and marvel at the love of Rama for coming back in his avatar for a bhakta, and to relive the story through Ramadasu’s eyes, songs, and the locations He trod on.
I want to sit in my Guru’s ashram and thank him for the clarity he accorded me, and to promise him that I’m putting what he gave me to good use.
Madurai Meenakshi, Vaishno Devi, Padmanabha, Arasavalli, Srisailam, Harmandir Sahib, Tryambakeshwar, Udupi, Puttaparthi, Annavaram……..
There are a hundred other temples I want to revisit. Being able to see the deity and prostrate in person is an added bonus. The real magic is to let the senses float in bliss in these remarkable complexes. Some temples smell divine, while others have sculptures that are amazing to touch. Several temples have devotees singing bhajans which transport us to a different plane. Many temples offer Prasad, the taste of which we can never manage to replicate at home. Almost all temples look magnificent. Just spending time in an old temple complex is meditation. It calms the senses, rejuvenates our spirit, and gets even the most garrulous visitor to go quiet.
Chaganti garu once observed that just thinking about a temple we’ve visited transports us there. Isn’t that the truth! As we think, write about, read, or speak about a visit, the mind is transported there instantly. There is an uncommon peace that takes over our being when thinking about a temple complex that has made an impact on us. God, we can interface with anywhere. I can pray to the God in my puja room in any language, or even in silence. Whether I chant Rudram or Meenakshi Pancharatnam; Sahasranamam or Ganga stotram, He responds the same way. I don’t miss seeing God. I miss visiting his abodes and experiencing the different manifestations of faiths our incredible culture has to offer. It’s been over 8 months of avoiding crowds, and it seems like this will last for some more time. This period has given us a lot of time to delve into ourselves and iron out atleast some wrinkles in our consciousness. It taught us what is truly important to us, and what overrated things we thought to be critical. And when I think back to before this situation, one of those things I’ve enjoyed the most is to spend time in an old temple complex; and that I miss. All these temples have to be revisited, and there are hundreds more which I’ve never been to! Hopefully this period will come to an end soon and the Yatra can resume.
