Recently had a chance to visit few temples around Chennai, not intentionally, but had to take my relatives around the place as they were new to the city. And, then this thought just flashed on how much the temples had changed in years. It is not like that I haven’t visited temples for long time, but the thought just flashed now.
I’m not here to talk about the spirituals and bhakti or devotion towards god, but about the evolution or change which has happened in the place of worship. I might be wrong, but not completely wrong.
The sanctum sanctorum or easy to understand Garbhagriham is very accessible in our living rooms. Few years before that place was considered as very holy and so no TV cameras were allowed to shoot. Even now an individual cannot shoot inside the temple, but a TV crew can shoot the very holy place and telecast it in their morning slot to give a daily dose of godly feature inside our living room. The whole part of abishekam is covered in detail. Some temples are feeding it via internet live. All this change happened in few years. At the age of selfies, no wonder if a temple asks the bhakths to pay a special fee and allow taking selfie with the main idol.
Prominent temple garbhagrihams are fitted with air conditioners. Necessity, life style and climate change!
Some years before most of the temples wouldn’t allow men with their shirts on. This practice is non-existence now. Very few still follow. Contrary big shopping malls and cinema theaters doesn’t allow people wearing lungies now.
In Hindu religion they say there are 30x30 crores of gods (numbers may vary). So now there are these new temples popping up with new gods (which already exists in scriptures) with special features and to narrow down the bhakths prayer. And, most of the idols in these new temples are considerably bigger in size. Size does matter. So people want change, they want to pray to new gods.
Food is an important part. Even prominent temples in Tamil Nadu don’t serve free food, but in other states (like Karnataka) they do, with a catch- the eating place is depended on which caste you belong. I’m not sure about the situation now. Don’t get shocked there is this new age temple in South Chennai suburb which sells tea and popcorn inside the temple!
Not to forget the big fish changes which were influenced by external factors like – Temple Entry Movements in Periyar time.
**Above pic from the blogger
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