Tuesday, May 6, 2008

The Importance Pradarshanam

Pradarshanam

First this must be a new word to all my overseas readers. So let me first explain what it is. Pradarshanam is the act of going around a Deity a specific number of times. I go to my neighbourhood Anjaneya temple almost everyday and come around the presiding deity 12 times. all these days, i did it without thinking why. I tend to become introspective, when i am really troubled or when i feel i am contended. i am currently feeling both these expressions while i write this.
today when i was doing this pradarshanam i decided to think y i was doing all this. firstly going to a temple makes one happy. it gives me a peace of mind and lets me relax a bit. secondly i do this pradarshanam thing as a routine. but y did i do so? parents asked me to ? yes. what was the reason behind it? i didnt know.
let me find out. firstly when u go in circles in a clockwise direction, it stimulates your chakras, which also spin in a clockwise direction, thus reinforcing their speed. this looked like one possible explanation to me. but what about those who dont believe in this chakra theory? there must be a possible explanation or a hidden meaning. here's one i found out - no matter what you do, even if u come back to the starting point, just keep doing it. sounds to me as a living example of the Gita.
it can also mean this - You start and end at the same point ( the alpha is the omega, the beginning and the end are the same) this sounds like too good to be true, and is one of the simplest truths man can comprehend. one can only experience it, not understand it. and this act of pradarshanam is the closest way one can realize this.
may be i am reading too much into too little or trying to justify a baseless superstition, but one thing i learnt from this effort was that every act of stupidity makes sense at one level or the other. What say ? :)

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2 Comments:

Blogger RAJI MUTHUKRISHNAN said...

I like the point about the beginning being the end.
In earlier days, I think the temple has mainly been THE place for social activities. Women could safely go to the temples without any objections from anyone. Doing the pradakshanam several times was the equivalent of a daily walk. And therefore healthy. Easier to make people do it if you attach religious significance to it, is my theory. :)
The temple was also a safe meeting place for women to meet other people. Nobody would actually stop a woman who wishes to go to a temple.

May 6, 2008 at 8:49 AM  
Blogger hantan said...

Ah that one didnt strike me.. by y does religion have to encomapass every activity of our life? y not it jus b limited to the aesthetic and esoteric part of it? it confuses religion too much.. that would take another post i think :)

May 6, 2008 at 10:17 AM  

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