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A Visit to the Hindu Temple in Southall
At the end of November a group of twelve from CTiB travelled to Southall
to visit the Hindu Temple. After waiting downstairs and having removed
our shoes, we were led upstairs to the Temple proper which was opened
only last year, where we were welcomed by the Temple President Umesh
Chander Sharma and his wife Mukesh Sharma who took time to explain as
simply as possible the meanings behind the different Gods.
Two sides of the Temple room were adorned by figures of different
gods - these are just different manifestations of the one Supreme
God. Hindus choose a God or several Gods to worship as the Supreme God's
most important manifestation for them in a religion which goes back
to at least five centuries before Christ. (We have to remember that
there is no one way of depicting any God.)
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Vishnu the Preserver is black/blue in
body with four hands - one holding a club, another a conch
shell, the third a discus and the fourth a lotus. Vishnu has taken
various forms from time to time, the most popular of which are
Rama and Krishna. His consort Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth
and prosperity and symbolises good fortune. On Diwali night, the
festival of lights, doors of homes are left open in the hope of
a chance visit by her. |
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As Rama he led the victory of good over evil. The epic Ramayana is based on this incarnation of Vishnu. Here is Rama with his consort Sita and his half-brother Lakshman.
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Durga, another version of Lakshmi, is seen
here as a crowned mother figure beside a lion as a symbol of power
– sometimes she is shown beside a tiger. |
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Krishna, mostly portrayed in blue and often
with his flute, and his consort Radha. His flute symbolises the
soul. As a young man, Krishna was said to be flirtatious and he
has been given the image of the eternal lover. |
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Shiva and Parvati and their son Ganesh, the elephant god. The
Lord Shiva is surrounded by a snake symbolising his power. He
is represented by the lingam which has five faces, male and female,
symbolising everything in the world. People pray to their son
Ganesh when a new project is started, asking him to remove obstacles.
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Vishwakarma with his symbols of construction:
engineers and architects pray to him when starting a new construction
project. |
Throughout our visit people came and went; most kneeling in prayer
before a particular God. We were told that worship takes place every
day at 7.00am and 7.00pm with another service of worship at 2.00pm on
Sundays.
Susan Gibson with help from Sriram Chari Photographs
by John Barnett
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