The absolute best way to spend an auspicious New Year's Day: At the lovely Rama Krishna Temple in the heart of Chennai. Everything about it was amazing: The beauty of the temple and grounds; the peacefulness of the interior (albeit, in the afternoon, when most of the attendees had cleared out); the fabulous free feast served for lunch; the delightful people I met. I spent the entire day at the temple, and returned to my Airbnb accomodation content and fulfilled. It truly was a great beginning to 2023!
For those of you who don't know who Rama Krishna was, here is a brief biography:
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was an Indian Hindu mystic and spiritual leader. After adhering to various religious practices from the Hindu traditions of Bhakti yoga, Tantra, and Advaita Vedanta as well as from Islam and Christianity, he proclaimed the world's various religions as "so many paths to reach one and the same goal", thus validating the essential unity of religions.[3] Ramakrishna's followers came to regard him as an avatar, or divine incarnation, as did some of the prominent Hindu scholars of his day.[
 |
As befits a visit to any temple in India, I am wearing my punjabi, traditional Indian garb.
|
 |
| A larger view of the front of the temple... not the traditional Hindu variety at all. I found it to be exceedingly elegant and lovely, inside and out. |
 |
The murti of Rama Krishna, said to have the enlivened shakti of the saint himself. Indeed, you can feel the power and specialness of this place... when there weren't hordes of people, the atmosphere was so very peaceful and light. I felt recharged sitting there, and it was easy to go into meditation.
|
 |
The beautiful and delectable free lunch, served after the Arati had taken place inside the temple.
|
 |
There were several hundred people at the temple on this day... and, coincidentally, I ran into this lovely couple there. They had helped me haggle with an auto driver a couple days before, when I was trying to get from the lighthouse back home to my Airbnb. How great to run into them again!
|
 |
| These two fine young men were in charge of serving people dahl out of this giant vat! Apparently the food service went on for several hours, feeding anyone who came by. This was only one of several enormous pots! I marveled at the vast quantities... truly amazing how the quality could be SO good with such vast amounts of it being cooked! |
 |
People seated themselves all over the grounds to eat... and eat...and eat some more!
|
 |
A different building on the temple grounds... I thought the architecture was quite lovely as well.
|
 |
Inside the temple, for the afternoon program...after the vast majority of people had eaten and left. I was glad the crowds were gone...bajans were performed, and the singers were divine... this was the best part of all!
|
 |
| Another side of the temple...so gorgeous! |
 |
No idea who this deity is, but she was being honored inside of the temple as well.
|
 |
| Lastly, a strange story here: I was sitting and eating my lunch, chatting with a friendly young woman beside me, when suddenly we heard something fall from the trees. We turned around and looked: this poor creature--a bat-- had fallen, and was flailing about on the ground. It was painful to watch... it was apparently in the process of dying. It struggled for quite some time--perhaps an hour--before laying still, on its back, as you see here. I blessed it... and sent a prayer that it would come back as some other beautiful creature... a tiger, perhaps?! |
Next up: I depart from Chennai two days later, and head by train south to Pondicherry... and new adventures there!
Comments
Post a Comment
Please DO comment! I will be moderating them and responding... Sheri