Divine Temple or a Temple of Doom?
We recently received a letter from a regular reader of Hindu Voice UK, complaining about certain events and activities at a newly set up local temple. The writer, who is a Mauritian Hindu, has asked for her name not to be published.
May 18th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Surely this reflects on our mother-land (India) the way Indian government stance taken against BJP recently who ridiculed their own culture. Then again how many Indian channels are providing free enlightened programme on Hindu culture and to its present demise.
I am sorry to say that people Gandhi, Nehru who despite their towering status in history books taught us how to be coward as an inferior race unfortunately. They conspired against martyr like Bhagat Singh, Chandra Shekher Bose like many others freedom fighters. Unlike other nationals, how many Indian who are prepared to converse in their own mother tongue proudly than to shy away under various pretences of pathetic excuses!
It was Nehru’s timidity to China, caused so much lost in Indian soldiers with resulting loss in India territory (insult & national pride) and present dismal stand against China.
If it weren’t for Sikh(s) and others we all (Hindu) would have been converted to Islamic religion!
May 18th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
If facts are true then this owner administration of temple is accountable for this appaulin behavior. They can have Temple functions in Hindu Traditions and party in their home as private events. I is a misjudgement of Hindu values and Mauritians ae better Hindu followers than this. Why claim Temple if it acts as club?
May 18th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
correction I is… should be it is
May 18th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
absolutely disgusting! This “mandir” should be closed with immediate effect or at the very least the members be thrashed!
May 18th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
Wow. That’s about all I can say. Can’t wait for what the administration has to say about it.
May 18th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
This is sad and we should try to educate the perpetrators of this behaviour. Has anyone from the organisers been contacted? Maybe they should explain it.
Even one off incident like this should not be condoned. Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma, is a ‘way of life’ and the reason it is ‘Sanatana’ or eternal is the upholding of the ‘Values’.
While drinking alcohol in itself is not a subject of discussion here, it should not have been done in the name of a ‘Hindu Cultural event’ and ‘Bharatanatyam’ is a classical form of dance which should never have been denigrated. It is desecration of our values.
I hope the organisers realise these and these comments should be passed on to them by Hindu voice if possible.
Hari Om
May 19th, 2008 at 4:14 am
It is the same way nowadays people (devotees?) in Tamil Nadu do in a temple function.
When a temple function or Thiruvizha is declared, they put a stage, decorate it with gimmicks, lighting. Inside the temple they perform pooja and worships, somewhere near temple, others will drink, dance, fight. In the stage devotees (?) let their own children dressed like cine actors, to dance for worst third rated movie songs with sexually explicit lyrics and movements.
These are happening in most of the villages and all cities in tamil nadu.
No Hindu organisation is interested to oppose these type of record dance temple functions.
Jilaba
May 19th, 2008 at 8:05 am
I think it is disgusting, have a party , but do not mix the hindu religion and the behavior mentioned, what are we teaching our young generation.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:09 am
I agree with the genaral comments made that the organisers should have had better sense: if it was intended to raise funds for a temple,then the “party” should have been organised with proper regard to Hindu values,culture and behaviour i.e no alcohol or non vegetarian food and the entertainment should have been Hindu religion -based with modesty in mind.
I also admire the lady for speaking -up and walking out with her children. How many others who attended that party did anything like this if they also felt that thing were not right.
It is important that we Hindus understand more about our religion and speak up whenever it is wrongly portrayed.
May 19th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Shame … this kind of behaviour needs to be stopped. Can’t wait to see how the temple commitee attempts to wriggle out of this one!
May 19th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
“If it weren’t for Sikh(s) and others we all (Hindu) would have been converted to Islamic religion!”
Yash can you please go back and provide historical evidence for this extraordinarily crackpot claim of yours?
May 19th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
“If it weren’t for Sikh(s) and others we all (Hindu) would have been converted to Islamic religion!”
yash, you stupid bugger, what the hell are you talking about?
hindus saved themselves, didn’t need any magical sikhs to save them. stop being a servile ignorant moron and learn some history.
May 19th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Don’t attack Yash - he’s only expressing what he has learnt to be true. It is better to have a discussion and show him another persepctive to what he said. Attcking ain’t gonna get us nowhere.
May 19th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Dangerous this topic has been beaten to death on this board, am I to assume posters like these haven’t read the debate on this very site and is not aware the absolute lack of evidence presented by people who make these claims on this very site.
I think it must have been almost a year back when this first came up, someone named Bhupendra said the same, I remember I asked him for evidence but he never provided any, since then the same has been repeated tons of times, and it just tests ur patience when these people come on and repeat the same bs again.
May 19th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Alcohol and intoxication is prohibited in Hinduism. I agree that there are lots of good cultural ways to raise funds for the temple. The management is to blame.
May 19th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Harish - then why don’t you link him to that thread and tell him to check the points, rather than attack him. It’s ridiculous to be attacking fellow Hindus who haven’t had the chance to know better rather than spending two minutes to explain to them. I remember you in your early HinduUnit days - you may also have spurted certain views that needed coreecting. Attacking you at that stage would’ve been counter productive. BTW it’s alright to attack people who have had every chance to know better but still act ignorant - but I don’t think that’s the case with yash.
May 19th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
It is an aberration to see this kind of behaviour in what is being promoted as a “Hindu” Temple. Is it little wonder why the Western faiths see our path to be heathenistic and pagan.
It is hight-time that Hindus around dthe world gather together in a conference to clearly the dictates of what defines a Temple, and a set of “do-s and don’ts” that constitue proper behaviour.
May 19th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Fair enuf Dangerous, but u do realize some people even after being shown the evidence refuse to alter their position, Bhupendra Gandhi was like this, as for linking I forgot the article where the debate took place, so can’t link.
Meanwhile I will wait for what evidence Yash has, and if he doesn’t have any I hope he changes his mistaken belief.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Sikhs saving Hindus outside of Punjab is negligible at best and laughable at worst. Its an insult to other Hindu groups such as the Rajputs and Marathas to suggest that ‘Sikhs saved Hindus’ as both the Marathas and Rajputs were acknowledged by Mughal writers as being the biggest threat to their supremacy in India.
Again I think its best if we stick to the topic at hand.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Speaking of the topic at hand, will the editors of HVUK post the response of the temple admin on this blog or will we all have to wait till next issue?
May 20th, 2008 at 2:18 am
I’m gonna play mod and hope others will join me by saying that we should avoid the Sikh/Hindu discussion for outside the Internet.
Let us stay on topic.
Keshav
May 23rd, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Hindu mandirs need to emulate certain things from ISKCON mandirs. Its all about learning, and practice. Why I refered to ISKCON mandirs, because they strictly practice certain principles like no smoking, no drinking, no non-spritual activities, etc.
My suggestion on this particular issue, please contact the mandir and advised them to maintian the sanctity of a place of worship. I belive, they will understand it. Sometimes, we become casual and do such things out of ignorance. If no one objects, then it becomes part of the rituals. Its good, someone brought out the issue.
Note: Hindujanajagruti is working to correct similar bad things, in Bharat.
Bharat
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May 27th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Namaste All
I do not understand why Hindu-Sikh relations were brought in this column when we were asked to comment about drinking and dancing in a provocative manner in a so called temple.
Then certain people are more interested in settling personal score than ina meaningful discussion.
Please stick to the subject matter on hand.
Bhupendra
May 29th, 2008 at 9:27 am
This article is a personal attack on the people that orgnanized the party…
Firstly - (to the person who wrote this - miss tirounavalli ) Get ya facts straight love- This was a personal (friends only -thats why u were not invited) party, it was not intened for outsiders and was done with the the intention of raising money for the temple. This was not organized by the temple.. it was simply a little show the kids wanted to do and then a party after. All the people there were friends and it was not advertised for hte public, so get ya facts straights before trying to make a personal attack on people you silly girl who is stuck up Mr SS’s bumb!
June 2nd, 2008 at 8:25 pm
‘’Venita Says: Firstly - (to the person who wrote this - miss tirounavalli )make a personal attack on people you silly girl who is stuck up Mr SS’s bumb!'’
Hey Venita,
Where’s the writer’s name?
‘’it was simply a little show the kids wanted to do and then a party after.'’
What? With crates of beer? Kiddies had beer?
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:09 am
Namaste All
Hare Krishna
My and my friends’ understanding is that when we turn our home, residence into a holy place, a temple, then it becomes our duty to observe certain unwritten rules and regulations and they are:
Not to cook or consume meat, especially beef on the premices.
No alcholic drinks or wild parties but bhagans and satsangs only.
I also feel that when some one uses foul language, they devalue their own case, arguments, that they they have nothing to say that would make a difference.
It is a defeatist attitude unworthy of a place in this intellectual
and informative column.
Devotee
June 4th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
“I do not understand why Hindu-Sikh relations were brought in this column”
It was brought in cuz somone lyk urself repeated the lie of sikhs saving us, now if the likes of u don’t sidetrack every topic into an asskissing of sikhs fest, the rest of us would have no problem sticking to the topic.
June 6th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Yes i rote the artcle so what!
June 9th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Thanks.
hariaum
June 14th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Harish Duggirala :It was brought in cuz somone lyk urself repeated the lie of sikhs saving us, now if the likes of u don’t sidetrack every topic into an asskissing of sikhs fest
Yeh I totally agree with Harish. The problem is most Hindus don’t know their own history & fail to think as to how can only 2% of a population [i.e. sikhs] have actually ’saved’ 98% of the Indian population [i.e. Hindus] and that too prior to sikhism ever having being formed since Hindus were fighting for more than 800 yrs anyway by the time the sikhs decided to get their act together & start fighting right at the very end.
July 17th, 2008 at 8:11 am
How sad I was to read this artical, I was not born into the Hindu faith but “converted” to it in 2006, which was when I was given my Hindi name, of which I am very proud. I worship at the Balajii Temple in Tividale and have made many friends, this sort of behaviour is NOT acceptable no matter what the reasons given for it. The Temple commitee should resigne on mass and let someone who repects the Vadic teachings and Hindu way of life take over its day to day management.
July 20th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
I attended this event, and i wish to correct this article. The way this person describes this event is wrong. There may have been whistling from FAMILY MEMBERS e.g brothers and mothers etc.. and these girls wore traditional sarees as outfits. Alsooooo there was NOOO smoking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To the person who thought this article was appropriate and write lies then your life must be very sad.
July 20th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
To the lady/man/whatever who wrote the article
Firstly if you are such a “hindu” devotee, why the hell are you attending parties -couldn’t you go to the temple instead?!
May I correct you - the party was in a hall and not a temple! You attended - you should know. THIS WAS NOT A PRAYER OR A RELIGIOUS EVENT! IT WAS DONE TO CELEBRATE TAMIL NEW YEAR!
Reader, don’t you think that if this person was so set on voicing their opinion and defending their religion then they wouldn’t have put themselves as anonymous?! You shouldn’t be scared to name yourself in the name of your religion?
As for the – ‘While I sat there baffled, the beers began to be distributed amongst the crowd. What followed was like a general nightclub scene.
The first point I would like to make is How do you know what a NIGHTCLUB is like? Do you attend them?
As for the - as you describe ‘girls gyrating’ - I find it very alarming that you take our hindu girls in such ways. The dance was copied from a Tamil film. You disgust me to the maximum. You need to seriously stop judging other people’s kids and consider the facts. These kids were very young teenagers who were with their parents and families and did this show to help raise money for the temple (isn’t that showing solidarity amongst your fellow hindu’s). And if you think that dressing up in a sari is scantily then I don’t think that you belong in this religion at all.
As a mother of two – you should concentrate on looking after what is important to you and avoid doing ‘palab’ (gossip).
I find this article a complete and utter waste of time! And had I not been related to the ‘scantily’ dressed girls I would not have even wasted my time on responding to such a narrow minded, unrealistic person who needs to wake up and smell the coffee seeing as you don’t drink beer!! If you are not happy with the way girls dress and dance in the name of their culture then please do us all a favour and return to MAURITIUS! People like you give us all a bad name in Britain because of your narrow mindedness.
In conclusion I think that you’re just jealous! These were beautiful goddesses that were performing a TAMIL dance. This dance was commended by everyone is that hall.
Please reply – I look forward to it!