Tuesday, 28 January 2014

“ GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD.”

Recently I had visited a temple in Andhra Pradesh. I had taken my camera and took as many snaps as possible to capture the essence of the pilgrim place. As I was going through the snaps, I was amazed at the job opportunities these types of places provide for the locals.
 As we came out railway station, the place was teeming with auto-rickshaws, cabs and vans. As the station is eight kilometers from the temple, passengers have to get dropped in the main town. The fare depends on the number of people traveling.  This was income for the drivers and the vehicle owners.
Then the lodge we went to stay, was new, with AC and geysers for hot water.  This was income for the lodge owner and their employees.

We had tea and breakfast, lunch and dinner in different hotels. This was income for the hotel owners and their employees. Vans to supply milk for these hotels.









There were trinket vendors, tender coconut peddlers, soda stalls, flower hawkers, fancy item stores, and outlets ,that sold religious materials.











Then there were the photographers, who gave instant two minute prints.  Guys were selling mementos, and books extolling the virtues of the temple and the deities.
In some lodges, which did not have geysers, hot water was provided by the young boys, in plastic pots, for the tenants for  bathing. 
Public toilets and bathing rooms, for a small sum, were available for devotees who were too poor to afford a room.


There were many shops selling religious articles.
Inside the temple there were counters for devotees to make payments for any type of religious activity they wished to perform. Payments ranged from Rs. 200000 to Rs.100, depending on the affordability, and the type of service.
Counters were also issuing Prasad, [ eatable sweets, particular to the temple], for a sum.  
The temple also provided free meals, and hundreds of devotees, were fed lunch and dinner. This meant employment for cooks, and cleaners.
So much of employment, business opportunities, income for thousands of people residing in that area.
And the source of such income was faith. Faith in Gods, in saints, in religion, in rituals. Religion was meant to be the first step towards spirituality. Religion was needed to tell men about the existence of God in a visual form, as stone or metal images, in a audio format, as chants, prayers and songs, bells and drums, and as smell in flowers used for worship and incense sticks lit in temples. As taste in Prasad, and as touch in the basil leaves, and saffron rice, kumkum and vibhuti we receive from the priests.
But mankind stayed in the first step ,and  never   used the inquiring mind to go from the obvious to the subtle. He was trained and conditioned never to enquire, about the nth dimension.  Even with the faults, religion has a place in society. After all it serves the purpose of “ Give us this day our daily bread.”
   



    

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