Hindu temple visits

[Unveiled Artist]

We have a lot of Hindu Temple in our area. I am only curious to visit; and, I don't want to interupt or impose on any of the services. Can non-hindu's visit hindu temples or do we need to make appointments to visit?

I know in Islam and Nichiren Buddhist, a non Muslim and non NB can't walk into their house of worship without a sponsor. Is it the same in Hindu temples?

 

[DeviChaaya]

Namaste Carlita!

You do not need a sponsor to visit a temple! It is respectful to wear modest clothing - please do not wear short skirts/shorts or tops that bare a lot of skin. Before entering the temple it is respectful to take of your shoes. If there is a water tap or some kind of facility, wash your hands and mouth and, if there is the facility, your feet before entering.

Generally you make your way around the temple in an anti-clockwise manner but if there is a primary shrine many devotees will pay respects to that shrine first and then do their parikrama around the deity's installation. If there is more than one primary shrine, you may hone in on your favourite. For instance, in one of the temples I attend occassionally there are two primary shrines - Visnu and Shiva - and so it is customary to make the anti-clockwise parikrama first around the outside of those two shrines and then choose the deity you prefer to pay your obeisances to. If you love every deity then you can pay respects to each but that gets a little long! Personally, I always pay attention to the Tri-devis and then to Parvati and finally to Lord Shiva.

 

[SomeRandom]

Anyone can visit a Himdu temple. Take off your shoes before entering. Indian attire is preferable but modest clothing is acceptable as well. During a service an assortment of food will be on the shrine/s. This is then offered to the congregation. Make sure you eat what is offered (unless you're allergic) as this will be considered quite disrespectful if you don't.

 

[Aupmanyav]

In case you are doubtful about the prasada (what eating material the priest gives to people after the prayers), then accept it, you can put it in a plasatic or paper envelope. If you do not want to eat it (not that it is harmful), leave it somewhere for the birds.

In India, nothing is really necessary to visit a temple except devotion, respect and sensible clothing. One can go with flowers, fruits, sweets, or one can go without it. Circumbulation of the deities, if you want it and not if you don't want to do it or are not in a habit of doing it. Just a bowing before the deities and a 'namaskaram' (folding of hands). If one is not interested even in that, one can laze around and soak the peace. Spending time in a temple is amusing and peaceful, observing the devoted, young and old. I do not know how it will be taken in other countries, but we do it here regularly.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Thank you all. I visited a Thai Buddhist temple and it was somewhat similar. My friend, who is more knowledgable about the cultural norms (he's raised Buddhist but is LDS ) told me about taking off my shoes, bowing to the monks, and pay respects to each of the Buddhas and def. pay respect to the Buddha Himself. In front, you take three incense (or more if you are praying for others) and bow, postrate to the ground and offer the incense. The monk let us go into a smaller room where his family pictures and festival scenary were. Pictures from his country and so forth.

I think we did do counter clock wise, now I think of it. Before we left, the monk gave me blessed beaded necklace and my friend a wooden beaded braclet.

Is it similar to that?

I love paying respects in that maner. In the Buddhism I practice, they have different sects. I went to Shoshu, which have Japanese cultural was of respect. We couldnt turn our back to the object of worship. We always bowed to the priest. The one I go to isnt something I care for. Its more of a group.

Anyway, dont mean to talk Buddha on a Hindu DIR. Was wondering if some of the practices are similar.

Also, Indian clothing? As Muslims wear?
When you take your shoes off, can your feet show? (Im not a sock person)

@DeviChaaya
@SomeRandom
@Aupmanyav

 

[Aupmanyav]

Similar, but not the same. In a Hindu temple, the priest will give you 'prasada' and/or flowers. You are supposed to touch your eyes and forehead with the flower. The priest may also give you a teaspoonful of consecrated water. You should accept it with both hands, right palm first. The hands should touch the forehead first in a mark of respect and then you can drink that water. The wet hand is to be brushed against the hair (nothing is to be wasted - that is the deities blessing). Indian clothing is not necessary and a salvar is not considered a Muslim clothing, Hindu women also wear it. Actually it is a North-Indian dress. Yes, the feet may show, no problem with that. Here in India (particularly in Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra, in South-India also), people do not wear shoes in the house. They are left at the door.

 

[Kirran]

I have been to a few temples, and never worn Indian clothing. Many people don't, men and women alike. Especially many of the young women don't.

Feet can show, no worries! I usually am wearing socks with holes in, so I just take them off during aarti.

I would recommend you go during aarti. It's very straightforward, someone will probably help you out and either way you just sit there and copy them when they do things. You don't have to sing along.

Fairly recently, I went to a Puja at the Triratna Buddhist Centre here in Cambridge, I found much was similar.

 

[SomeRandom]

It depends. At the temple I attend Indian Dress is preferred, though if I'm attending a Pooja at someone's house then I can just wear Western clothes.
Feet can show or wear socks. Up to you. I usually just wear shiny slip ons or pretty thongs (flip flops) so I can just kick them off easily.
Also some temples might give you a "tika" like a mixture that they put on your forehead. I'm not sure what it's called. I've seen it come in either orange or yellow, perhaps someone here can tell me. You might also be given a flower sometime during the service and then later you go up to the shrine and respectfully place it on it. Oh and if you have to walk past a book that is sitting on the ground, make sure you walk around it, as stepping over it is a social faux pas and considered disrespectful to the knowledge you can gain from said book. (Though that might just be a specific local superstition. It's sometimes hard for me to tell.) There are other little quirks you might find. Like at my temple when respect is given to a shrine people might walk backwards away from it. This comes from I think a superstition or a tradition (not sure which) that says one must never turn their back on God.
@Aupmanyav I prefer the ones where you get that sweet milk stuff instead of the consecrated water. It's much sweeter.

 

[Fireside_Hindu]

Counter Clockwise? Hm. I've always done pradakshina clockwise around the deities and observed others doing the same. Maybe it's a regional difference? Or else I've been making the gods dizzy all this time. In any case, listen to the more experienced. I'm practically an infant when it comes to my faith. I do try my best. Devi seems to tolerate me well enough. =)

 

[DeviChaaya]

@Fireside_Hindu! Thank you for catching that! Pradakshina is done clockwise in Hinduism and counter clockwise in a couple of other dharmic faiths. It was late, I was very tired!

 

[Unveiled Artist]

I have been to a few temples, and never worn Indian clothing. Many people don't, men and women alike. Especially many of the young women don't.

Feet can show, no worries! I usually am wearing socks with holes in, so I just take them off during aarti.

I would recommend you go during aarti. It's very straightforward, someone will probably help you out and either way you just sit there and copy them when they do things. You don't have to sing along.

Fairly recently, I went to a Puja at the Triratna Buddhist Centre here in Cambridge, I found much was similar.

Thank you. What is an aarti?

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Similar, but not the same. In a Hindu temple, the priest will give you 'prasada' and/or flowers. You are supposed to touch your eyes and forehead with the flower. The priest may also give you a teaspoonful of consecrated water. You should accept it with both hands, right palm first. The hands should touch the forehead first in a mark of respect and then you can drink that water. The wet hand is to be brushed against the hair (nothing is to be wasted - that is the deities blessing). Indian clothing is not necessary and a salvar is not considered a Muslim clothing, Hindu women also wear it. Actually it is a North-Indian dress. Yes, the feet may show, no problem with that. Here in India (particularly in Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra, in South-India also), people do not wear shoes in the house. They are left at the door.

Whats a salvar? Im actually only familar with Muslim wear given there are a lot of Muslims in our area. I known they wear hijaab.

 

[Aupmanyav]

.. I usually just wear shiny slip ons or pretty thongs (flip flops) so I can just kick them off easily.
Also some temples might give you a "tika" like a mixture that they put on your forehead. .. You might also be given a flower sometime during the service and then later you go up to the shrine and respectfully place it on it. Oh and if you have to walk past a book that is sitting on the ground, make sure you walk around it, as stepping over it is a social faux pas and considered disrespectful to the knowledge you can gain from said book. .. Like at my temple when respect is given to a shrine people might walk backwards away from it. This comes from I think a superstition or a tradition (not sure which) that says one must never turn their back on God. I prefer the ones where you get that sweet milk stuff instead of the consecrated water. It's much sweeter.

Nice, SomeRandom. Yes, the 'tilaka', mark on the forehead - Red is Kumkum, Yellow is Sandal, White/Ash is from the burnt out incense. Slip ons/Thongs are convenient. I think the book is a copy of Vedas, must be on a table (not normally done here in India. Sikhs have their book under a canopy because their book is considered their eternal Guru, and they go around it just like Hindus do around a deity - clockwise). Yes, it is disrespect to deity to show on's back, so either one walks back some paces or goes a few steps side-ways to walk back because that way one's back would not exactly be towards the deity. It is a tradition. If the priest gives you a flower before you have bowed to the idol, it is to be placed at its feet. If after you have made the bow, then it is part of deity's blessing and you keep it with you. Tell a Hindu that you are a first-time visitor to the temple and they would guide you.

 

[SomeRandom]

Nice, SomeRandom. Yes, the 'tilaka', mark on the forehead - Red is Kumkum, Yellow is Sandal, White/Ash is from the burnt out incense. Slip ons/Thongs are convenient. I think the book is a copy of Vedas, must be on a table (not normally done here in India. Sikhs have their book under a canopy because their book is considered their eternal Guru, and they go around it just like Hindus do around a deity - clockwise). Yes, it is disrespect to deity to show on's back, so either one walks back some paces or goes a few steps side-ways to walk back because that way one's back would not exactly be towards the deity. It is a tradition. If the priest gives you a flower before you have bowed to the idol, it is to be placed at its feet. If after you have made the bow, then it is part of deity's blessing and you keep it with you. Tell a Hindu that you are a first-time visitor to the temple and they would guide you.

Ahh I see. Thanks
Well I don't know if it's the Vedas. I've seen a few different sized books over the years, so I just always assumed that they sometimes use the Bhagavad Gita or just selected scriptures from the Vedas in a smaller version, depending on what "sermon" (for lack of a better word) the Priest wants to do that time. Maybe the people who brought them just had different "versions" of the Vedas with differing sized text. I don't know. My Sanskrit knowledge is next to nothing. But generally the book is reverently wrapped up in a sacred(?) cloth and placed respectfully on a little wooden holder thing. So it's never actually on the floor per se, but it can be on the ground on top of other things. That's what I meant.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Thank you. What is an aarti?

A song in praise of the deity with a lighted lamp in hands of the priest which he moves in a vertical circular fashtion, along with the sound of bells, conches and drums (here in India we make it a very noisy prayer, especially so, if the deity is shiva).

Aarti at Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi.

Whats a salvar? Im actually only familar with Muslim wear given there are a lot of Muslims in our area. I known they wear hijaab.

Oh no. Not hijab. That is over the clothes. Here are the variations:
https://www.google.co.in/search?q=S...m=isch&q=Salwar+Kurta+ghaghra+churidar+pyjama

 

[Aupmanyav]

Well I don't know if it's the Vedas. I've seen a few different sized books over the years, so I just always assumed that they sometimes use the Bhagavad Gita or just selected scriptures from the Vedas in a smaller version, depending on what "sermon" (for lack of a better word) the Priest wants to do that time.

I think they are various holy books (and we have many), Vedas, Upanishads, Srimad Bhagawatham and other puranas, Srimad BhagawadGita and other Gitas, Valmiki's Ramayana and other Ramayanas, Rama Charit Manas, the Sikh Sri Guru Granth Sahib (equally revered by Hindus), and the South Indian holy books like Thirukkural.

 

[Kirran]

Thank you. What is an aarti?

Aup went into it. In my temple, which is a small temple, we don't have a priest, and we don't have a lot of conches and drums and stuff. But the community here will sing together, and the children will go up and wave fans (for Jalaram) and then incense/flames, and the flame will be brought around by one of them.

I've seen a few different sized books over the years, so I just always assumed that they sometimes use the Bhagavad Gita or just selected scriptures from the Vedas in a smaller version, depending on what "sermon" (for lack of a better word) the Priest wants to do that time.

You've heard sermons at temple? I've never been to a temple where they did that.

 

[SomeRandom]

You've heard sermons at temple? I've never been to a temple where they did that.

Well "Sermons" as in the Priest basically read some of the Holy Book (whichever they had that service) as a reflection of whatever lesson it's supposed to impart. Usually sprinkled throughout the Pooja itself. You know? A little excerpt after this song, another one a little later and then the longest one at the end. With updates on whatever the Hindu community is planning for the upcoming weeks. My Hindi is pretty shaky, but yeah they usually had a specific theme to them. Often with a few jokes thrown in.
I honestly don't know if that is an actual sermon, as in the Christian/Catholic sermons, I've never actually been to Church before (though I did attend Christian Youth Club as a kid. Surprisingly they were not very preachy.) It was just the word I thought most apt.

 

[Fireside_Hindu]

Well "Sermons" as in the Priest basically read some of the Holy Book (whichever they had that service) as a reflection of whatever lesson it's supposed to impart. Usually sprinkled throughout the Pooja itself. You know? A little excerpt after this song, another one a little later and then the longest one at the end. With updates on whatever the Hindu community is planning for the upcoming weeks. My Hindi is pretty shaky, but yeah they usually had a specific theme to them. Often with a few jokes thrown in.
I honestly don't know if that is an actual sermon, as in the Christian/Catholic sermons, I've never actually been to Church before (though I did attend Christian Youth Club as a kid. Surprisingly they were not very preachy.) It was just the word I thought most apt.

This has happened at some of the temples I attended on big events so I get what you mean. It's less of a sermon in the Christian sense and more of an explanation for those unfamiliar with some of the symbolism. I think it's a great idea, particularly for younger Hindus, because it's harder to feel connected to something if you don't understand it. I've heard priests give explanations during the Devi Mahatmyam recitation as well at the story behind the Satyanarayan Puja.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I've never been to a temple where they did that.

A sermon is not a part of temple rituals. There it is only 'aarti' (prayer with lighted lamps) or 'puja' (rituals), never in the time dedicated to God (I mean never from the pulpit, or where the priest stands). They may have a different seat at for a sermon and a different time (if they are short of space, then perhaps in front of the deities too). The name for that is 'katha' or 'satsang'. I may not have conveyed what I wanted to say correctly. Other members are welcome to chip in.

What is closest to a sermon is done during the last death rites (Griha-shanti, purification of the home). When priests speak for 30 or 45 minutes and then for 15 minutes eulogise the dead person. A very artificial ceremony. I am going to request my people not to hold anything like that when I die otherwise my ghost will eat the priest raw. I just want to be forgotten (completely) after I am dead. No ceremonies after I am put to flames except immersion my ashes in River Ganges in Haridwar where the ashes of my ancestors were immersed. Why remember a bubble in the ocean?