Blog Post 4: A Chat with the priest

When I spoke with Pandit Keshavan, I asked him how the temple here was different from temples in India. His answer was two part. First he addressed the physical aspects of the temple. He said that the temples here were smaller, they were dedicated most importantly to one deity. He said in India, even if the temple was for one important god, smaller shrines were built within the temple complex which had various other deities which the devotees could offer their prayers to. He said that the temple complex in India could extend to a couple acres of land, usually donated by the towns richest people, or the local people collecting to buy the land for the community. He also said that temples were not simply a place of worship, but also a hub for cultural programs such a music and dance, where many people would come and attend them. Another important structure that he said existed in India, predominantly South India was the construction of a large bathing area for the people. This area was specially dedicated to the temple, and was holy water, where people would take a dip after their prayers and on special occasions.

On the cultural aspect of things, Panditji said that in India, one doesn’t have to make a concious effort to make time for religion. As in when they feel they should go to the temple, they go. They offer their prayers and some offerings (coconuts, sweets etc.) and get the blessings of the gods. Temple activities keep happening and are not panned around a person’s work schedule as it is done here. Here he said, the temple makes an effort to ensure that most of their “homas” and important celebrations are held on the weekends so that people are able to visit the temple. He also noticed that people spend only a certain amount of time 15-30 mins at the most and sometimes leave halfway through the ceremony. He equates coming to a temple to a meeting which one keeps in their planner.

On the hymns and chants, he says that those are the same as the ones that are in India. He says that many saints and gurus have complied these chants and hymns into books which are where these chats are read from, and if pronounced wrong they loose their significance. Hence as a pandit, one has to make sure they chant correctly. He does however mention that Saibaba loved bhajans, and these bhajans are not the same, people make them up as they go, some are the same, some are altered. It is all sung in the praise of Shri Saibaba.