The whole world has become a show. It's a circus, i tell you. Our political and religious scene has become a facade and the leaders have become the ring masters.
This has been my i-don't-know-how-many-times visit to Puri, and if i am in Puri i visit the Jagannath Temple. Its not that i am a religious person, but yes, i am spiritual. As soon as one enters the temple premises, one enters a circus. Money games going on everywhere and the highest bidders win.
Give money when you enter. Give money when u pray. Give money when you leave. Give give!! Money Money. It's a shame though. Just because my family has the moolah i get VIP treatment when i enter the temple. My mom and sister shedding out hundred rupees every time a "panda" asks for it. So we don't really face any trouble in the hoards of people present in the temple premises.
Thousands of people enter the temple everyday and it has turned out to be a huge business. But while i was waiting while mom was buying the puja "bhog" i was looking at a family. They looked extremely normal, and seemed to be of a middle class family. Their panda showed them the bhog rate chart, and pointed out the most costliest rates that were not below Rs.3000. I saw them contemplating their options, making their way down to the end of the chart, while my mom had already already ordered bhog of Rs.5000. The family ended up paying Rs.300 while my sister and mom paid Rs.6000. Does this mean that my family is more closer to god or a better follower than the family i was noticing? NO.
It's a game. A race to the top even in a place of faith. A temple should be a place where all people are treated equally. A temple should be a place of meditation and purity.But it has turned out to be a money minting factory. The pandas seem so well fed that the devotees seem like they have come out of starving hibernation. It's so strange how money buys you a quick entrance, a grand puja and room full of "prasad". Where is the devotion getting reflected in all this?
Why is faith being measured by your bank balance? What has the world come to? Why for a proper blessing a person has to shed out thousands of rupees? Why the poor and the needy need to pay sky high ticket prices to enter the room where the idols are kept? Why do they have to compromise even in a place of devotion and faith?
Why is everything running around money? Why cannot one worship with whatever they have got and be treated equally? Religion says that god treats us all equally, but it does not reflect in the preaching.
I remember the saying i had learned in first standard, and i hope all re-learn this saying, "Practice what you preach". Hence, give everyone the same treatment in the doorstep of god. It's in Him that most of our countrymen believe in. Do not let them down even in abode of God.
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