A Temple with Rides?

8/8/10 7pm

As a whole and on average, I would say that Indian people are more religious and spiritual than American people. And I would be really surprised if anybody disagrees with that. Indian people tend to spend more time than Americans observing their religion, and it seems to play a significant role in their everyday lives. Here in Delhi, as in most of India, the majority of people are Hindu, but Hinduism has many different flavors and so everybody's personal observance seems to be unique. So needless to say, there are all kinds of temples here and I've been to a couple during my stay here.

I really enjoy the role religion and spirituality play in daily life here. Every auto rickshaw, taxi, and business has in it at least one image of the proprietor's favorite deity or religious figure. Vegetarianism is taken very seriously here; in fact, in order to be respectful to those who are highly offended by meat, the teachers at my school are only allowed to bring vegetarian food into the building. There are all sorts of festivals and religious observances going on all the time, and so many things are seen to be auspicious: Tuesdays, for example, or certain plants, or being left-handed. And I know there is a lot of tension between Hindus and Muslims on a macro level, but I haven't heard anybody say anything negative about another religious group during my entire stay here. It seems that there is an acknowledgment that although the practices and deities and specifics might be different, everybody has the same goal in mind and the same core values. When I see (for example) Hindu people speaking so tolerantly of others because they acknowledge that we all pray to the same God, it makes me sad that the reality of life is that so many wars are fought over religion. There are a lot of things I don't understand in this world, and fighting about religion is one of them!

But I want to tell you about where 4 of us visited on Saturday afternoon. The most exciting temple I have ever been to: Akshardham Temple, built by followers of the saint Swami Narayan who lived in the early 1800s. And I say that it was the most exciting because it is part house of worship and part theme park. Yes, theme park. There are three "rides" plus the temple plus a snack bar plus a gift shop plus night-time fountain show with laser lights plus numerous places to have a souvenir photo taken (I did not partake, because the finished results, frankly, looked Photoshopped and fake.) We spent about 4 hours there yesterday and got to see it all!

I'm sure readers of my blog would be most interested to know about the rides. The first ride was a multi-room presentation of Swami Narayan's life and teachings. Basically, his teachings were of nonviolence, compassion, vegetarianism, and service… and apparently theme parks in his honor. As we walked from room to room in the exhibition, a booming voice narrated and Animatronic figures blinked and moved their arms stiffly. It was entertaining and informative…. And most important, it was very nicely air conditioned.

The second ride was actually an IMAX movie about Swami Narayan's life. The audio was extremely loud as well, and we were given headphones that gave the English translation. Again, we saw brought to life the story of Swami Narayan's life plus some information on the mission work the group does today, which seems pretty extensive and beneficial. There were some very melodramatic moments in the movie, which made me giggle.

But the third ride was my favorite. It was actually a ten minute boat ride illustrating the history of India. It was very similar in format to the Pirates of the Caribbean, with things to see around every bend in the "river." The big thing that the ride was trying to communicate was that all the important mathematical, scientific, medical, philosophical, spiritual, humanitarian, etc concepts were discovered in India thousands of years before they were discovered in the West. It was very patriotic towards India, as you can imagine. The patriotic part at the end really reminded me of It's a Small World.

After the rides, we actually went to the temple. Outside the complex there was an Abishek hall where we were given holy water to pour over a small deity. This was to make wishes come true and for general good fortune. I'm hoping for safe travels home, continued good luck, and the health of my family and loved ones, so I'll do pretty much anything that will bring me good luck! Then, on to the temple hall. The whole complex was built recently, so rather than the other temples I've been to, which are fairly old, this one was brand new. The temple was really beautiful and contained an enormous statue of Swami Narayan surrounded by jewels and beautiful carvings. All around the circular room were Hindu deities and illustrations of Swami Narayan's life. There were also some relics from Swami Narayan, like his shoes, prayer beads, that stuff. It was interesting to be in a temple whose central glorification point was a person, while the actual deities were off to the side. And it made me wonder if the real Swami Narayan, who professed to be a humble servant of God, would agree with how "his" temple was set up. Just like how some people wonder how Jesus would feel about how Christianity has evolved. The parallel is very interesting to me.

We got back from the temple around 9, and so Beth and I had a late dinner out in Khan Market. Let me tell you, it is SO nice to have an "all-you-need" spot within walking distance! We went to this place that we had visited when we first arrived, and had some delicious Chinese food. Chinese food is really popular here in Delhi (and maybe in the whole of India?) and all of the Chinese I've eaten over the course of this trip has been great. I can't quite put my finger on the differences between American Chinese and Indian Chinese- but there are differences in seasoning, presentation, and choice of dishes for sure.

Today I went over to Jantar Mantar, an outdoor observatory built in the early 1700s in order to study the heavens. There were all sorts of large stone and concrete structures that you could climb around on, which measured different things, like the time and the date, solar angles and all that stuff. Reading the inscriptions on the structures, I learned that the site had been revamped in the early 20th century and a renewed effort began about a year ago to maintain it- suffice to say, it probably looked very different when it was built! But speaking of the sun, I was only there for about 20 minutes because it was WAY too hot to be outside. If I knew a bit more about astronomy or science, I probably would have gotten more out of it- but it was impressive nonetheless. It always amazes me how much people can figure out about the world through careful observation and measurement!

Off to another late dinner in a bit, and tomorrow I'm giving a presentation to a group of English teachers at a different KV school. I finished the PowerPoint earlier today and it includes the following topics: basics about the American educational system, information about SOTF and how we do things, a case study of Project-Based Learning using my Poetry project as an example, and some pictures of my school and my learners… all through the theme of "A Typical Day in The Future." I'll be giving essentially the same presentation on Wednesday, but at my host school. Now that I think about it, I've never really given a formal presentation to adults before (other than the 10-minute PowerPoint I give about myself on Back-to-School Night!) but I'm not really nervous. After all, why should I get nervous about talking about what I do every single day of my normal life?

The past two weeks or so, I've really felt like I've gotten the hang of India and feel comfortable getting here and there and dealing with the everyday. I have taken up certain Hindi expressions and a couple typically-Indian hand gestures. There are things I've come to expect, like that auto drivers are always going to try to talk you into going anywhere except where you told them you want to go and that at every eating establishment the vegetarian items are clearly labeled. I've also really gotten used to having someone else make my bed and clean my bathroom every day and bring me breakfast! It will be quite an adjustment to return to the States and my everyday responsibilities and routines. Where I won't have time to read the paper every day but I will be able to watch all of the TV I've missed during the last month. I've been hearing that "reverse culture shock" is more difficult and jarring than actual culture shock- and I'm doing what I can in these last days to mentally prepare for the return home.