The largest temple in Chennai.
A close-up of some of the figures on the sides of the temples.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Temple in Chennai
I could really only mostly see the outside of the temple because non-hindus are not allowed. My friends told me that this was not the way it had always been, but was more a product of the British Imperial era. Hindus were bannned from Christian churches by the British (I guess they didn't want the locals hanging around?), so they did a tit for tat and banned everyone from their temples. I thought it was weird about the Christians banning Hindus because I always think of Christianity as such an evangelical religion that they would want to bring people into the fold. Maybe Anglicans aren't as evangelical as folks where I come from?
The largest temple in Chennai.
A close-up of some of the figures on the sides of the temples.
The largest temple in Chennai.A close-up of some of the figures on the sides of the temples.
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That seems strange to me too because in India they usually try to draw people into Christianity.
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted to see these temples and many other sites in India...sigh....so many places in the world to go and not enough funds or time to do it! You're lucky you had the opportunity!
ReplyDeleteWohw that's such a cool looking structure! Yeah that is weird about Christians banning Hindus
ReplyDeleteHope you are doing ok!
ReplyDeleteI'm a Christian convert from Hinduism and am Tamil.
ReplyDeleteThe reason they have signs up at many Hindu temples in India saying non-Hindus are not allowed is because non-Hindus, especially tourists may not know some requirements like not eating meat on the day u visit the temple and not having your periods if u are a woman etc etc. That story your friend gave is inaccurate. A big reason why so many Hindus converted to Christianity and Islam during the Bristish occupation is becoz for hundreds of years many from lower castes in Hindu society were not allowed into the temples....so people felt closer and more accepted by God in Christianity and Islam where they could enter places of worship and be an accepted part of society.
If u do enter the temple - ignoring the sign- people aren't going to throw u out. They just want you to be respectful.
Did you go to the Madhurai meenarchi Amman Temple? It is the Largest in TN. Plus teh Tanjavur (Tanjore) Periya Temple is over 2000 years old and well preserved architecture.
Oh man, I just found your blog and it's fantastic, but it seems I'm about 2.5 years too late...
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