Akshardam and Swaminaryaran

OK, so I couldn't put my comments on the Akshardam temple complex on my india trip blog since numerous people from work read it, but I have to get this out of my system. (Before you read this, go to my india blog and read the most recent entry. Otherwise this might not make sense.

My thoughts...

1) The temple grounds were ridiculous! Incredibly ostentatious, and the amount of money that went into building all that? Must have been millions and millions of dollars (not even Rupees). For a sect that supposedly believes in peace, and using its resources to help people, they spend a whole lot of money on the trappings of religion.

2) Women are still treated as second class citizens. They're not allowed to pray with them men. The dioramas they had rarely had any women in them. The movie clips they showed of the current Swami only showed men around him. It seems like only men can are allowed to attain the highest levels in the movement.

3) Peace is one of the central tenants, yet one of the major dioramas shows the original Swami calling up a thunderstorm and essentially threatening a man who is fishing to prove to him that killing fish is violence. And scaring a man with a thunderstorm isn't violence? There were several other examples of this. Seems that their interpretation of what it means to be a pacifist needs to be re-examined.

4) A major aspect of the Swamis is their humility. Of course, each Swami presents themselves as essentially as a physical manifestation of God. Right. That's humble.

There are half-a-dozen other issues I had with the temple complex, but I think I'll stop here.

And in case anyone is wondering, yes, I'm this critical of pretty much every organized religion. I'm usually just not this vocal about it, but being surrounded by it for several hours yesterday really got to me. (And I can't exactly go into a rant around my work colleagues, especially since the reason we went was that A's family are followers of this movement. )

I am enjoying myself and it is nice to be around my work colleagues, but I can't really talk about my political and social beliefs around them, and I end up going places I don't have as much interest in. They're into the ruins and religious temples. I'm into the markets and the museums. (Ruins and temples can be interesting, but the markets and bazaars give you a much better window into what real life is like.)

Be sure to keep following both blogs, 'cause I'm sure there will be other things like this (where I can't really publish my thoughts on the india trip blog, but will post them here.)

-J