REVIEW
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Inside the Temple Balham by Madalyn Morgan With Christmas upon us, it’s easy to forget that people follow different customs. Madalyn Morgan recently visited the Hindu temple on Balham High Road to find out more The Radha Krishna Temple on Balham High Road was founded by Guru Shyamadevi 28 years ago. I was fortunate enough to be invited by my friend Dhruva to visit it during the Hindu New Year, or Annakut, on October 29th, the day after Diwali. It was a truly amazing and uplifting experience. As we approach Christmas, it’s interesting to consider the festival of Diwali. For Hindus it marks the end of the financial year when business people close their books, count their blessings and pray for a good year ahead. Most Hindu families celebrate it through flowers, the sharing of sweets, and fireworks or lamps to symbolise the victory of good over evil and a celebration of one’s ‘inner light’. Hence Diwali’s other name ‘The Festival of Lights’. Looking within As we entered the temple, I could hear the melodic chanting of the Bhajaans and smell the fragrant scent of incense. We removed our shoes and made our way to the first ‘Temple within a Temple’, which is dedicated to Radha Krishna: the divine Krishna being male and his consort Rahda female. The temple was decorated in vibrant orange and deep turquoise. “Everything has to be clean and tidy,’ my friend told me. “The way you keep your house is the way the Temple should be kept – clean. And your heart should be clean also. It is no good just saying something good, you must mean it and practice it. You must not smile to someone’s face and then say bad things behind their back. Nor must you ever look down on anyone, because you may be down there one day.” In the middle of the room – on a low table – there was statue of another Hindu deity, Lord Shiva. Amongst the numerous actions Dhruva took in the temple during my visit, I watched her dip a small cup into a bucket of milk, then into a bucket of water and pour it over the statue and the animals that surrounded it. “Pouring milk and chanting thanks for our food and health, gives peace of mind,” she told me. “Cows are very sacred animals: they give us milk, and from milk we make many products.” Dhruva’s family is vegetarian, as are most Hindu families. They respect the earth and all that grows, as well as all animals. The beliefs of Hinduism are varied and not easy to grasp. A combination of religious, philosophical and cultural ideas and practices that originated in India, it is based on the concept of one non-manifested Brahman (God), experienced through various Gods and Goddesses that represent the many aspects of (the one) Brahman. I plan to investigate further. My visit to the temple was brief but incredibly rewarding. << back |