Man’s pursuit for Personification of Temple deities

An idol or an image in a temple is not a lifeless form for its devotees; it’s a living entity which should be revered with devotion and praise. Devotion is the power which not only induces life but also taps the supernatural & divine energy of the deity which then starts flowing through the idol and becomes a medium to reach its devotees.

The idol worship is prevalent in Hinduism and is practiced relatively on a minor scale or almost non-existent in monastic religions like Buddhism or Jainism. Also for all the other faiths which firmly holds on to belief of only one God, one sacred text and one life, the idea of existence of divinity via an image is not preferred . Hence it’s conveniently regarded that for generations this unique tradition of elaborative rituals of idol worship is followed only in the Hindu temples.

But a closer and deeper search into the primeval cultures which formed the basis of most ancient civilizations reveals that the ideal worship and rituals of it were quite significant for our Mesopotamians counterpart-covering Sumer and Babylonia which stands as modern day Iraq.

The pantheon of Mesopotamians was as vast as Hindus consisting the God/Goddesses representing aspects of cosmos and Heroes as well Deities including Humans deified, this sums up to 3000 name of various Gods!, quite similar to huge pantheon of 33 crore Hindu Gods & Goddesses. The most sacred and starting point for the idol worship for Hindus is 'Prana Prathishta': to bring in life force to the deity and similarly it has equally significant and exhaustive ritual corresponding to it know as a ritual of Mis-pi: Washing of the mouth by Mesopotamians.  

It involved around eleven stages: in the city, countryside and temple, the workshop, a procession to the river, then beside the river bank, a procession to the orchard, in reed huts and tents in the circle of the orchard, to the gate of the temple, the niche of the sanctuary and finally, at the quay of the Apsû, accompanied by invocations to the nine great gods, the nine patron gods of craftsmen, and assorted astrological bodies.

A rite or a ceremony by which a ‘Murti’-idol or image of God is consecrated into Hindu temple, Hymns & Mantras are recited to invite deity to be resident guest in the sanctum sanctorum. In certain practices this is also the first time when idol's eyes are opened which also literally means that eyes are sculpted during this ritual itself. The rituals facilitated the idol taking on the persona of the deity, awakening the supernatural force within it, and enabling it to see, act, eat and drink the offerings and smell the incense.
Similarly, in Ancient Mesopotamia, the ritual and incantation of series for the cultic induction or vivification of a newly manufactured divine idol was conducted and 'Washing of the mouth' was done on the first day to cleanse the statue of all traces of human contamination in the process of production of the idol.

The Sanskrit word 'Pratistha' in general usage means resting or position, a term used by Hindus for consecration of idol when placing it in temple on a specific spot selected basis the valued analysis and advice of Brahmans. While In the Mesopotamian way the image of deity is encased in gold/silver and is formed from a wooden core, the Hindu Gods/Goddesses and Deities are given a special place and installed in their most revered form. The entire temple area is established as grand own house of God/Goddess/deity to be worshipped.
For Hindus and Babylonians both, the ritual is considered to have infused life into the temple deity and brought the presence of divinity and spirituality by awakening the icon of the temple. The structure of the temple God is the way for a simple, devout Hindu to understand and relate with the formless and omnipresent divine whole which otherwise only creates awe and reverence in their minds. Both the ancient most civilizations did their ritual in order to become imbued with the divine presence.
The primary belief of the primitive man through the rituals of worship and opening ceremonies in both of these anteduvilian cultures can be seen as actually serving a medium for them to give a persona to the temple deity which in turn was essentials for their own existence and identity. When given a personal touch wherein deity is lively, the devotees would feel that their God is accessible and approachable.
Such rituals have now become a mundane and mechanical over the time and is only regarded as practice mandatory to be followed for the newer generations to follow, however these rituals gave the sense of belongingness to the society of beliefs or a culture and helped our ancestors to gain a direction and meaning to their humanly life which otherwise felt purposeless and dull due to lack of clarity on the natural forces which at that time seemed to be controlling and myriad.

Views: 56

Comment

You need to be a member of Facestorys.com to add comments!

Join Facestorys.com

Blog Posts

परिक्षा

Posted by Hemshila maheshwari on March 10, 2024 at 5:19pm 0 Comments

होती है आज के युग मे भी परिक्षा !



अग्नि ना सही

अंदेशे कर देते है आज की सीता को भस्मीभूत !



रिश्तों की प्रत्यंचा पर सदा संधान लिए रहेता है वह तीर जो स्त्री को उसकी मुस्कुराहट, चूलबलेपन ओर सबसे हिलमिल रहेने की काबिलियत पर गडा जाता है सीने मे !



परीक्षा महज एक निमित थी

सीता की घर वापसी की !



धरती की गोद सदैव तत्पर थी सीताके दुलार करने को!

अब की कुछ सीता तरसती है माँ की गोद !

मायके की अपनी ख्वाहिशो पर खरी उतरते भूल जाती है, देर-सवेर उस… Continue

ग़ज़ल

Posted by Hemshila maheshwari on March 10, 2024 at 5:18pm 0 Comments

इसी बहाने मेरे आसपास रहने लगे मैं चाहता हूं कि तू भी उदास रहने लगे

कभी कभी की उदासी भली लगी ऐसी कि हम दीवाने मुसलसल उदास रहने लगे

अज़ीम लोग थे टूटे तो इक वक़ार के साथ किसी से कुछ न कहा बस उदास रहने लगे

तुझे हमारा तबस्सुम उदास करता था तेरी ख़ुशी के लिए हम उदास रहने लगे

उदासी एक इबादत है इश्क़ मज़हब की वो कामयाब हुए जो उदास रहने लगे

Evergreen love

Posted by Hemshila maheshwari on September 12, 2023 at 10:31am 0 Comments

*પ્રેમમય આકાંક્ષા*



અધૂરા રહી ગયેલા અરમાન

આજે પણ

આંટાફેરા મારતા હોય છે ,

જાડા ચશ્મા ને પાકેલા મોતિયાના

ભેજ વચ્ચે....



યથાવત હોય છે

જીવનનો લલચામણો સ્વાદ ,

બોખા દાંત ને લપલપતી

જીભ વચ્ચે



વીતી ગયો જે સમય

આવશે જરુર પાછો.

આશ્વાસનના વળાંકે

મીટ માંડી રાખે છે,

ઉંમરલાયક નાદાન મન



વળેલી કેડ ને કપાળે સળ

છતાંય

વધે ઘટે છે હૈયાની ધડક

એના આવવાના અણસારે.....



આંગણે અવસરનો માહોલ રચી

મૌન… Continue

जिन्दा हों तो जिंदगी कि मिसाल बनो

Posted by Pooja Yadav shawak on July 31, 2021 at 10:01am 0 Comments

जिन्दा हों तो जिंदगी कि मिसाल बनो

झूठ का साथी नहीं सच का सवाल बनो

यूँ तो जलती है माचिस कि तीलियाँ भी

बात तो तब है जब धहकती मशाल बनो



रोक लो तूफानों को यूँ बांहो में भींचकर

जला दो गम का लम्हा दिलों से खींचकर

कदम दर कदम और भी ऊँची उड़ान भरो

जिन्दा हों तो जिंदगी कि मिसाल बनो

झूठ का साथी नहीं सच का सवाल बनो



यूँ तो अक्सर बातें तुझ पर बनती रहेंगी

तोहमते तो फूल बनकर बरसा ही करेंगी

एक एक तंज पिरोकर जीत का हार करो

जिन्दा हों तो जिंदगी… Continue

आओ तुम्हें प्यार करूं !

Posted by Jasmine Singh on July 22, 2021 at 10:34am 0 Comments

प्यार को प्यार ही रहने दो ना ...

Posted by Jasmine Singh on July 15, 2021 at 6:25pm 0 Comments

No more pink

Posted by Pooja Yadav shawak on July 6, 2021 at 12:15pm 1 Comment

नो मोर पिंक

क्या रंग किसी का व्यक्तित्व परिभाषित कर सकता है नीला है तो लड़का गुलाबी है तो लड़की का रंग सुनने में कुछ अलग सा लगता है हमारे कानो को लड़कियों के सम्बोधन में अक्सर सुनने की आदत है.लम्बे बालों वाली लड़की साड़ी वाली लड़की तीख़े नयन वाली लड़की कोमल सी लड़की गोरी इत्यादि इत्यादि

कियों जन्म के बाद जब जीवन एक कोरे कागज़ की तरह होता हो चाहे बालक हो बालिका हो उनको खिलौनो तक में श्रेणी में बाँट दिया जता है लड़का है तो कार से गन से खेलेगा लड़की है तो गुड़िया ला दो बड़ी हुई तो डांस सिखा दो जैसे… Continue

यूँ ही मिल जाती जिंदगी तो क्या बात थी

Posted by Pooja Yadav shawak on June 25, 2021 at 10:04pm 0 Comments

यूँ ही मिल जाती जिंदगी तो क्या बात थी
मुश्किलों ने तुझे पाने के काबिल बना दिया
न रुलाती तू मुझे अगर दर्द मे डुबो डुबो कर
फिर खुशियों की मेरे आगे क्या औकात थी
तूने थपकियों से नहीं थपेड़ो से सहलाया है
खींचकर आसमान मुझे ज़मीन से मिलाया है
मेरी चादर से लम्बे तूने मुझे पैर तो दें डाले
चादर को पैरों तक पहुंचाया ये बड़ी बात की
यूँ ही मिल जाती जिंदगी तो क्या बात थी
मुश्किलों ने तुझे पाने के काबिल बना दिया
Pooja yadav shawak

Let me kiss you !

Posted by Jasmine Singh on April 17, 2021 at 2:07am 0 Comments

वो जो हँसते हुए दिखते है न लोग अक्सर वो कुछ तन्हा से होते है पराये अहसासों को लफ़्ज देतें है खुद के दर्द पर खामोश रहते है जो पोछतें दूसरे के आँसू अक्सर खुद अँधेरे में तकिये को भिगोते है वो जो हँसते…

Posted by Pooja Yadav shawak on March 24, 2021 at 1:54pm 1 Comment

वो जो हँसते हुए दिखते है न लोग
अक्सर वो कुछ तन्हा से होते है
पराये अहसासों को लफ़्ज देतें है
खुद के दर्द पर खामोश रहते है
जो पोछतें दूसरे के आँसू अक्सर
खुद अँधेरे में तकिये को भिगोते है
वो जो हँसते हुए दिखते है लोग
अक्सर वो कुछ तन्हा से होते है

© 2024   Created by Facestorys.com Admin.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Privacy Policy  |  Terms of Service