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Why should we not go to temples on Dec 31st

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praveen

Life is a dream
Staff member
<as received via email/whatsapp>

தவிர்ப்போமே ஆங்கிலப்புத்தாண்டு நள்ளிரவு ஆலய தரிசனத்தை.....


சமீபகாலங்களாக ஆங்கிலப் புத்தாண்டு அன்று நள்ளிரவில் விடிய விடிய பிரதான ஆலயங்களை திறந்து வைத்து பக்தர்களை தரிசனத்திற்கு அனுமதித்து வருகின்றனர். (இதை கிருத்துவ தேவாலயங்களில் செய்வது அவர்கள் வழக்கம்)


விசேஷஅர்ச்சனைகளை பூஜைகளை அந்த நேரத்தில் செய்கின்றனர்.


பொதுவாக இந்து ஆலயங்களில் அர்த்த ஜாம பூஜைகள் முடிந்த பிறகு, மறுநாள் அதிகாலையில் தான் நடையை திறக்கவேண்டும்.
(திருப்பதியில் இரவு நடை ஒருமணி நேரம் மட்டுமே சாத்தப்படும் அது அந்த கோவிலின் சிறப்பு மற்ற கோவிலுக்கு பொருந்தாது) இடையில் எந்த காரணத்தை கொண்டும் திறக்கக் கூடாது. அது ஆகம விதிகளுக்கு முரணானது.


நமது நாட்டில் நாள் பிறப்பு என்பது சூரிய உதயத்திலிருந்துதான் ஆரம்பமாகும். ஆகவே கோவில் நடைதிறப்பது விடியற்காலை பிரும்ம முகூர்த்த நேரத்தில் தான். இரவு அர்த்த ஜாம பூஜை முடிந்து நடை மூடினால், அடுத்த நாள் விடியற்காலைதான் கோவில் நடை திறக்கப்படும். இது தான் மரபு.


ஒரு நாளின் ஒவ்வொரு நேரத்திற்கும் ஒரு தன்மை உண்டு. அதிகாலையிலும், மாலையிலும் மனம் இருப்பது போல மதியம் 12 மணிக்கு இருப்பதில்லை. கவனித்திருக்கிறீர்களா?


மன நிலையில் மட்டுமல்லாமல் நம் கவனத்திலிலாத வேறு நிலைகலிலும் நேரத்திற்கேற்ப பல மாறுதல்கள் ஏற்படுகின்றன.


நள்ளிரவில் தீவிர ஆன்மீகப் பயிற்சி செய்வது குடும்ப வாழ்க்கை நடத்துபவற்கு ஏற்றதல்ல. இத‌ன் கார‌ண‌மாக‌வே கோவில்க‌ள் இர‌வில் மூட‌ப்ப‌டுகின்ற‌ன‌.


ஆனால், புத்தாண்டு அன்று கோவில்களுக்கு படையெடுக்கும் பக்தர்களால் கிடைக்கும் வருவாயை மனதில் கொண்டு அரசு இது போன்ற நள்ளிரவு பூஜைகளை, தரிசனத்தை அனுமதிக்கிறது. இந்த பழக்கங்களுக்கு எதிராக குரல் கொடுக்க வேண்டியவர்களும் தங்களுக்கு கிடைக்கும் வருவாயை மனதில் கொண்டு மெளனமாக உள்ளனர். (அவர்களை சொல்லி குற்றமில்லை. இது போன்ற சந்தர்ப்பங்ககளின் போது தான் கோவிலில் வேலை செய்வதற்கு ஒரு பிரயோஜனம் உண்டு என்று கருதும் மனநிலைக்கு அவர்கள் தள்ளப்பட்டுவிட்டனர்!)


ஆங்கிலப் புத்தாண்டை முன்னிட்டு நள்ளிரவில் கோவில் நடை திறப்பது ஆகம விதிகளுக்கு முரணானது. இதனால் விபரீத விளைவுகள் ஏற்படும் என்று ஆன்மிக பெரியோர்கள் எச்சரித்தும், கோவிலை காட்சிப்பொருளாக்கி கடைவிரித்து காசு பார்க்கிறார்கள்..


இந்து கோவில்களில ஆங்கில புத்தாண்டு சிறப்பு பிரார்த்தனை (அது என்னசிறப்போதெரியவில்லை. சாதா பிரார்த்தனை என்று ஒன்று இருப்பது போன்றும் அந்த வேளைகளில் இறைவன் தனக்கான உதவி தெய்வங்களை அதாவது அசிஸ்டெண்டுகளை பிரார்த்தனையை ஏற்க்க செய்வது போன்றும், சிறப்பு பிரார்தனை சமயத்தில் மட்டும் இறைவனே நேரடியாக வருவது போன்றும் ஒரு பெரும் மாயத்தோற்றத்தை உருவாக்குகிறார்கள் பல ஆலயங்களின் பக்தி வியாபாரிகள்) நடைபெற்றது என்று செய்திகள் வருகின்றனவே


ஆங்கில புத்தாண்டு மசூதியில் நடை பெற்றது என்று செய்திகளை காண முடிவதில்லை.


பாரம்பரியத்தை அவர்கள் இன்றும் தொடர்ந்து கடைபிடிக்கிறார்கள். .. ஆனால் இந்துக்களாகிய நாம்?


நாம் ஒவ்வோருவரும் நள்ளிரவு ஆலய தரிசனத்தை தவிர்த்தாலே ஆகம விதிகளுக்கு முரணான நள்ளிரவு கோவில் நடைதிறப்பு முடிவுக்கு வந்து விடும்...
 
Dear Sri. Praveen,

Siva Rathri... The temples are open all night.

Night is the most pleasurable period..

I love night time... I am sure, so are the others..

I am sorry..... if the temple is open, I will go to the temple at mid night.

I am a Vaishnavaite.....

I see the God... I feel the God...... I may be an Athiest... but, That doesn't matter...

Our temples can be open 24 / 7.... I don't think we can 'Control God in our Agama rules'...

God is omnipotent... It's just past midnight for me...

[video=youtube;LwcHIaiNILA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwcHIaiNILA[/video]
 
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Praveen Ji,

The OP has a point…

Number one, it is part of ‘Western Culture’ and it is not our culture and tradition.

Are we not supposed to adhere to the principles of ‘Agama’ and continue to practice our own culture and avoid straying…..?

The Government of Andhra Pradesh has rightly, a few days back in fact issued circular to all temples in the State directing the Management of temples to abstain from such practices of performing ‘Midnight Pooja’.

In Hinduism, I think midnight poojas are permitted to be performed only on certain auspicious days such as ‘MAHA SHIV RATHRI’ and ‘VAIKUND EKADASI’

And they call it Ardhajama Pooja and this will be followed by Palliarai Pooja when the divine is placed to resting and this Pooja is considered holy and this one the final Pooja for the day.

Then only the next day morning, gates of the temple will be opened to devotees to wake up divine chanting ‘Thirupalliezhichi’, etc

This was the practice followed for generations before the arrival of British ‘East India Company’i.e. prior to 1608 in most of the temples except few..

Actually our New Year falls only on Tamil Putthandu, Ugadhi, Vishu, Baisakhi, etc

Why not celebrate our NEW YEAR on those auspicious days meaning fully.

My two cents…
 
Out here there is no midnite pooja for new year but on 1st Jan morning people go to temple for prayers for new year.

Then April 14th again all will go for new year.

Hindus are confused sometimes..why celebrate two new years?

Muslims only stick to their Maal Hijrah(Awal Muharram)...
Christians get drunk on New Years eve then somehow get up and go to Church the next day and we Hindus are doing Pooja on 1st Jan! LOL

kya confusion yaar?

I know people see Jan 1st as a new calendar year and a new begining..there is no harm praying on any day or any time for a good begining so I feel its finally up to the individual to decide.

But if a Hindu wants to do Pooja on 1st Jan then he has to also do Pooja on Awal Muharram too!
 
Namaste Sri Praveen,


for comparison, in Russia the New Year is just New Year's Day, and here nobody thinks that it can be English, German or Italian. ;)


In Russia, the New Year holiday is celebrated with pleasure by believers of different religions - atheists (I believe that atheism is in fact disguised polytheism), Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, etc., is a common holiday for all, it helps to unite the nation.
 
Renukaji the Midnight Mass is actually on Dec 31 midnight but I doubt that those who drink on NY Eve go to it.
 
hi

muslim dargahs/masjid wont do like this.....so called hinduism is flexible for anything and everything....
 
For that matter, Kerala temples follow strict discipline. Their opening, closing and pooja timings are specific and uncompromised. "KshetrAcharam" is the base of temple system there and they follow it with devotion.
 
For that matter, Kerala temples follow strict discipline. Their opening, closing and pooja timings are specific and uncompromised. "KshetrAcharam" is the base of temple system there and they follow it with devotion.

hi

even small temples in kerala follow certain rules....see the new rules in AP temples...even TTD announced that they wont

celebrate new year...ONLY UGADI IS NEW YEAR..
 
Rituals at temples are nErchis or parihArams! That is also a way to make money. :)

Most of the people think that going to temple makes them pure and sin free! :cool:
And.......... many temples have become commercial long long back! :popcorn:
 
Devotees go to temples to perform Puja and worship God to get blessings.

And in every temple, there is a facility called 'Dharma Dharshan', and it is free and this practice still exists and it is not commercial and it is free.

Besides as most of the devotees consider temple is a place which serves as a medium of communication between God and a devotee, they visit temples
.
There are also few devotees who go to temple for Graha shanti and seek remedy for specific dosha…

For information, there is a temple at Chilkur …at Hyderabad and this temple is called VISA Balaji temple. I think in this temple, they don’t collect any money from devotees and there is no HUNDI. Of course, there may be lot of temples like this..

And those who wanted to know more about Chilkur Balaji temple may visit this site.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilkoor_Balaji_Temple
 
My faith-the Hindu faith- is unique. In it a lot of freedom is available for a follower to communicate or connect with God. My faith does not recognize any final or last prophet or God's Messenger. So worshipping takes different forms by different individuals towards different ends.

There are people who are highly intellectually evolved who stand in absolute silence before the God when they go to the temple and pray for the welfare of the world. They have no requests to make for their self or their families.

There are those who stand before the deity in the temple and pray பல்லாண்டு பல்லாண்டு பல்லாயிரத்தாண்டு.......thus praying to God himself for the continuous unbroken association with Him thus praying to the deity for its very continued existence there. This may sound strange for some. But that is the greatness of my faith-the Hindu faith. And it appears God had listened to such prayers and had granted them. That is why my faith exists on this earth even today while many other faiths have disappeared when overwhelmed by the organized brutal onslaught by superior earthly forces on the followers of them.

There are those who do not go to a temple but pray before their personal Godheads in the form of pictures or Salagrama or small statuettes.

There are those who go on pilgrimages and pray before the Godheads in the holy shrines scattered across the country following the foot steps of great acharyas of the past like Alwars and Nayanmars.

There are those who go to popular shrines and ardently pray for a boon and offer in return what they have. Thus there is even an established custom among vaishnavites(a part of the Hindu faith that is spoken about here) that you offer what you like most to the God while you offer what he likes most to an Acharya.

There are those who are not so intellectually developed, who offer even a bottle of home brewed arrack and a pack of Dindigul Cigar to the God as that is what is liked and relished by themselves most.

I can add many other aspects of personal worship to this list. But I stop here.

So my faith, the Hindu faith, gives freedom to choose what I offer to God, when I offer it and how I offer it.

If there are those who think that the midnight 12.59PM to 1PM on December night is the time to remember God and make an offer let them do it. For good or bad we all have accepted the Christian Era as the accepted calendar for all practical and official purposes. Our year officially starts on January 1 and ends on December 31. so there may be people who may take a new resolution to do a thing on that day in all seriousness before the God. Let them do that.

At a very high level of awareness, one may think that in the beginningless and endless continuum called time a day or a moment on that day is just an invisible, insignificant, immaterial and inconsequential speck. But there are others also who may not be able to think or perceive the reality on those lines.

Yes. We humbly state the coordinates of our spatial presence in the infinite space by saying jambudweepe, bharatha varshe, bharatha kande, Merohu dakshine pasve etc., and our presence at a given moment in the infinite continuum called time by stating..... asmin varthamAnE prabhavAthi shashti samvathsarAnAm madhyE ........nAma samvathsarE, DakshinAyanE, hEmantharithou etc., etc., For some it is just restating humbly our smallness in the vastness of creation(srishti)and humility while for others it may be just a ritualistic utterance of a mantra. That again is the greatness of my faith and the freedom it gives to everyone.

So people celebrating new year on December 31 night is okay in whatever way they choose. But officially and religiously investing it with any sanctity is commercialising it. And that should be avoided because I do not want my great faith-the Hindu faith- to become an instrument of exploitation or an exhibit of profanity.
 
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In a lighter vein, on the new year day nothing really changes. Everything-your life, your day and night, your wife, your job your targets your business plans, your car, your driver ..........nothing really changes.

Only the calendar that hangs on the wall changes.

and what a folly it is to celebrate it. LOL.
 
My faith-the Hindu faith- is unique. In it a lot of freedom is available for a follower to communicate or connect with God. My faith does not recognize any final or last prophet or God's Messenger. So worshipping takes different forms by different individuals towards different ends.

There are people who are highly intellectually evolved who stand in absolute silence before the God when they go to the temple and pray for the welfare of the world. They have no requests to make for their self or their families.

There are those who stand before the deity in the temple and pray பல்லாண்டு பல்லாண்டு பல்லாயிரத்தாண்டு.......thus praying to God himself for the continuous unbroken association with Him thus praying to the deity for its very continued existence there. This may sound strange for some. But that is the greatness of my faith-the Hindu faith. And it appears God had listened to such prayers and had granted them. That is why my faith exists on this earth even today while many other faiths have disappeared when overwhelmed by the organized brutal onslaught by superior earthly forces on the followers of them.

There are those who do not go to a temple but pray before their personal Godheads in the form of pictures or Salagrama or small statuettes.

There are those who go on pilgrimages and pray before the Godheads in the holy shrines scattered across the country following the foot steps of great acharyas of the past like Alwars and Nayanmars.

There are those who go to popular shrines and ardently pray for a boon and offer in return what they have. Thus there is even an established custom among vaishnavites(a part of the Hindu faith that is spoken about here) that you offer what you like most to the God while you offer what he likes most to an Acharya.

There are those who are not so intellectually developed, who offer even a bottle of home brewed arrack and a pack of Dindigul Cigar to the God as that is what is liked and relished by themselves most.

I can add many other aspects of personal worship to this list. But I stop here.

So my faith, the Hindu faith, gives freedom to choose what I offer to God, when I offer it and how I offer it.

If there are those who think that the midnight 12.59PM to 1PM on December night is the time to remember God and make an offer let them do it. For good or bad we all have accepted the Christian Era as the accepted calendar for all practical and official purposes. Our year officially starts on January 1 and ends on December 31. so there may be people who may take a new resolution to do a thing on that day in all seriousness before the God. Let them do that.

At a very high level of awareness, one may think that in the beginningless and endless continuum called time a day or a moment on that day is just an invisible, insignificant, immaterial and inconsequential speck. But there are others also who may not be able to think or perceive the reality on those lines.

Yes. We humbly state the coordinates of our spatial presence in the infinite space by saying jambudweepe, bharatha varshe, bharatha kande, Merohu dakshine pasve etc., and our presence at a given moment in the infinite continuum called time by stating..... asmin varthamAnE prabhavAthi shashti samvathsarAnAm madhyE ........nAma samvathsarE, DakshinAyanE, hEmantharithou etc., etc., For some it is just restating humbly our smallness in the vastness of creation(srishti)and humility while for others it may be just a ritualistic utterance of a mantra. That again is the greatness of my faith and the freedom it gives to everyone.

So people celebrating new year on December 31 night is okay in whatever way they choose. But officially and religiously investing it with any sanctity is commercialising it. And that should be avoided because I do not want my great faith-the Hindu faith- to become an instrument of exploitation or an exhibit of profanity.


I guess whether one offers cigar or arrack to his chosen deity or even attached to the flowery words of the Vedas there is no difference for both seek higher rewards.


Chapter 2: Contents of the Gita Summarized

TEXTS 42-43
yam imam puspitam vacam
pravadanty avipascitah
veda-vada-ratah partha
nanyad astiti vadinah
kamatmanah svarga-para
janma-karma-phala-pradam
kriya-visesa-bahulam
bhogaisvarya-gatim prati


TRANSLATION
Men of small knowledge are very much attached to the flowery words of the Vedas, which recommend various fruitive activities for elevation to heavenly planets, resultant good birth, power, and so forth. Being desirous of sense gratification and opulent life, they say that there is nothing more than this.




In my personal opinion..I feel intellect is the greatest stumbling block in devotion.
Its totally fine to use the intellect but its best not to think of terms of higher or lower intellectual choice of prayer after all Lord Krishna did not really call ritualists belonging to a higher intellect.
 
[QUOTE,]
In my personal opinion..I feel intellect is the greatest stumbling block in devotion.
Its totally fine to use the intellect but its best not to think of terms of higher or lower intellectual choice of prayer after all Lord Krishna did not really call ritualists belonging to a higher intellect.[/QUOTE]

Yes Doctor,

Too much of reading and hearing puts a mental barrier. Nisargadutta Maharaj calls "knowledge is a bandha", a stumbling block.
He says "The unchangeable can only be realized in silence. Once realised, it will deeply affect the changeable, itself remaining unaffected."
Let us see what Sri Ramana Maharishi says about silence.
One evening, devotees asked Sri Ramana to explain the meaning of Shankara's hymn in praise of Dakshinamurti. They waited for his answer, but in vain. The Maharishi sat motionless on his seat, in total silence.

Commenting upon this silence Ramana said:

"Silence is the true upadesa. It is the perfect upadesa. It is suited only for the most advanced seeker. The others are unable to draw full inspiration from it. Therefore, they require words to explain the truth. But truth is beyond words; it does not warrant explanation. All that is possible is to indicate It. How is that to be done?."
That is his answer.
Here in Bangalore Swami Sukhabodananda whose "LIFE programme" long back I attended, told how knowledge influence and corrupt our opinion. He ask us to listen a Music, Western classic or North Indian without knowing anything about it !
Best wishes,
Brahmanyan
Bangalore.
 
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I support the idea of opening the temples at mid night during new year. Many temples in North India does that. Although Gregoian newyear has no religious importance for us Hindus, I still prefer people coming to temples for celebrations than going to Pubs and Clubs. Culturally this new year may not ibe important to us, but there is no rule culture can be changed. Before any new beginning we pray God, so can't we adopt this change for a good rather than spending it on Clubs and beer bars which also do not add any substance to our culture?
 
I support the idea of opening the temples at mid night during new year. Many temples in North India does that. Although Gregoian newyear has no religious importance for us Hindus, I still prefer people coming to temples for celebrations than going to Pubs and Clubs. Culturally this new year may not ibe important to us, but there is no rule culture can be changed. Before any new beginning we pray God, so can't we adopt this change for a good rather than spending it on Clubs and beer bars which also do not add any substance to our culture?


welcome back.

Well written opinion.
 
...............In my personal opinion..I feel intellect is the greatest stumbling block in devotion.
Its totally fine to use the intellect but its best not to think of terms of higher or lower intellectual choice of prayer after all Lord Krishna did not really call ritualists belonging to a higher intellect.

That is a vaishnavite speaking. LOL.
Na dharma nishtosmi ============> knowledge.
Na ca Atma vEdhi ==============> knowledge
Na bhaktimAn==================>knowledge
akinchana, ananyagatihi============>No intellect and so no knowledge just nothing. No other refuge.
twatpadamoolam sharanam prapatyE=====> total surrender to God.

That is the essence of vaishnavism.

The sloka from Alawandar's Stotra Ratnam:

Na dharma nishtosmi, na ca AtmavEdhi,
na bhaktimaans twachcharanaaravindhE
akinchano ananyagatissaranya
twatpadamoolam saranam prapatyE.

Just a caveat:

It requires in the first place Knowledge to know what a great burden it is.

When a Lion leaps from the top of a rocky cliff to another it crosses a deep river gorge below. A lice (a parasite that lives on the lion) also crosses the deep river below along with the lion when the lion leaps because lice lives in its own world on the body of the lion.

So while discussing such matters the term intellect is used in a neutral sense without any ego coming in the equation. We are using English an alien language to express ideas.

The man who offered arrack and cigar as well as the man who stood silently and prayed before the god both worshipped the God entity. But the two experiences were different.

Yes it was the deep gorge below which was crossed--by the lion and the parasite.

Please perceive.
 
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That is a vaishnavite speaking. LOL.
Na dharma nishtosmi ============> knowledge.
Na ca Atma vEdhi ==============> knowledge
Na bhaktimAn==================>knowledge
akinchana, ananyagatihi============>No intellect and so no knowledge just nothing. No other refuge.
twatpadamoolam sharanam prapatyE=====> total surrender to God.

That is the essence of vaishnavism.

The sloka from Alawandar's Stotra Ratnam:

Na dharma nishtosmi, na ca AtmavEdhi,
na bhaktimaans twachcharanaaravindhE
akinchano ananyagatissaranya
twatpadamoolam saranam prapatyE.

Just a caveat:

It requires in the first place Knowledge to know what a great burden it is.

When a Lion leaps from the top of a rocky cliff to another it crosses a deep river gorge below. A lice (a parasite that lives on the lion) also crosses the deep river below along with the lion when the lion leaps because lice lives in its own world on the body of the lion.

So while discussing such matters the term intellect is used in a neutral sense without any ego coming in the equation. We are using English an alien language to express ideas.

The man who offered arrack and cigar as well as the man who stood silently and prayed before the god both worshipped the God entity. But the two experiences were different.

Yes it was the deep gorge below which was crossed--by the lion and the parasite.

Please perceive.

The one who offered the arrack and cigar could have just offered it out of love sans desire.
The one who stood in silent communion too could have just stood there out of love sans desire.
Outwardly their actions differed but their experience could have been the same.

So how can I judge the depth of devotion of anyone be it parasite or lion?

It was one small leap for the Lion but one giant leap for the parasite...why judge?
Let them both enjoy the moment.
 
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Minor Nit pick: A lice => louse
Another minor nit pick: Vaishnavism => Krishna but Krishna => Jagat Sansar (not just Vaishnavism).
 
The one who offered the arrack and cigar could have just offered it out of love sans desire.
The one who stood in silent communion too could have just stood there out of love sans desire.
Outwardly their actions differed but their experience could have been the same.

So how can I judge the depth of devotion of anyone be it parasite or lion?

It was one small leap for the Lion but one giant leap for the parasite...why judge?
Let them both enjoy the moment.
For the lion it was a big leap indeed. So it thought I should not eat too much of fat as it adds to my weight. The extra pound makes it that much more difficult to leap. So the weight became a burden. And thus knowledge too becomes a burden and makes the leap to reach god difficult.
For the parasite there was no leap whatsoever. It just stayed wherever it was happily and yet was at a new spatial coordinates after the leap of the lion. It knew just this much that there was a sudden rush of blood at high pressure in the vein of the lion into which it had bored a hole for sucking its sustenance. It also perhaps realised that its food was more tasty because of the chemicals released into the blood when the lion leapt. It did not have the benefit of all this knowledge and so it was neither happy nor sad about its spatial movement.
So knowledge is a burden. But there is no escape from it. And only when you have it you get the desire to dump it all.
All this is from an onlooker who has gone through all this including the craving to dump / jettison it all. So he does not sit in judgment of anyone. He just observes and states and he has to manage this task with an inadequate medium --a language. He does not identify himself completely with either the lion - the silent worshipper- or the lice- the arrack and cigar offering Bhakta.
Yes. Each one worships with his equipment. Period.
 
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