Hindu Temple Observation Paper

Throughout society, there are many variations of religions that people proclaim themselves to believe and practice. Since most people are devoted to their religion, a biased perspective tends to form due to the urge to relate everything back to their personal beliefs instead of see the new for itself. I decided to write this observational paper on attending a Hindu temple and my experience. Since this was my first time attending a Hindu temple, I decided to write about my experience before I attended to be able to make a contrast in the way in which the ceremony actually transpired. The specifics regarding language within the church, rituals, ceremonies, deities, and cosmology were all interesting due to growing up in a Christian Church

Furthermore, whenever I researched or searched for a Hindu Mandir, almost all of the temples had designs within the architecture of the outside of the building as well as the inside and I assumed that the inside where the murtis reside the amazing artistry would probably be the most amazing sight. As far as the ceremony, I anticipated on the Hindu ceremony to take after some of the gender views and the hierarchy of roles of the Orthodox Jewish Synagogue, which after attending assured only parts of my assumptions because the differing principles and beliefs within each perspective religion set them apart. In reference to the daily Arti ceremony, I original thought it was going to last about an hour because I related it to Christian and Jewish services that usually last about an hour or longer, so the fifteen minute ceremony was very surprising. In addition, I assumed the people within the Temple would not be as welcoming as a Jewish synagogue or Christian church because there is not a set time and day in which the Sabbath falls on, so I assumed that the people would be more secluded and tasked with giving their devotional. Lastly, I expected for there to be a lot of rules or restrictions in reference to appearance and attire wore into the

As I walked in to the Hindu temple, I was promoted to remove my shoes and turn off any electronic devices so that it would not disturb any of the ceremonies that were about to commence. I arrived early so I decided to look around and admire the Hindu deities and hierophanies thought out the temple beforehand. The size of the deities ranged and the designs that went into the creation were amazing and like nothing I have ever seen before. There were a lot of people kneeling down and praying in different languages, which someone told me was Hindi (the language of India). The atmosphere before the ceremony was sort of sacred in the sense that everyone did not pay attention to anyone else but the deities and seemed as if they were following a daily routine. I was able to speak to a member before the ceremony that gave me some information regarding the daily Article ceremonies. He stated that the ceremony was what any outside visitor should experience because it is very important to Hindu culture that you connect with the Gods and prepare offering a and treat the deities/murtis with the upmost