The place (dham) where the Gods live (akshar).
Last evening we visited this magnificent temple.
Akshardham is made of pink sand stone and has many marvelous stone carvings decorating the interior and exterior of the temple.
Let me clarify when I say stone carving. I don't mean simple geometric shapes or small lawn ornaments. I mean seriously glorious carvings that are so intricate you can't believe that they are each carved from a single piece of stone.
In fact this temple has no metal of any form as part of its structure. It is purely stone, as is the traditional method for building temples in India.
I've seen many cathedrals around the world, and I am more amazed by the architecture and artwork found here.
As I see it building a place of worship is a communal commitment to there being a greater power than the sum of all the efforts of the community. However, humans still attempt to mimic the greatness of this power through such efforts and the results are these stunning monolith testaments to the earthly limits of human faith.
Personally, I believe the individual communion of one person with the greater power is a far truer testament to our humanity than any of these structures.
In the end I was only able to capture this modest photo from my actual visit.
In 2002 there was a terrorist attack here that made security very tight. No cameras.
I won't get into it to much here, but terrorism needs to go. Perhaps one day we will wake up to find that this has happened: people no longer feel oppressed, those guilty of oppressing have miraculously stopped, and there is a balance of resource in the world so all people can feel that they will be heard.
Why is it in human nature to be so greedy that some would deny others basic human rights whether through covert means of denial of food and medicine or through overt means of blowing people up? Both end in premature death and are equally egregious forms of terror.
With that thought I bid you adieu. Look for another posting later today.
Peace,
A Pink American
4 comments:
Awesome. Keep it real. I love reading your posts. Love, Dad
And what's pretty amazing about Akshardham (they've since built one in Delhi, too) is that it is contemporary... these are the largest structures to be built in this style, a result of the incredible affluence of the community that built them. There's folks building temples in places like England as well... communities pouring millions of dollars into projects like these. Wow.
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Amazing Akshardham temple
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