Experiencing the impact of Darshan, Dhoop, Deep, Arti and Prasad in Indian temples!

The shimmering black deity was tall and had a beatific benign smile on his face. Hands on his hips and adorned by a white dhoti with a red gold border, he silently summoned us towards him. As long as I am here, standing tall and mighty, why little dear one…. why would you even want to worry about things that are never in your control anyway?

If you have all the power that these spiritual practitioners say, why do you create such complex situations, dear friend? Why do I yearn to seek refuge in you more often? Why have I given up trying to understand your Maya? I often question you and argue with you and give up on you, yet unfailingly I also seek refuge in your temples? Why do you test me so much? 

So that you can experience the bliss of my divinity more often! He continued to smile benignly…… this tall dark shimmering deity. 

These are the kinds of silent inner dialogues we all have with our personal concept of God. The deity may differ, the place of worship may be called by a different name and the rituals that are followed may differ – but all of us – every single one of us out there in this world will experience the difference after a visit to any place of worship.

Ladies, lovely ladies of all ages were draped in their best sarees. They were all chanting in unison to a long chant which was several pages long. They all referred to a tiny booklet whilst reciting the chant. And the air around them reverberated with silence and positivity.

Hands joined together in prayer, knees bent on the floor, everyone paid their respects with utmost humility to the presiding deity who radiated faith and intangible power.

The temple bells started ringing. There were several bells all around the temple. Huge bells. They rang in unison. Fragrant flowers adorned the deity. 

The Dhoop sticks were replaced with new ones.

And preparations began for the Arti.

Several tiny wicks were placed in a tall Arti stand. The head priest performed the Arti and the other two assistants rang the hand bells as the Arti was performed.

Every part of the deity was lit up slowly as the Arti was performed. 

All eyes were riveted to the deity. Nobody – not a single soul wanted to miss out on that fleeting inner connection with a higher force.

The head priest purposefully walked out of the sanctum sanctorum.

All eyes followed him unquestioningly.

He lit another lamp that was placed directly opposite the deity. 

It had several wicks in it.

He lit each one carefully.

He then carefully placed the entire lamp gently in a casket.

He attached the casket to a sturdy rope. 

He left the casket slightly open to allow for free air circulation. The casket had tiny holes all around it for movement of air. 

He pulled on the rope slowly and gently hoisted the lamp along with the casket like a flag till it reached above the dome of the temple.

Today was Karthik Poornima and we had unknowingly reached a temple near our house at the right time.

I recollected the conversation that I had with my uncle a long time back. In all probability, he had forgotten entirely about the conversation by now. But it unknowingly remained etched in my memory until today.

All our sense organs are engaged when we worship God, dear child. 

We should consider ourselves blessed to get the Darshan of any God. And when we do Darshan, our eyes are totally engaged in trying to grasp and gauge the immense beauty of a higher force. As we drink in his beauty with our eyes, we unknowingly start looking for the intangible beauty hidden in our daily challenges.

The Dhoop sticks fill the entire atmosphere with fragrance. The Arti is usually performed with camphor. Our nose imbibes this beautiful fragrance and fills us with positive energy. But dear child, when we light the Dhoop sticks or perform the Arti with camphor, we are asking God to give us the ability to overcome our negative tendencies and spread love around us. Camphor and the Dhoop sticks radiate light and aroma even as they burn themselves out and that is the concept we need to connect to.

The Arti fills the entire place of worship with positive vibrations. We are able to connect to a higher cosmic force when the Arti is being performed. We can call out to God at an immensely personal level and connect with him at this time. That is why our skin starts tingling with the radiated energy.

The ringing bells and the ringing of the conch shell engage our ears and we are able to tune into the universal energy when this happens. These bells dissipate the negative vibrations within us and around the premises of the place of worship.

That is why our ancestors advised us to sit for some time in the temple premises after experiencing something so divine. We should soak in the positive vibrations that surround such places.

And lastly, when we partake of the Prasad, the food that is specially prepared with love, humility and devotion and which is blessed by the presiding deity, our taste buds are engaged while eating the Prasad. The Prasad is always satvik in nature and this aspect of the partaking of the Prasad envelopes us with satvik qualities.

Such a simple but detailed explanation about how Darshan, Dhoop, Deep, Arti, and Prasad have a positive impact on our souls……..where, when and how had my uncle learned such beautiful concepts?

Why do we even think of doing a Google search when such questions haunt us? Our parents have followed them for years. Our ancestors have passed us this richest of rich legacies and have created a beautiful and eternal path for all of us to connect to a higher cosmic force. 

Every single person out there in this world is bound to go knocking on his doors to have several silent dialogues with an eternal best friend called God. He stands by us, laughing at our insecurities, wondering at our imagined problems, smiling at our childish outbursts of anger and gently wiping away our tears of anguish. He tests us, he challenges us but he also fills us with faith and peace and serenity. And this perhaps is the only solution to all our perceived problems and that is why we need to visit such places of worship to experience the magic of the ………

Darshan, Dhoop, Deep, Arti, and Prasad!