Does God reside here?

Scene 1.
A couple of my friends and I were at Nathdwara, alias Shrinathji, few days back. It was 530 in the morning and we were supposed to witness the "mangla na darshan". Hoards of people were storming the temple premises, even during "off season". One particular passage was closed by grill-doors with a padlock on it. The people supposed to be in "seva" were inside, saying they would open the gates soon, but they didn’t have any keys. People were getting impatient and from another passage, people were moving into the premises. At one particular point, the "guard", as if by miracle, "found" the key and opened the gate to let in one of the "seva" guys. An elderly man, too eager to worship the god, tried to enter through the partial opening of the metal gates. He was not just pushed out, but was also kicked in his guts. Again the lock was put on, as angry worshippers outside pleaded to let them in, while these so called temple people, kept inciting them to open the locked doors by force, while they sat cozily inside the premises. One of the "seva" guys even asked the helpless devotees to try their luck through the exit doors, all the while smiling away at his power of authority. The sight of people thronging the temple from the other side only amplified their rudeness. At last the doors were opened and without any need to walk, I was carried along by the push from behind, into the already crowded "chowk". There were no defined paths, no rope or metal dividers to manage public, but just pure chaos. Another set of doors stood between the large crowd and the deity, and I could only gape at the number of elderly people jam-packed inside the tiny spaces. And before I could wonder whether they were going to pray for more land, more space in their lives, the doors were flung open for another tiny "batch" of devotees to enter into the hall of the deity. I wasn't very keen to enter and this hesitation cost me a bruised toe, few unwanted touches and pushes, some in very awkward areas. And as soon as the doors were closed for the other batch to wait, I heaved and pushed my way out of the temple. Outside I found people getting private access to the inner chambers by paying a little extra in the name of "passes".

Scene 2.
We went to Delwara temple. It has 5 beautiful temples, with inexplicable carvings on the pillars, roofs, walls, etc. However you are not allowed to photograph these carvings. You cannot take anything with you, inside the temple. Many of the statues of deities inside are covered by clothes, so that public cannot view them. Certain floors and parts of the temple premises, even though in good condition, are restricted to general public access. Although no stuff except purse is allowed inside the temple premises with a ridiculous reason of preserving the sanctity of the temple, commercial goods of the temple in the form of books and kesar(saffron) among other things are sold inside.

Both these incidents are true and first-hand.

My question is, does God really reside here?

What is the function of the temple? Isn't it, to provide unconditional unrestricted access to God for people to pray? Isn’t there a difference between crowd management and commercialization? How can people claim right to be the temple management, if they kick and push and swear to humble devotees? What gives them the right to claim themselves to be closer to God than the rest of the world? Why would it hurt them to just create metal dividers for crowd management, similar to the one we see at McDonalds counter, instead of letting hoards of people crush each other? Why aren't photographs allowed for memory purposes? If anyone gives the ridiculous reason that flashlight can damage the temple, I give him or her 2 simple arguments - 1. The temple can bear sun's rays, what can a little flash light do? 2. Many marble statues are seen all over the world, and photographed with no damage at all! The only time flashlight can damage is in art gallery, where it can play havoc with the colors. But what can it do in a temple, except probably reduce the commercial gains of the so-called temple managers? What good is the magnificence of the temple if it cannot be cherished in peace, to be remembered years on through means of photographs? What good is that statue of a deity, if it is not allowed to be seen by the public, except on special days or events? If anyone has doubts regarding funds for maintenance, I ask them to just check out the riches donated by devotees. I wonder if it is possible to audit the donations received by these temples.

It’s high time the authority of the idiots managing the temples be stripped, or at least, re-evaluated. A more friendly, and non-commercial setup needs to be put into place. The previously holy places are now converted into commercial cheating centers, living on the blatant superstitions of the millions of "religious" Indians. This needs to be stopped.

No deity ever wants to be trapped within four walls, nor does any deity want any restriction in the path connecting the devotees to the deities. Look around you. There is God in a squirrel prancing around, in the sparkle of the eyes of a little child playing in the mud, in the green hue of trees after rains, in the silver linings of the clouds, in the sweet smell of roses, in the tranquility of the ocean. There is God, even in your sorrows and in your joys, in rough and good weathers, in work and honesty, in rich and the poor, in the five elements of the world, in life and death, and in matter and anti-matter. Look around you; the whole earth is a living, unrestricted, unconditional, temple, where each sand grain is both a deity and a devotee.

If only people could realize this truth. Who needs marble temples after all?

Cheers!!!