Roughed,lipsticked and dressed in paper money

Normally the Hindu deities are decorated with flowers, adored with natural products and garments made of local produce.

The santum santorums were dark and lit with oil lamps, and the deity showed with the lamp light.( to show one realizes one self with the light of knowledge as godliness)

The floors and walls were all rough stoned, one needs never to be, too careful of the steps or the leanings.

Things are changing.

For those abroad who are returning, are sure going to be in for a rude shock these days, when they visit the temples.

Let me tell u about the recent changes I have noticed at two temples close to my home.

One is a Siddar temple.

The priest of the Siddar temple gets water in a copper pot, from a well behind the temple multitudes of times, to wash the temple garbagraham, he has to be extra careful these days as the floor of the small temple has been marbled, and I have seen slipped devotees nervous of the next step.

The whole milieu has been changed now, there is a feeling of suffocation since the raise in the floor level of the temple.

Wonder if the Siddarness is still present at the temple?

The other is Mariyamman temple.This temple lies at the village lake, it was a small temple with least interference.

Deity used to be small and in a dark room and oiled, and oil lamps used to brighten the inner room.

Now the temple has electric drums and gong set , which plays to the switch of a button, the deity is all gaily made up with rouge, powdered and lip sticked , and good lord this festival the deity had a garment made of Indian currency notes, garlands of 500, and 1000 rupees notes, with back ground of notes wall tooo…..and focus lights to glare and blind the sight of the goddess ..(I asked the priest, some time back, why all the transformation, he says the devotees want the goddess in the filmy style)

He is keeping with the times.

The temple floor has been marbled and names of all those who have helped to bring on the changes are block listed for admirers.

If the goddess came into formness , she will get lost in this atmosphere of her temple complex and the devotion of the multitudes.