Holy Cribs: The Mandir
Pranathi gives TrueTube a tour of The Shree Ghanapathy Mandir in South London, explaining its most important features and her beliefs as a Hindu.
Curriculum Mapping
Component 1: The study of religions: beliefs, teaching and practices: Hinduism - Different forms of worship: puja and arati - The rituals of puja and arati and their significance for Hindus.
Area of Study 2 – Hinduism - Section 3: Living the Hindu Life - The nature and purpose of prayer in the temple and the home: the nature, features of use and purpose of the different forms of worship, including meditation, puja, havan, darshan, arti, bhajan, kirtan and japa, with reference to interpretations of Bhagavad Gita 6.44–47; divergent understandings of the benefits for Hindus of having different forms of worship.
Component Group 1 - Beliefs and teachings & Practices - Hinduism - Approaching deity •Different Hindu understandings of the role,forms and importance of the following types of worship: •• Havan or homa •• Puja •• Meditation •• Japa •• Bhajan or kirtan •• Darshan • The nature and importance of sacred places and spaces for Hindu worship: •• Temples •• Shrines •• Sites of pilgrimage •• Outdoors •• Hills and rivers
2.1 Unit 1 PART A - Hinduism - Core beliefs, teachings and practices - Practices Worship Features and importance of daily puja in the home: (Bhagavad Gita 3:19, 4:38) Features and importance of congregational puja in the mandir (including devotions to the murti, arti and havan) Diversity in Vaishnavite and Shaivite worship Significance of bhakti Role, importance and features of pilgrimage to Varanasi
2.3 Component 3 (Route A) - Option 2: Hinduism - Places of worship in Britain and elsewhere ➢ Features and importance of daily puja in the home ➢ Features and importance of congregational puja in the mandir ➢ Diversity of views and practices: Vaishnava and Shaiva bhakti ➢ Hindu mandirs in Britain compared to those in India ➢ Features and importance of worship at outdoor shrines Worship/meditation ➢ The significance of different forms of worship/meditation; havan, puja, arati, darshan Bhagavad Gita 9.26, bhajan/kirtan, japa: Bhagavad Gita 3.19, 4.38, 6.11–12 ➢ The importance of focuses of worship and representations of the divine; one god, other deities, holy land, plants and animals: Bhagavad Gita 16.24 ➢ Honouring Gurus and elders
Transcript
Holy Cribs - MANDIR
S1 00:00:15:03
Welcome to the Shree Ghanapathy Temple. My name is Pranathi
and I'm a Hindu. This is a temple or mandir and my dad is one of
the priests here, so it's like a second home to me. We come here
to worship Brahman, the one supreme spirit which we believe
lives in all things. We worship many forms of Brahman, but this
temple is especially dedicated to Lord Ganesha. Traditional
mandirs usually have a gateway or a tower called a gopuram,
which lets you know you're entering a special place. You may also
find a statue of an animal or god outside. This is Ganesha, the
elephant headed god of wisdom. This is the normal entrance for
the mandir. The word mandir comes from the word 'house' in the
ancient Indian language of Sanskrit. We think of the temple as a
home for the deities, what we call the gods and goddesses that
are inside. When we come into the temple, we respect it like you
would when entering the home of a very important person. The
entrance area of the mandir is called an ardhamandapa. It's
where we take off our shoes and leave them in these racks. This
is so we can keep the inside of the building as clean as possible,
as another sign of respect. Also, some girls and women like to
cover their heads when they come into the mandir. As people
enter, they will often ring a bell to announce their arrival, just
like you would ring on someone's doorbell.
Clip: Holy Cribs MANDIR - FINAL EXPORT 16 April 2023.mp4
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S1 00:02:10:22
On special occasions, we will open the main doors of the temple
and you'll often see people bending down to touch the steps
before they enter. In India, it's tradition that we touch the feet of
those we respect, and the step represents the feet of the deities.
By the door, this is Bhairavar. He is the protector or guardian of
our temple. This is the mandapa, the main prayer hall of the
mandir. All around the mandapa, there are deities. Each one has
a shrine or vimana, which is a small area of worship. A statue of a
deity is called a murti. We treat them as honoured guests, and so
they are washed, decorated and given offerings of food every day,
as signs of respect to the gods or goddesses they represent. I
said outside that we worship one supreme spirit called Brahman
who was a part of all things. So each one of the deities is
Brahman in human or animal form. They show us many different
ways to understand Brahman. This mandir is dedicated to
Ganesha, but most mandirs will have a murti of Ganesha near the
door. He is a very popular deity because he removes obstacles or
problems in people's lives. This is Shiva with his wife, Parvati. We
also have murtis of Vishnu and we believe he has come to Earth
in different forms. So here he is, as Krishna with Radha. And as
Rama with Sita. Puja is the Hindu name for worship or prayer.
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S1 00:03:58:12
A tray is often laid out with various objects to help Hindus in
their worship. Fruit, rice, flowers, water, a lamp, holy ash and
kumkum powder, incense, a bell. There will be items to touch,
taste, smell, hear and look at. All five senses are involved as a
symbol that the whole person is devoted to the deity. Prasad is
food like fruit, nuts or sweets that is offered to the murtis and
then shared out after the puja. We believe that the deities bless
the food during the puja. And so if we eat the prasad we will be
blessed too. Take a sniff. Incense is burned in mandirs to purify
the air, hiding any nasty smells. It also creates an atmosphere
that always makes me think of puja. So it helps me to get in the
right frame of mind to pray. The main shrine at the front of the
mandapa is called a garbha griha, which means womb house. It
symbolises the womb or heart of the body because we believe it
gives life to the whole mandir. Inside the garbha griha will be a
murti of the main deity that the mandir is dedicated to; the deity
that most people come to this mandir to worship, which in our
case is Ganesha. There is a space or corridor around the garbha
griha called the pradakshina. This is so people can walk
clockwise all around it. It shows that just like the shrine is at the
centre of the circle I'm making as I walk around it, Ganesha is at
the centre of my life. Directly above the garbha griha, some
mandirs have a spire on the roof called a shikara, or they might
even have several shikaras above all the different shrines. They
symbolise the Himalayas, the mountains in India, where the
deities were believed to live. In fact, shikara means 'mountain
peak'. Some mandirs have flags, and the colour of the flags show
which deity the mandir is dedicated to. So orange for Shiva and
his family, which includes his son Ganesha; and red and white
stripes for Swaminarayan.
Clip: Holy Cribs MANDIR - FINAL EXPORT 16 April 2023.mp4
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S1 00:06:18:04
Our priests traditionally come from the Brahmin varna, the top
varna or caste in the Indian class system. He's called a pujari,
someone who leads puja. This is the arti ceremony. The pujari
uses a lamp with five wicks to symbolise the five traditional
elements of earth, air, fire, water and space. He waves it in front
of the murtis while chanting a prayer. And people ring bells and
blow a shankha. A shankha or conch is a huge seashell. And if
you blow into it properly, it makes... That sound. The lamp is
blessed by the deities during the arti prayer, and then it's taken
round the mandapa for us to pass our hands over the flames and
then touch our heads to show that we are accepting the deity's
blessing.
S1 00:07:11:20
Mandirs are usually full of decorations and symbols. This one is
called the Om, which represents Brahman, the one unseen spirit.
The lotus flower grows out of a muddy riverbed to float on the
surface, looking all beautiful. So it symbolises that we should try
to be pure, even when the world around us is often polluted. And
the swastika which represents the sun and God's blessings.
Although this one is often misunderstood because it was used by
the Nazis in the Second World War, it's a shame because the
symbol of blessing was turned into a symbol of hate. But that's
not what it means to me. Many mandirs have a hall or other
rooms attached that can be used for meetings, education,
festivals and lots of other events. And that's it. Thanks for coming
to the Shree Ghanapathy Temple. Don't forget your shoes.
Thanks for coming, guys. Bye.