Download Newspaper - Radha Krishna Mandir

Enjoying a new cultural experience
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Walton Newspaper
Posted: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 12:00 am
1 comment
Often experiences of different walks of life can shape you into having a better perception of the
people around you and have a greater respect for those who celebrate various religions.
Tuesday evening I visited with the Radha Krishna Mandir and Cultural Center of Monroe and
was kindly welcomed into their celebration of the festival of Maha Shivaratri. As I walked
around the temple to the entrance I noticed the decorative flags that lined the building, which I
was later, informed was a part of decoration for this celebration.
Upon entering the building I placed my shoes aside with everyone else’s and met members of the
cultural center.
The festival of Maha Shivaratri falls on the 13th night/14th day of the new moon during Krishna
Paksha in the Hindu month of Phalgun said member Anita Ganesh.
This festival is an all-day event where certain rituals are performed every three hours to honor
the Lord Shiva.
“Shivalingam is given a special bath with milk, yoghurt, honey, sandalwood paste and rose
water. Puja, meditation and chanting of ‘Om Namah Shivaya’ accompany the ritual bath.
Following the bath, vermilion paste is applied on the linga. Thereafter, Bilwa leaves, which have
to be a stalk with three leaves, is kept on top of the Shivalinga. Ber or jujube fruit is a special
offering to the god on this day. Many devotees also decorate the linga with flowers and garlands
and offer incense sticks and fruits,” Ganesh said.
Shortly after arriving to watch this festival begin the priest began the opening prayers called Puja
where devotees encircled him and the rest of the temple participated with him.
The prayers are sung and occasionally bells are tolled an accordion like instrument plays and
worship is in session.
After each Puja the priest would tell stories of Lord Shiva explaining the importance of the
ceremony.
After several prayers and teachings the priest announced the beginning of the celebration.
Children began to play a congo drum, a guitar-like instrument and the accordion like instrument
and the devotees who encircled the priest made their way to the Shivalinga, which is a small
replica of the Lord Shiva, to bath it with water, milk, honey and bel leaves.
All of these items have a symbolism in the hindu religion.
Milk is for the blessing of purity and piousness, water is for purity, honey is for sweet speech,
sugar is for happiness, ghee is for victory and yogurt is for prosperity and progeny.
What fascinated me the most during this experience were the similarities and the devotedness of
its followers.
These people placed them selves below their God sitting on the floor the whole evening. Exalting
their God as the most important person in the room.
What I took from this experience is that even though we may seem different and have different
religions we are really the same. We still have much in common with similar interests and if we
are not open to learning about various cultures or accepting everyone around us then we are
missing the true point of coexisting.
As I made my way to leave I was offered some of the food prepared for after the service which
was quite delicious and I left hands full and a heart warmed by the generosity of these people.