Hindus believe that their lives are merely stages in the progression to ultimate enlightenment (in a way same as Buddhists).
The temple is a place where God may be approached and where divine knowledge can be discovered.
When the devotee enters a temple, he is actually entering into a mandala and therefore participating in a power-field.
The many deities - The Hindu religion also believes in many celestial entities, called Devas. The feminine of deva is devi.
Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world. And it has often been coined as a "environmental friendly" religion.
Malaysia has thousands of Hindu temples and shrines, many built on private or plantation land by Indian migrant labourers before the country gained independence from Britain in 1957.
The land has since then been acquired by local councils or state authorities, who argue the temples are illegal buildings and have been knocking them down.
The land is said to be belonged to the government and the government has to build roads, schools and bridges. This had primarily gone unnoticed due to the fact that the caretakers of these temples are mainly downtrodden, poor, uneducated, ignorant and defenseless citizens of the Indian community within Malaysia.
The latest incident happened on 12 June 2006 where a 110-year-old temple's three Hindu deities were smashed to pieces and destroyed with sledge hammers right before the devotee's eyes.
Simple government intervention would have prevented this from occurring, but was this not done ? Is there violation of freedom of religion ?
10 comments:
Sad isnt it...
I love the temples. They are so bright and colourful. We should preserve, not destroy.
AL
really? can you send me the link to that news? what was Samyvellu reaction?
nighttravel : yea. wonder if those old chinese temples be knocked down ?
ailing : i was impressed too when i visited the place. it was in the midst of construction. the workers were friendly, allowing me to snap pictures and provide some insight on hindu temple architecture.
eddie : wah. don't trust me issit ? samyvellu's reaction ? i think his name was not mentioned. by the way, i feel now malaysia is unsafe. wait for my next posting !
why did u say malaysia is unsafe?
Maybe because you are in JB?
very very nice. I like the one with lots of cobra heads...
hello there, great photos and keep up the good work. I guess your photos show us the contemporary indian temple architecture. check out my blog. I've posted a couple of photos of a SHIVA that i shot a few weeks back (one of many thousand of shiva temples in Tamil Nadu, ----"thiruvalaangaadu" located about 65km from chennai city). This temple is thousands of years old and its architectural work is very intricate. This temple reflects the greatness of the ancient India.
this is my blog www.fotokraft.blogspot.com
or
www.pkblogs.com/fotokraft
primrose : i like that too.
amanda : i did read abit of mandala as well. i saw another nice indian temple yesterday. weather wasn't that good. be back with more pictures.
arjun : will do. I will check your blog. like to know more about the hindu architecture as well. thanks.
... beautiful series patrick.
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