Saturday, 24. June 2006
Meeting God: Elements of Devotion in India

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Morning Prayers

Throughout India the day begins with prayer, acknowledging the Divine in innumerable forms.

The principal aim of any puja is the feeling of personal contact with the deity. All three religions use one term to define their primary experience of the Divine: Darshan, literally translated from Sanskrit as "seeing and being seen by God", or "Meeting God". It is that moment when the entire focus of the worshiper is receptive to recognition by the God or Goddess. Darshan may be achieved in a wide variety of ways.

It may be felt by an individual in his or her own daily household pujas or meditations, when the contact is made alone.


A person may experience darshan simply by viewing a particularly sacred sculpture or holy spot, perhaps during a pilgrimage or at a festival. Through whatever means it comes, darshan brings both peace, contentment and blessing to devotees and through it, they believe, miracles can and do occur frequently.

The picture above: In her hands a woman clasps a brass bowl that holds sacred water representing the Goddess: the Divine Feminine. She prays to the first rays of the sun, considered a God: the Divine Masculine. By daily acknowledging the two, she honors the absolute balance of existence: male and female, wrong and right, black and white, good and evil.

Worship in the Home

The heart of every Hindu and Jain home is its shrine: the sacred space delineated for honoring and worshiping the gods. While a particularly devout Jain or Hindu may visit a temple every day, others go there only to request a specific favor of the deity or to fulfill specific vows. Temple worship requires the intervention of a priest, while in the home contact is direct between devotee and deity.

The pujas that take place in the household shrine are the foundation of all family actions and decisions. Everything begins and ends here. The size and description of this shrine is immaterial. It may be large and impressive, an entire room or a beautifully designed edifice, or it may be simply a tiny niche, or even just a row of religious prints pasted on a wall.

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The Temple

Each Hindu, Sikh and Jain temple in India is different: its architecture, decoration, size, and contents are unique to its own history and specific purpose. Most are built upon sites that have been in worship for as long as anyone knows. In Hindu temples, the central image in many is primordial, a natural stone that has been viewed as a god or goddess for millennia. The structures around these images have grown up over centuries through the contributions of grateful devotees.

Here, an elderly woman lights a lamp to the God Subramaniam in a small niche outside the sanctum of a magnificent temple to Shiva.


Vows and Healing

Another common means of clearing the negative karma created by past mistakes in action or judgment is through the fulfillment of a specific vow (vrata) to the Divine. A devotee promises the deity that he or she will regularly undergo a certain action that will help to purify body and mind and demonstrate piety.

Any vow, simple or complex, is a serious commitment to the Divine and must be enacted exactly as it was promised. Stories abound of dishonored vows and the Divine Retribution that followed. Although anyone may commit to a vow, most are made by women. As has been stated, feminine strength (shakti) is revered in India. Women are believed to be much stronger in character and resolution than men.

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These are but a few glimpses into the heart of faith in India. We ask that you leave your preconceptions behind and open yourself and all your senses to the experience. Let it be an adventure into other ways of thinking and acting in which you might find threads that interweave within your own life.

Meeting God: Elements of Devotion in India
Images and text Stephen P. Huyler. (English)
Category: Gods & Goddesses | Religion & Early Cultures |


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