Essay on "Religion -- House of Worship"

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Religion -- House of Worship

The house of worship that I visited is a Hindu Temple that was way different than anything that I have been used to seeing.

Architecture of the temple

The Hindu Temple is huge and on the outside, there is a conical-shaped structure on top of the temple and the tip of this cone is made of gold. There is only one entrance and as soon as everyone enters, they have to remove their shoes and their coats. There is a wash area for people to wash their hands and feet for purification before they enter the sacred area.

As soon as the sacred area is entered, there is a big pillar and every person was prostrating near this pillar before they went in to see the God. There are numerous deities or Gods in the temple and each of them have a shrine. Inside each shrine, is a different idol made of bronze or an alloy of different metals. The Gods have distinct face, hands, body and legs and even the facial features differ from God to God. Most of them also have some kind of weapon like an ax or a sharp wheel on their hands and this is to signify how they protect their devotees from harm. Huge metal lamps are placed at the entrance of each shrine and these lamps are lit with oil and cotton. They burned all the time in front of all the shrines.

The temple has one prominent God, in this case it was Lord Varadharaja and this particular deity had a bigger shrine. Also, this shrine occupied the central part of the temple and this is the first shrine that people see when they enter the temple. Each shrine had a few steps that had to be entered to get near the idol and only the priest went past the steps

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to get near the God. Other worshipers stood near the entrance of the shrine and prayed.

The other deities in this temple were Goddess Mahalakshmi, Goddess Andal, Lord Venkateswara, Lord Ayappa, Lord Krishna, Lord Rama, Goddess Durga, Lord Muruga, Lord Shiva, Lord Ganesha and the Navagraha group of nine deities clustered together. Each of these deities had the same kind of shrine, though smaller than the main deity and only the priest went past the steps. The worshipers stood outside each of these shrines and prayed with folded hands.

Every God is adorned with flowers and bright clothing. The Goddesses have the traditional sari while the Gods have dhothi in vibrant colors. Other than that, each of the Gods wore a lot of heavy jewelry and a crown on their head. The priest said that a good part of the jewelry was made of gold and contributed by the visitors.

Prayer

During the prayers, the male and female sit together. In fact, the entire family along with the kids sit together in two parallel rows on either side of the shrine. There is no separation between the genders when it comes to sitting. However, there are a group of people who sit in the front and they are the ones who are well-versed in the scriptures and chantings.

Mass Chanting

There is a set of events that constitute the prayer. It starts with a mass chanting of prayers in different languages such as Sanskrit, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. This is done by all the people seated in the temple. This prayer recital happens only in front of one deity. Each day it is done in front of different shrines depending on the significance it has for each deity. Sometimes, more than one deity have prayers on the same day though at different times.

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Quoted Instructions for "Religion -- House of Worship" Assignment:

“

Choose either option. I am not religious in any way, so any religion would be acceptable.

Option 1. Visit a house of worship or other religious activity from a tradition other than your own. Submit an essay which answers the following questions:

1. What happens during the activity?

2. Is there a set order of events? If so, list those events in chronological order.

3. Who officiates at the activity?

4. What is expected of the participants?

5. Do men and women participate together?

6. Are children present?

7. Does music play a part? If so, describe.

8. Are religious images present? If so, describe.

9. Describe the architecture of the environment in which the religious service takes place. Do some spaces seem more *****"sacred*****" than others?

10. As a visitor, are you made to feel welcome? Describe.

11. How are visitors expected to behave?

12. Other observations you come up with on your own.

Option 2. Interview a person from another religious tradition than your own. Submit an essay which answers the following questions that you asked the person you interviewed:

1. What are the essential teachings of your faith?

2. What is your Sacred Scripture?

3. Who is considered your founder?

4. What takes place in worship (see above)?

5. Are visitors welcome?

6. How should visitors behave?

7. What are the significant rites of passage and other rituals/practices in your faith?

8. What are the roles of men, women, and children in your religion?

9. What attitude does your religion have towards other religions?

10. How many believers are there in the world, the United States, North Carolina?

11. What is the most important thing you want outsiders to understand about your faith?

12. Other relevant questions you come up with on your own.

ESSAY GUIDELINES

Length: 4 or more double-spaced pages

The paper should:

1. Include an introduction in which you identify the activity, date, and place of worship or person interviewed.

2. Be organized clearly, guided by the assignment questions.

3. Include specific information that demonstrates insight into the important characteristics of the religion.

4. Include observations that show objectivity and appreciation towards the religion.

5. Include the full name, address, and contact information for religious organization that you visited.

6. Include a digital photo of you along with the person you interviewed and/or the place of worship you attended at the beginning or end of your paper.

Make sure you follow the MLA Style. This includes but is not limited to:

1. Double-space the text of your paper, and use a legible font like Times Roman. The font size should be 12 pt.

2. Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks.

3. Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides. Indent the first line of a paragraph one half-inch (five spaces or press tab once) from the left margin.

4. Create a header that numbers all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin.

5. Use either italics or underlining throughout your essay for the titles of longer works and, only when absolutely necessary, providing emphasis.

6. If you have any endnotes, include them on a separate page before your Works Cited page.

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