E-Book: A Place for All Gods by Uma Shankari

Being a citizen of India, I value the secular democracy we live in (faulty as it is) and I feel concerned about the growing communal animosity in the country. This essay is also about our duty as citizens when faced with ugly ambience of communal tensions.

The reader may also wonder why I have started the booklet with the inter-religious disputes and the violence around temples, mosques and churches, but I do not address the question till the very end of the booklet. Instead, I describe the institution of temple in great detail - the philosophy, the beliefs, the worship system, the variety of gods and temples, recurring cultural motifs and patterns, the society and the caste system which supported the temples, the changes in the modern period and contemporary times. This is because I would like to demonstrate that the very essence of Hinduism in the midst of the multiplicity of gods, temples and beliefs is a pluralistic culture and civilization. India has learnt through history to live with difference and diversity in faith and society. It has experienced new waves of people coming and settling down with their own beliefs and symbols. It has given them a place to live and thrive. It has adopted a pluralistic faith which permeates its entire religious ecosystem. Unless one understands the philosophy, the icons and the rituals, as well as the changes they have gone through history through cultural exchange and intellectual dialectics, the underlying core of the civilization would not be appreciated. I have tried to do it in the context of the Hindu temple. Hence the detour. I crave your patience and understanding.