Hinduism

The service our group attended at the BAPS temple in Cherry Hill, New Jersey was
called Aarti; a ceremony in which Hindus welcome the Murtis into their hearts. The room where
the ritual was held is the interior of the temple (which) directs our attention towards the center,
the seed, and the source of it all (Eck p. 62). The seed of the temple was windowless and dim.
There were two entrances, one for men and one for women. Upon entering the room, your shoes
must be removed and placed outside of the doors, which shows respect towards the deities. After
waiting patiently, with our legs crossed, for the priest to introduce the deities, the music began to
play and the murtis were revealed. The priest then lit three types of candles, one with five wicks
and the other two with just one. The candles with one wick were passed around and rotated
clockwise, which captured the deitys essence. The candle with five wicks was held only by the
priest and rotated clockwise directly in front of the deities on the altar. After this took place,
songs were sung continuously, and the people began to pray, stretching their limbs out flat.
The temples described in the book Darsan were not similar to what we saw at the BAPS
temple. In Darsan, the temples are described as looking similar to various mountains. The
temple is said to be the architectural likeness of a mountain. Indeed, the various temple styles are
the names of those great Himalayan peaks which are the home of the gods: Meru, Kailasa, and
Mandara (Eck p. 61). The Hindus also personally built their temples as a ritual activity, from
beginning to end. Although the temple our group went to looked something like a one story
business building, the alter was beyond extraordinary and shaped like a mountain itself. The
book gave us more of a brief description of what happens during Darsan instead of Aarti. Even
though Aarti is somewhat similar to Darsan, Aarti involves worshippers offering themselves to
the deities and receiving the deities love and blessings. Receiving blessings from the murtis can

be as simple as waving the air above towards your heart and mind, as we did during the ritual.
This candle was special because it had been closest to the deities and we were now capturing
their essence. Another reason why the candle with five wicks is so meaningful is because each
wick on it symbolizes one of five elements; Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Space.
All five elements combine to signify creation and rotating the candles clockwise
represent the circle of life; this is also done to ward off any evil influences. While the candles are
being waved, songs are being sung, and it is believed that the candles and the plate on which they
stand become blessed by the deity. In the book, Darsan is simply the religious seeing, or visual
perception of the sacred (Eck, p. 3). The overall idea of Darsan is to stand in the deitys
presence and be seen by it. Though Aarti and Darsan are very different, they hold the same
values and essential significance.