Haylee Gillis HUMA 1100 November 28, 2013 T-R 8:30-9:50

Cultural Event- Hindu Temple

culture. The arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively. The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought.
culture. (n.d.) Collins English Dictionary Complete and Unabridged. (1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003). http://www.thefreedictionary.com/culture

Over 80 percent of Indias population claim themselves as Hindus and 30 million Hindus live outside of India. There are a total of 900 million Hindus worldwide; the third largest religion. For my cultural event, I decided to visit the Hindu Temple in South Jordan, Utah. The experience was incredible. I decided to take my mother and sister with me for moral support. I had done a little research prior and new that we would need to take off our shoes, but didnt gather much else from looking at their website. I made the assumption that we should dress a little more modest and make sure that our arms were covered and each brought a scarf just in case. I was a little shocked at its location as it is tucked back in where you would never see it if you didnt know it was there. As we pulled up and approached the temple we noticed that people had taken their shoes off, so we did the same. As we walked in, the entrance of the temple looked more like the narrow lobby of a building that opened up in the temple itself. We continued to proceed, with our hands held together in front of us, the Pandit A.R.

Krishnan met us and said these three words, walk three times as he makes this circular motion with his right index finger pointing to the inside of the temple. Keeping in mind the definition of culture, I was self-consciously thinking about tradition. Unlike many other religions that practice what they preach, Hindus believe in the thought of tradition, there is no set of beliefs or practices. Intellectual achievement is also a grand topic in the Hindu religion. They believe that by their actions they do now, it will reflect on their future life; therefore creating their own destiny. As we walked in, we noticed a group of 3, two men and one young woman sitting on the floor with a little dish of flowers and money. They were burning incense and as one man began to pray out loud the other two sat as to join him in his praise, however they stayed quiet. They did make contact with us and tilted their head downward as to acknowledge us being there. You couldnt miss us; I mean we were the only three Caucasians in the entire temple. We made our way around the sides of the temple and saw each of the shrines; Shiva, Lakshmi, and Sri Ganesha. As we made one more pass around, another man who looked like he may have been a student said two more. We hurried around the two more times and on the last one the Pandit met us in the middle of the Temple in front of Sri Ganesha picked up an apple blessed it and handed it to us. The Pandit then shuffled us into a hallway that led into the cultural hall where they were setting up for their Diwali celebration, which is the Festival of Lights. It starts on November 3rd, but as they welcomed us, they said they hadnt had time to organize the celebration and the reason its late.

We were a little culture shocked by sitting in this culture hall, myself and two other white women amongst 50 plus individuals of the Hindu faith. Two females approached us making sure we werent lost and invited to partake in the food and tea that they had. They were completely decked out in the traditional Indian apparel called Saris; even the little toddlers were adorned in jewelry, bracelets, etc. We all tried the tea which was unsweetened Chai, but didnt dare try the little brown things. I asked them about the festival and the clothing they were wearing. The first woman we met was very kind and even answered some questions I had about her daughter. She stated that she would send her daughter off to India next year to live there for five years! To learn about the Hindu culture and live with her grandparents. She said that it is fairly common for Hindu children that live in the U.S. to be sent back to India to learn and go to school at such young ages. The woman also said that they bangles that they wear are placed on them at birth, with very little room to grow, they never come off. They will be with them for the rest of their lives. They are known to bring good luck and ward off evil spirits throughout their life. As the program got started they addressed the crowd and all the guests in English, knowing that we wouldnt understand a word of it moving forward. We watched the most eldest couple light the lamp, which represents lighting the path to move forward. The Hindu religion relates a lot to the definition of culture. The art and traditions of this religion are incredible. Culture in my own definition would be, a way of life. The clothes we wear, the food we eat, the holidays we celebrate, the books we read, and

the religion we follow. Overall I am glad that we went even though we were all so nervous. Its scary trying something new, however many of the women there made us feel very welcome. Its something to note that not one male spoke to us except the young m an at registration. Cant say that I will go back, but may have to try a different temple.