Final Day In India Sikh Temple, Bahai Temple, Farewell Dinner

Final Day in India Sikh Temple, Baha'i Temple, Farewell Dinner
Letter #8 India

Dear Friends and Family,

Here is how we spent our last splendid day in India.

Back To Birla House--Mahatma's Gandhi Museum.
A few of us decided we wanted to spend more time touring that wonderful memorial honoring Gandhi. I especially wanted to visit the bookstore to purchase some of his works and I wanted to explore more of the exhibits I missed on my previous visit. I cannot get enough of Gandhi!
Next, we said goodbye to our luxury hotel, the Taj Mahal, one of Delhi's finest. I will certainly miss waking up to a sumptuous breakfast buffet with a variety of menu items, with attentive service!

Sikh Temple

Our first stop was to a Sikh temple. Before entering the temple, we were required to remove both shoes and socks and to cover our heads. They gave us all orange bandannas to cover our heads.

As usual, we encountered a beautiful mosaic of colorful people at this phenomenal temple. We were there on Sunday, one of the most popular days for a visit, and it is also a popular family gathering. People from all faiths are welcome to enter the Sikh temple and worship the Sikh Holy Scripture. Every person, irrespective of caste, creed, gender, culture or nationality is welcome here. Sikhism is also known for its community kitchen. It is designed to provide food to all devotees, pilgrims, and visitors and is a symbol of equality, fraternity, and brotherhood. People of all walks of life share the same food sitting together in one row. The community kitchen is staffed entirely by volunteers, who prepare and serve the food. It was so beautiful to witness this bustling activity.

So what is Sikhism?

It is a branch of Hinduism, and one of the world's newer religions. that was founded in 1469 in northern India. It is strictly monotheistic believing in one supreme God. The religion consists of practical living, in rendering service to humanity and engendering tolerance and brotherly love toward all. They believe in are earning an honest living in leading a normal life Sikhism does not accept the idea of pessimism. It advocates optimism and hope.

The five symbols of Sikhism are as follows:
1. uncut hair and an untrimmed beard hair covered by a turban 2.a sword 3. a comb, 4. a steel bracelet 5. and undergarment.

All Sikhs (men) can be identified by these five symbols with them at all times.

The temple was spectacular, with gold domes and a large iridescent blue wading pool surrounded by worshipers.

Again, we formed a prayer circle and Father Leo led us in prayer, amidst a river of onlookers. It was a beautiful experience.

Baha’i House of Worship
Our final stop represented a culmination of all we had experienced about India's religions.

The Baha'i Faith is an independent world religion, divine in origin, all embracing and scope that celebrates all the world's religions. It upholds the unity of God, the unity of religions, and the unity of the entire human race. It was established in 1844 in Iran by a young Persian man named Bab. He was persecuted and martyred in 1850. Over subsequent years, many of his followers were also persecuted. His predecessor was imprisoned, which is where he revealed thousands of inspired writings. The Scriptures are unique, because for the first time the holy writings of a major religion are authentically available in the handwriting of its founder.
The Baha’i world community comprises more than 2112 different ethnic groups in over 360 countries and territories and islands, representing a true cross-section of the human race.

BAHA’I Principles:
§ The oneness of mankind
§ Independent investigation of truth
§ The common foundation of all religions
§ The essential harmony of science and religion
§ Equality of men and women
§ Elimination of prejudice of all kinds
§ Universal compulsory education
§ Universal peace
I am ready to convert!

After listening to a helpful lecture and overview of the religion and construction of the lotus temple, we gave a tearful goodbye to Anita, our wonderful tour guide. We've learned she is a history professor. It is no wonder she is so stellar!
We were then blessed with the opportunity to participate in the three a clock prayer service. During the service, we listened to readings and songs from Hebrew text, the Christian Bible, the Koran, Buddhist scriptures, and Hindu texts.

Imagine a world where all religions honor one another!

The truth is: all religions are the same; all religions honor the same God. Only politics divide us.

Baha’i temples worldwide
There are seven Baha'i temples, one on each continent.
The Baha'i house of worship in India is the newest. It opened in 1986 dedicated to the unity of God, the unity of religion, and the unity of mankind.
The common characteristics of Baha'i houses of worship is that they are all nine sided. Nine is the highest digit and symbolizes comprehensiveness, oneness, and unity. The symbol chosen for India's Baha'i temple is the Lotus. The Lotus represents equality of genders, and that beauty can come from darkness. Bahaindia.org.

What an exquisite organization and a perfect culmination of our exploration of India's religions!

Farewell dinner at our travel agents, beautiful home.

Shama, our tour guide, (Rama Tours) welcomed us to her beautiful upper middle class home, (near Delhi) which is a converted, 4-story bed-and-breakfast, for a farewell celebration and dinner.

Father Leo engaged our group of 50 in a closing ceremony where each of us shared our impressions of our journey. We have a wonderful final Indian meal, catered by a helpful staff.
Her home is a four-story bed-and-breakfast with large balconies decorated with elephants, camels, Hindus statues and other lovely decorative artifacts.
Finally, we were whisked off to the airport, where we had a smooth transition to our flight home.
What an extraordinary experience I had in India! It forced us all to get introspective and to learn more about who we are. We experienced extreme highs and lows, some darkness and light, abundance and scarcity, and lots of support.

You may want to know would I go back to this magical land full of such contrasts?

In a heartbeat!

Thank you for coming along. I posted 606 photos to snapfish at http://www2.snapfish.com/photolibrary/owned_view=owned_2007/t_=78382827. Actually, I will forward the link.

Namaste!
Karla in India.