White Marble Temple

India is a land of temples. Every village, every town, every habitation has a temple dedicated to one deity or the other. Going to a temple is not just a ritual for an average Indian; it is a basic necessity. Temples in India have never been just that. Even from ancient times, they have been centres of commerce, art, culture, education and pivot of social life. Everything in the community revolved around the local temple. This is where prayers were made to Gods and Goddesses for health, for wealth, for progeny or for a specific obstacle to be removed or even for acquiring something valuable. This is where people met each other, exchanged news, exchanged views, exchanged gossip, shared their stories, their difficulties, solicited each other’s advice and planned their daily lives. In the modern era, much of how we live has changed. But our attachment to the temples has not changed as much. We still go to temples; we still believe in the power of the deity there; we still solicit the peace and comfort we get from going to a temple. Atleast most of us. Why do we go to a temple? What is so special about a temple? Is it the deity there? Or is it the miracles which the deity is supposed to have performed? Or is it that there is something more there? Some unsaid, untold, inexplicable feeling which permeates the place making it sacred?