Men of God
Religion to me is very personal, and my transactions with the almighty don't depend necessarily on the holiness of the place, as much as they depend on how much peace I derive while being there.
I was told to visit the temple when I had been to Gokarna a few days ago, for it was supposed to be a very holy place, akin to Kashi in the north, and even minus the parental insistence, I would've gone there nevertheless.
On the last day of our three days/two nights trip, we had to check out of the hotel we stayed in, at 12 noon and having seven and a half hours to kill, for our bus left for Bangalore at half past seven in the evening, we decided to hang out at the town. After the others chomped on freshly caught crabs, we headed into the main town, only to find out that the temple was closed and would open around half past four or five.
After lunching on some wholesome thaali at this place on Car street in Gokarna, I trudged off alone towards the temple, wanting to go alone to see the place. After depositing my chappals outside, I walked in, only to be accosted by one of the priests, who implored me to perform special Poojas for it was the beginning of the Shravana Masa(Shravana is one of the months in the Hindu calendar) and was supposedly a very auspicious day. He said to place some money onto his platter and that God would then bless me.
When led further into the Inner Sanctum, the priests there demanded further money in lieu of performing special Poojas, saying that it would help me, and gave me disgusted, dirty looks when I told them that I was there merely to seek the Almighty's blessings through Darshan.
Pretty much every priest I went to had the same demeanour, with the end result leading to my receiving dirty looks and mumbled curses because I chose not to be fleeced. Its a different matter to make voluntary donations into the Hundi, its something altogether different when asked to pay up, and that too in no uncertain terms.
I was hurt when I saw that the priests were behaving that way, and I was told by someone very close to me that its the case with most of the temples in the holy cities. In some cases, the priests even hurl curses at you, should you refuse to comply.
The Times They Are A-Changin. If cynicism doesn't kick in, what else will?
*Sigh*