Iskcon temple

On a fine Sunday morning, me and my buddy nithin set out to visit the Iskcon temple in Bangalore. Behind this plan was the build-up about the temple given by friends and relatives - the marble structures, magnificent statues etc as well as the perquisites that you get after praying to Lord Krishna there of course! Another reason was the feeling that I was not utilizing the Rs.110 AC daily pass enough and the thinking that this time why not travel to the remotest corner of Bangalore instead of regular Forum Mall or M.G. Road and make the maximum out of the pass and screw the guys at BMTC(Typical mallu way of thought)? Thoughts went wild and soon I borrowed 5 minutes of browsing on my friend's laptop and figured out the routes and bus numbers to Iskcon.  I boarded bus from Wipro Gate and nithin would be waiting at Silk Board.

We reached majestic after boarding several Vajra buses. Sun was high above our heads and we were starting to have that nagging sensation in our stomachs - we were terribly hungry! We entered the first decent hotel that came to our sight. It was one of the 'my-name-ends-with-SAGAR' hotels of Bangalore which has a reputation of providing not-so-bad vegetarian food. But unfortunately(?!!), the menu had all sorts of non-veg delicacies listed. Suddenly evil took over us and we ordered chicken dishes. In kerala, you can't even think of going to temple after having chicken unless you take bath twice of course! But its Bangalore, any rules can be bent here. With that thought we erased the last bit of remorse from our minds and proceeded  to the KBS bus station to catch our next bus.

With just the google given knowledge about the bus routes, we waited for the exact bus. But when we asked a policeman there, he told us that the particular bus number which we were waiting for is very rare and we need to take a different bus which can take us till a nearby stop and from there the temple is just walking distance. So we got into an old rickety bus which resembled one of those old wooden toys that you see in fairs with the royal 110 rupees BMTC A/C bus pass. "Stop aadhre nannathra heli"(please tell me once the stop arrives)-I recited the pre-recorded dialogue to the conductor just to be sure that we don't end up getting down at the last stop of the bus. He showed us the stop to get down. In the process of getting down from the bus, I narrowly escaped becoming a "wall poster" in the road under a speeding lady on a Honda Activa. Maybe all she saw was an unsuspecting MCP coming out of the bus violating the universal law that no gentleman shall cross a pretty lady's path when she is overtaking a bus on the wrong side. My bad :-) Anyway I was safe and with a slight aftershock of the event in my mind, we started walking towards the temple.

The temple entrance was grand and announced all the magnificence of the temple. There were separate entrances for vehicles and people. The guards checked us inside out for weapons. The ladies were checked in a separate area veiled with curtains. The wicked mind started conjuring what all nasty things could be happening in there. I chanted "siva siva" as penance for it and we started to ascend the steps. There were signposts everywhere showing you the way and railings to define the queues. Chantings of the mantra 'hare rama hare rama rama rama hare, hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare" emanating from the speakers kept at regular intervals along the walkway ushered in a peaceful ambience. Some signposts were really funny like "This is the last toilet on the way. Next one is only at the exit". I think what they meant was - "take a leak buddy, or else you will end up peeing your pants seeing the cost of things that are awaiting you on the way". We had to deposit out bags and chappals at the designated counters and continued our climb uphill. We encountered sub deities first and served them visit. Finally we reached the main deity. It was housed in a large hall about four stores high and about half a football field in area embellished with plush granite. At the opposite end of the hall stood the magnificent idols of Sree Krishna and Radha adorned with gold and silver. The temple could not command any ancient glory, but what amazed me was the sheer amount of money spent on the idols and the construction. We decided to sit down in the hall and bathe in the ambiance. The final rays from the setting sun reflected on the marble and lent a tangerine radiance to the place. But the wicked mind kept bouncing back to the law that a certain percentage of your brain's ability is constantly engaged in scanning for potential mates to ensure the continuity of your species. We were trying to fill our mind with devotion but the chicks were distracting our attention. Some annoying practices in the temple that the humble malayali in me couldn't palate were:

• No restriction on dress code. Ladies coming in all modern outfits, children in school uniforms didn't look good.

• Special entries on paying a fee. The affluent can go 'closer' to lord and fall on the feet of the idols and have a chat with the temple priest while others are watching standing on the other side of the barricade. Aren't all people equal in thy abode, my lord? How do you tolerate this discrimination?

After almost half an hour of 'immersing ourselves in the ambiance of the chamber'(read hunting for chicks!), we decided to leave from the place. We had to move along the long meandering queue in the walkway defined by the handrails. On either sides were stalls selling Iskcon temple prasadam. They were not so costly but I was amazed at their business tactic of placing stalls of yummy looking prasadam along the sides of the only way out. Most of the devotees would never leave without buying a packet of prasadam.  Similarly there were other stalls selling paintings of Sree Krishna, ornaments, accessories etc. and also bookstalls selling devotional and religious books. After that came foodstalls. In all, it was a big religious shopping mall inside. Hanging on the wall was the expansion plan for the temple. It included car-parking area, lawn, huge halls for conducting religious classes etc, looked like the expansion plan for a shopping mall. Finally we reached the point where free prasadam was distributed, which was rice porridge added with turmeric and other spices and was served in small cups made from dry leaves. It tasted delicious maybe because we were tired after walking all the way from top of the hill to the exit. We walked towards the exit after taking some snaps from there, learning new lessons about turning bhakti(devotion) into business. People who hesitate to give even a single rupee to the beggars can be seen emptying their whole wallets into the bhandarams(donation boxes). My personal opinion is that if you want to show your devotion to god, love his creations that are around you. Love the animals and birds, help the poor in the little ways possible by you. With a tumult of thoughts and feelings inside, we boarded the bus back home.