Faith = Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence
Belief = Something believed or accepted as true
If someone told my father, that he/she is religious, my father would always ask a question to that person. Are you religious by virtue or by birth? Most of us are religious by birth. Because I was born in a Hindu family, I am a hindu and I follow all the religious festivals and know the mythology and names of Gods and Godesses. Sometimes I question hindu mythology and theosophy because some of the things don’t make sense and sometimes I am simply surprised by the facts and relevant things it throws at me. Sometimes I just simply give in to what I see, without questioning it.
Most of the Hindu families have a family temple (Kul Devi). And these temples are generally of Goddess Durga and her different incarnations. There are a few occasions when we have to definitely go to this temple, but we can go there whenever we want. The times when we have to definitely go there are:
- When a boy child is born, his first haircut has to happen in this temple. So if earlier times when transportation was hard people used to have long hairs as they would go to this temple 5 to 10 years after their birth. Now its much more easy. I got my first hair cut at the age of 1.
- When a boy gets married, he has to go to this temple with his wife to offer prayers.
- When this couple would have a boy child.
So the incarnation of Godess Durga which my family worships is "Fire" called Jwala. The temple itself is called Jwalaji located in the Kangra valley of Himachal Pradesh. Why my family has the temple in HP is another story, as mostly all the Marwari’s (a group of people who come from the Marwar region of Rajasthan) have their family temple in Rajasthan itself.
Most of the Hindu temple’s have a statue which is worshipped. But at this temple there is no statue. What we worship there is Fire. Its Natural Fire which comes out of the ground from a few places. This is the surprising thing or nature’s magic that there is no storage of Natural Gas or Petrol which is making the fire burn. Its absolutely natural. A lot of scientists have tried to do researches in the temple and under the temple to find something which is keeping the fire burning but have been unsuccessful. This fire has been burning there for thousands of years. Mughal ruler Akbar, around 700 years ago, did not believe in this natural magic. So he brought a river alongwith him to stop the fire from burning, but the fire came on top of water. He then tried to put seven slabs of Iron so that the flame subsides, but again the fire came on top of the iron sheets. Once he was satisfied that there is something divine about this fire he offered a plate made of 50 kilograms of gold. But the goddess did not accept it and turned gold into a metal which is unknown. Its density and atomic value is still of gold but it’s not gold. Again, a lot of scientists tried to find what metal it is, but were unsuccessful. This plate is still in the temple.
Some of the other strange things about the temple is that if you put your finger in the fire, it doesn’t burn. Similarly, ants very easily go near the fire and bring food (prasad) from there. The most stunning thing is that priest’s take a small cup of water and actually show you how the fire comes on top of water.
There is another interesting thing about the temple. At one place there is a huge pot of water lying for centuries on top of fire. It was put on fire by a Saint Gorakhnath, as he went to beg for rice he prayed to the Fire Goddess and asked her to safeguard his Pot of water till he returns. Unfortunately, the ‘Yug’ ( a time cycle which has four tenets according to Hindi theosophy), changed and this Saint didn’t return. It is believed that he would return when the same Yug comes again. This pot of water is still boiling on fire. When you look at the pot and the water inside it, you can see bubbles coming up. But when you take the water out of it, it’s absolutely cold.
There are people who would question this existence of natural fire. But there are people like me, who would just take it as a combination of Faith and Belief.
Click here if you want to read about how these temples came into existence. Also known as “Shakti Peeth’s”.
Belief = Something believed or accepted as true
If someone told my father, that he/she is religious, my father would always ask a question to that person. Are you religious by virtue or by birth? Most of us are religious by birth. Because I was born in a Hindu family, I am a hindu and I follow all the religious festivals and know the mythology and names of Gods and Godesses. Sometimes I question hindu mythology and theosophy because some of the things don’t make sense and sometimes I am simply surprised by the facts and relevant things it throws at me. Sometimes I just simply give in to what I see, without questioning it.
Most of the Hindu families have a family temple (Kul Devi). And these temples are generally of Goddess Durga and her different incarnations. There are a few occasions when we have to definitely go to this temple, but we can go there whenever we want. The times when we have to definitely go there are:
- When a boy child is born, his first haircut has to happen in this temple. So if earlier times when transportation was hard people used to have long hairs as they would go to this temple 5 to 10 years after their birth. Now its much more easy. I got my first hair cut at the age of 1.
- When a boy gets married, he has to go to this temple with his wife to offer prayers.
- When this couple would have a boy child.
So the incarnation of Godess Durga which my family worships is "Fire" called Jwala. The temple itself is called Jwalaji located in the Kangra valley of Himachal Pradesh. Why my family has the temple in HP is another story, as mostly all the Marwari’s (a group of people who come from the Marwar region of Rajasthan) have their family temple in Rajasthan itself.
Most of the Hindu temple’s have a statue which is worshipped. But at this temple there is no statue. What we worship there is Fire. Its Natural Fire which comes out of the ground from a few places. This is the surprising thing or nature’s magic that there is no storage of Natural Gas or Petrol which is making the fire burn. Its absolutely natural. A lot of scientists have tried to do researches in the temple and under the temple to find something which is keeping the fire burning but have been unsuccessful. This fire has been burning there for thousands of years. Mughal ruler Akbar, around 700 years ago, did not believe in this natural magic. So he brought a river alongwith him to stop the fire from burning, but the fire came on top of water. He then tried to put seven slabs of Iron so that the flame subsides, but again the fire came on top of the iron sheets. Once he was satisfied that there is something divine about this fire he offered a plate made of 50 kilograms of gold. But the goddess did not accept it and turned gold into a metal which is unknown. Its density and atomic value is still of gold but it’s not gold. Again, a lot of scientists tried to find what metal it is, but were unsuccessful. This plate is still in the temple.
Some of the other strange things about the temple is that if you put your finger in the fire, it doesn’t burn. Similarly, ants very easily go near the fire and bring food (prasad) from there. The most stunning thing is that priest’s take a small cup of water and actually show you how the fire comes on top of water.
There is another interesting thing about the temple. At one place there is a huge pot of water lying for centuries on top of fire. It was put on fire by a Saint Gorakhnath, as he went to beg for rice he prayed to the Fire Goddess and asked her to safeguard his Pot of water till he returns. Unfortunately, the ‘Yug’ ( a time cycle which has four tenets according to Hindi theosophy), changed and this Saint didn’t return. It is believed that he would return when the same Yug comes again. This pot of water is still boiling on fire. When you look at the pot and the water inside it, you can see bubbles coming up. But when you take the water out of it, it’s absolutely cold.
There are people who would question this existence of natural fire. But there are people like me, who would just take it as a combination of Faith and Belief.
Click here if you want to read about how these temples came into existence. Also known as “Shakti Peeth’s”.
I'm not very religious. Kind of religious by birth and like you have accepted certain traditions over the years. If asked I'd probably say I have a faith. I don't have too much faith in religion. Not any more.
But interesting read.
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