Hi again supporters,
I hope that you had got some basic ideas about the relationship
between God and Science. Now it's time for us to go a little deep into rituals
done for the idols and their needs.
One may
wonder why our Gods (idols) are being washed or made to take bath, dressed, and
given a make-up every day. (Muruga am sorry) I don't want to get punished by
God for describing in such an obvious manner. So let me go Spiritual, "Why
are Gods subjected to sacred bath (ABHISHEKAM) in a routine?" The answer
lies within ourselves. We take bath to get ourselves fresh and the same is
applied here, but with some added advantages. As told in the previous blog, the
idols are used to store the cosmic energy and dissipate them. We know that
energy transfer occurs only when there is a potential difference exists. Here in
this case the idols are the high potential dissipaters and we(humans) are the
low potential absorbers. The amount of energy an idol can store in them varies
with respect to the size of the idol. (Sorry that I couldn't give the exact
mathematical expression between the size and the storage capacity of an idol.)
Hence if the number of absorbers increases, the amount of energy lost by the
idols will also increase. We know that the average count of people visiting a
temple is maybe 1000/day. And as the count is pretty high the idol is pushed to
its limits of transferring capacity by continuously getting energy from the
Khumbam and supplying it to the devotees visiting the temple. This phenomenon
would eventually make God become powerless within a day. To be scientific,
the composition of the idols would lose the capability of storing the cosmic
energy within itself.
In order
to replenish the power of God, the idols are subjected to the ritual called
Abhishekam.
This is a ritual in which the idols are made to take a sacred
bath not only with water but also with Vibhuti, honey, milk, turmeric, etc
After
the Abhishekam(Holy Bath) is done, the composition of idols gets prone to the
radiation again. And since they had been replenished with rich ingredients, the
capabilities of God get restored. Thereby our God starts blessing the devotees
again.
A similar bath is done to the idols present in
our home also. But we usually don't do it daily. That's because the idols
present in our home have only a few numbers of devotees. (fewer absorbents and hence
less loss of energy )
Usually, after the Abhishekam is done, the spent liquid is passed on to the devotees for
them to drink or to apply to their heads. Since the liquid is made to flow over
the statues, it is believed to have the energy collected by them. And making
use of that liquid(locally called TEERTHAM) may certainly have some good
effects on us. There is no exception in other religions too that they use such
holy liquids(usually kept in the main shrine for a long period of time) to heal diseased beings. This procedure is by par used in Islam and Christianity
also. They follow the practice of supplying the holy water to their devotees to cure
diseases and Sins.
