The English Romantic poet William Wordsworth, in one of his acclaimed verses, has stated that a child is born into this world covered with a celestial glory, which wanes and disappears completely by the time he grows up. Wordsworth must have been highlighting the way naturalism and primitivism held sway over a child granting it a queer holiness.
No doubt Wordsworth spoke the truth. He was also convinced that the child imbibed godliness in the purest form possible for a human being. A grown-up cannot assimilate God’s beauty and glory despite being an ardent devotee of nature.
I’ve felt it to be true whenever I compare how I worshipped God during my visits to temples then and now. Let me bring to mind Guruvayur and Tirupati. The ambience of those temples and the perspectives in which I viewed them during my childhood varied much from those I foster now. The popularity that they have gained today and the mind-boggling rush of pilgrims might have had a bearing on my feelings. The childlike innocence and unconditional surrender to the Lord that drew me to those places earlier do not seem to exist now.
During the 1970s, either as a kid or teenager, a visit to Guruvayur looked so simple an exercise for me. I often accompanied my elders in a long distance bus, usually early in the morning. Of course buses to Guruvayur were not in plenty those days.
The temple town did carry a great deal of rustic simplicity, even though lodges and hotels were cropping up in all parts. It was not difficult to get lodging somewhere or the other without regretting not having booked rooms in advance. After getting refreshed, we could count our steps to the temple without any hindrances, like the metal detectors to which we are habituated now. We just removed our shirts and moved in to have darshan of the Lord. If we felt we hadn’t had enough, we circumambulated repeatedly to feast our eyes on Him. A far-removed world from the hairpin queues of today where one has to stand for four or five hours at a stretch, and the coupons issued to those who gain special entry to His presence.
The sea of humanity today at Tirupati is in utter contrast to what I saw as a schoolboy then. The serene locales, pleasant cottages, easy access to the deity to witness Him for a pretty long time and so on.
I believe God in His diverse forms as Guruvayurappan and Venkateswara permeated my nascent soul in those good old days and blessed me forever.
Dr P V Jayaraj
Email: drjayarajpv@yahoo.co.in