I've spent many hours sat soaking up the tranquil vibes on the marble floor of temples. I used to be a bit apprehensive and nervous to enter, fearing that someone would turn around and say, "hey, Lauren, you absolutely do not belong here". That has never happened, in fact I have experienced the opposite. Sitting in temples, in reflective silence and prayer, helped me relax and untangle my thoughts.
When you become a parent, a huge chunk of your heart and soul is plucked from you in the form of another person. It's indescribably special and incredibly terrifying all at once. You are entirely responsible for this amazing, perfect little person. A tear in their eye causes you physical pain and their laughter brings a tear to your eye. That's a lot of emotions to go through all in one day, so we added a daily temple trip into our routine.
We recently came across a gorgeous little temple and a painting of baby Shiva sound asleep took my breath away. It reminds me so much of my little one taking a nap. It's easy to see the divine in children (especially when they are sleeping peacefully).
A regular temple of ours has five brass bells located above the different deities, each with a different size, sound, vibration, energy. We gentle ring each bell and stand under them until they stop vibrating. Rohan looks up at the bells, fascinated, I'm sure he can probably hear the bell longer than I can. The sound of temple bells is uniquely relaxing, having the same effect as those beautiful healing Tibetan singing bowls.
Another sound in the temple we visit regularly, is the sound of the bhajans sang by the elderly women in white, cream and gold sarees who gather everyday to sing devotional songs to God. The women always meet when the afternoon starts to fade, and love cooing over Rohan, so we try to visit the temple at the same time. They always welcome me, insist we sit on the temple floor and join them. Something I would not have had the confidence to do when I first moved to India.
About Lauren Mokasdar
Lauren fell in love on the internet, took a one way flight from England, got married & started a new life & bicultural family in India. She writes about finding happiness & balance between two very different worlds, when her baby takes a nap.
