Different Sides

Dear AC,

I would like to calrify that by 'Brahmin' my meaning was not caste (which is a later unwanted meaning) but i meant:

One who is beloved of god by his actions (kindness to fellow beings), purity of thought, and leads a clean and virtuous life; and is highly learned.

I wonder how the temple authorities will check if a person is really a brahmin or not (they have to depend on the honesty of the recipients?). May be make them chant / recite the vedas.....

So with my maturity/immaturity i would say if all are equal in front of God, our actions also should reflect that and instead of blindly feeding the brahmins extend that same charity to the unfortunate that you see around you (brahmins or non brahmins)

Blondie
My friend who is from Udupi said the temple authorities mostly identify by looks if person is brahmin or not (???) also she said they tell people to seperate based on caste. Maybe it is prevalent in other areas too. Not sure. But even here in the U.S. temples especially BAPS they clearly demarcate the lines between women and men giving more imprtance to men over women and do aarthi first for men then only for women. In or local hindu temple that is not the case. all men and women can equally particpate in aarthi or such. These are just observations and information sharing.

Dear AC,

It is the same in all our temples in Tamil Nadu. There are separate queues for men and women. Even Gods are kept separate. Amman sannidhi, Swami sannidhi like that two separate sannidhis are there. In Meenakshi temple in Madurai, the crowd of bhakthas are more in Amman sannidhi than the Swami sannidhi.( don't include the youngters thronging the amman sannidhi for their own dharshans).

In spite of keeping the men and women separate, population is growing rapidly.

Regards,

TDU