UNITED STATES, May 11, 2011 (Huff Post, by Deepa Iyer): There is no such thing as the average Hindu temple. They reflect the diversity of Hinduism itself, varying architecturally by region, town, or village of India, by historical era and philosophical school of thought, or by a specific diaspora’s spiritual inclinations. However, there are three certain features that a visitor has a high probability of seeing when stopping by any Hindu temple.
First and foremost, architecturally, a temple features either one or several shrines containing murtis, images of Hindu Deities, to whom the shrines are dedicated. Often, a single shrine might dominate the others, reflecting the temple’s affiliation with a primary Deity.
To me, a general recognition of unity in diversity presides at nearly every Hindu temple: an arena in which polytheism and monotheism fluidly interact. Even as multiple shrines combine to form a single temple, several Deities mirror the diversity of the indescribable Supreme God, the ultimate consciousness underlying existence.
Next, inside a temple, perhaps the most colorful process that a visitor might notice is the observance of rituals, or pujas, that represent offerings to the divine. Typically, such rituals symbolize the relationship between the Supreme and the individual, humanizing the Supreme and conversely implying the presence of Brahman in the individual’s heart. Rituals involve invoking the Deity early in the morning with Sanskrit chants, bathing the Deity with milk, clarified butter, and water and dressing the Deity.
And thirdly, pilgrims attend a temple to receive darshan, meaning “sight” in Sanskrit: a metaphorical connection with the Supreme. The priest circles the Deity with a flame and then extends it to the temple-goers. This is the arathi ceremony, which occurs multiple times a day at nearly all Hindu temples, the apex of the worship ceremony.