A visit speech

"Greetings ladies and gentlemen!.

Cultural diversity has become widespread in the society hence it is vital to understand as well as learn how to interact with people from various cultural, racial, ethnical, and religion groups. Proper interaction as well recognition and respect for the others enhance stability and cohesion in the society. In the present day, our schools, workplaces and other institutions comprise of individuals of diverse cultures hence it is important to understand the manner in which to interact with them correctly.

The Indian culture is one of the most common cultures that have spread to many parts of the world. Hinduism got born in India. I am privileged to have several friends who belong to the Hindu religion, and I think that Hinduism is a very peaceful religion that prides itself in unique norms, beliefs, practices and values. So as to understand more about the Indians and their culture I decided to visit the Hindu temple located in Wichita, Kansas. The purpose of the visit was to understand the origin of Hinduism, identify the leaders and participants, their respective roles, understand their dressing as well as understand the manner in which they relate to others. With the help of one of my Indian friends, (who I’m so grateful to), I visited the temple last Friday at 6:30 pm.

The temple has a small playground for kids, a prayer hall, a basement for parties and events, and some other rooms. All the symbols and deities get kept in the prayer hall. Oil light gets used beside the deities as it gets considered as a holy light. During my visit, I met the priest of the temple who was known as Srimaan. Srimaan, who has been working at the temple as a priest since its establishment in 2002, is a highly educated man who studied Vedas for over 15 years. Srimaan can speak a total of six languages including Sanskrit that is the ancient language of Vedas. Sri Maan is a married man, and his wife also gets devoted to serving the temple.

The responsibilities of the Sri Maan include leading the daily prayers to the deities in approximately 4-6 times a day, performed services (known as puja), and guide the Indian people. The Srimaan is the source of information for the Hindu community in Wichita. As the priest in the temple, every month he was responsible for bathing deities with water, milk, yogurt, honey, and fruit juice. Srimaan is also responsible to leading many ceremonies such as weddings, and deities’ birthday parties.

The priest wears unique clothes referred to as Dhoti. Traditionally, the priest does not wear a shirt inside the temple, but instead wears an orange or white wrap called a Lungi and has an Upanayanam thread. They may also wear shawls. He also has red and white lines on his forehead. The priest explained that the white represents peace and red is a sign of love and said that every good citizen should have that tattoo on their forehead. The priest also stated that all individuals were equal in the Indian tradition. He also stated that Hinduism does not give specific rules that force people to go to the temples. The priest said that whether an Indian prays or not, they always remain as Hindus. The priest also informed me that unlike other religions that have specific holy days’ every week, the Indians have no holy day in the week. For instance, the holy day for Christians is Sunday, for Muslims is Friday and for Jews is Saturday; however, Indians have no holy day. The priest also informed me that he only eats a little bit of food and can sometimes stay up for 3-4 days without eating. He holds to the belief that being a vegan can assist a person to control his desires, so encourages people to fast.

Most Hindu gods get represented in the temple, such as Shiva, Durga, Krishna, and Rama. The main deity of the temple, however, is lord Balaji, who is a form of Vishnu (that is the god of preservation). Balaji has a wife, and also, a goddess in the temple referred to as Bhumi Devi. According to Hinduism, people can get reborn as animals or humans again, or gods in their next lives and this depends on whether their deeds in life were good or bad. In the Indian religion, the Vedas describes what people should do and what they should not do. The Vedas also describes some rules and practices that should get followed such as being truthful always but in a kind way, and respecting elders and parents. An interesting fact about the Indian religion is that people should not convert religion ever. The Hindus are not allowed to change religion to non-Hindu, and non-Hindu cannot become Hindus. They hold to the belief that individuals should not change religion.

I also learned and observed some of the practices and behaviors of the Hindus while in the temple. For instance, the youth seat on the floor in front of deities, whereas, the elderly sat on chairs placed in the corners of the prayer hall. Also, a common Hindu prayer chant translates into English as, "I belong to you, please save me".

The visit lasted for approximately an hour and was significant in assisting me to understand and learn about the practices, beliefs, values and behaviors of the Hindu."

Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at Melda Research in custom college essay services if you need a similar paper you can place your order for a custom research paper from legitimate paper writing services.

"Janet Peter is the Managing Director of a globally competitive essay writing company.