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Why do we go around the altar at the temple? मंदिर में प्रदक्षिणा या परिक्रमा क्यों करते हैं?
My daughter once asked me why we go around the navagraha statues in the temple. Good question! This is a question for which we should be able to provide a simple explanation to our children so that the act of pradakshina or going around the deity is not merely a drill but a meaningful and respectful gesture. Here, I present my own interpretation of this practice as gleaned by me through the oral tradition, conversations with elders in the family and temple priests, and readings from various sources such as the Vedic Heritage Teaching Programme and some publications from the Chinmaya Mission Trust, to name a few.
Let us take the word 'pradakshina'. The prefix pra in Hindi (प्र) denotes moving ahead or being ahead as in the words pragati/प्रगति (progress), prathum/प्रथम (first or leading) pramukh/प्रमुख (of foremost importance). I can think of several more words like these with the prefix pra/प्र and in all these words this prefix is giving something a position of importance. This leads me to wonder if 'pra-dakshina/ प्र-दक्षिणा ' could be interpreted as a form of 'dakshina' that holds a superior position of importance among offerings to the Lord. This is my own interpretation and is open to discussion and debate.
The literal meaning of the word pradakshina is however moving in the right (hand) direction. So, pradakshina is always done in a clockwise direction.Why clockwise? It is because the right side is considered auspicious in Hinduism. Hence, we go around in a clockwise direction so the deity is always to the right of us. (It could also be that this rule was instituted to ensure some order in the movement of people around the altar, almost like a traffic rule.)
The only exception to the 'clockwise' rule is in Shiva temples where a slightly different method of pradakshina is followed. Starting in front of the deity devotees start off in the clockwise direction till they reach the little canal through which offerings of milk etc. during the abhishek flow out. Devotees do not cross over this canal. They turn back and walk in the anti-clockwise direction to reach the little canal from the other side, to complete one circle. They then return, in a clockwise direction, to face the deity and offer namaskar.
When we go around the central altar in the temple, I get this visual in my mind of encircling or enveloping the deity, almost like in a cocoon. Divinity resides within us too. Recognizing and acknowledging this, we sometimes do pradakshina around our own selves by rotating in a clockwise direction right where we are standing.
At the centre of the pradakshina/parikrama circle is the Divine. After pradakshina we do namaskar, thus first encircling and enveloping Divinity, then showing our respect by offering our salutation (namaskar) which is also an expression of humility.
Pradakshina paths in temples can be concentric circles too, all ultimately leading to the the central deity. People sometimes offer pradakshina namaskar using their whole body. Known as anga-pradakshina the devotee prostrates completely before the deity and then goes around the altar along the pradakshina path by rolling his or her entire body over, with some help from others. Symbolically this is a form of absolute faith, respect and surrender to the Divine power.
Pradakshina is done not only around the temple altar.The story of how Lord Ganesha went around his parents when asked to go around the world is well known. To him his parents were the world, the centre of his universe, so he did pradakshina around them. During the Hindu wedding ceremony the bride and groom offer pradakshina around the sacred fire. Pradakshina namaskars are also offered to the holy Tulsi plant and the Peepul tree.
Traditionally, pradkashina namaskar is offered at the end of traditional worship. This is to be done with a focused mind to experience a sense of peace and a feeling of being connected to, and protected by, the Divine power around us, and within us.
The simplest way to explain this practice to kids is to say that by going around the deity we are symbolically encircling or embracing God so that we can remain close and connected.
Just as every point on the circumference of a circle is equidistant from the center and can be connected to it by a radius, so also we are never far from that Divinity which is the center of our orbit or circle.
Meera Sharma
hindushlokasforkids.blogspot.com
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