Hindus call for more temples in Jakarta<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A dearth of temples is depriving the Hindu
\ncommunity in Jakarta of their traditional social and religious
\nactivities, according to the vice-director of the High Institute
\nof Hindu.<\/p>\n
Speaking after the ceremony to welcome the Hindu Day of
\nSilence Nyepi on Wednesday, I Ketut Lila Murti told The Jakarta
\nPost that the city's nine temples are too few to accommodate the
\n100,000-strong Hindu community here.<\/p>\n
\"It is impossible for all Hindus to conduct religious
\nactivities in the temples because the temples are too far away
\nfrom their homes,\" Ketut said.<\/p>\n
They can always worship at home, but for some Hindu religious
\nactivities one needs temples, for the feeling of peace and solemn
\ntranquility, he said.<\/p>\n
Besides major Hindu celebrations such as Nyepi, Galungan and
\nSaraswati, Hindus are supposed to carry out daily prayers and
\nperiodical ones once every 15 days.<\/p>\n
Ketut said that among the nine temples, which are spread out
\nover five city mayoralties, the Adityajaya temple in Rawamangun,
\nEast Jakarta, is the only one with the three areas required for a
\nproper temple.<\/p>\n
Adityajaya temple, located on a 8,000 meter square plot of
\nland, has a sacred room, rooms for social and religious
\nactivities, and a public area.<\/p>\n
\"Most of the temples here only have sacred rooms,\" Ketut said,
\nadding that some are even built on 300-meter square plots of
\nland.<\/p>\n
As a result, on major Hindu holidays, especially Galungan and
\nSaraswati, which are celebrated once every 210 days, almost all
\nHindus crowd into this temple, which has all the facilities
\nneeded for a procession, he said.<\/p>\n
\"During the celebrations, we usually conduct up to seven
\nmasses, to process everyone,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said the high cost of land and the difficulty in getting
\npermits from the government are among the constraints being faced
\nby the Hindu community.<\/p>\n
Procession<\/p>\n
Around 700 Hindus gathered in a procession in the Adityajaya
\ntemple in East Jakarta on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Following the prayers and animal sacrifices, they paraded a
\ngiant evil-doll called ogok-ogok in the compound, with Balinese
\nmusic being played in the background.<\/p>\n
\"We will bring this ogok-ogok to meet others from other
\ntemples in a parade in Tanah Abang and Monas tonight,\" Toto, a
\nyoung Hindu, told the Post on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
He said that after the parade, the ogok-ogok will be returned
\nto its temple to be burned. \"The burning is a symbolic chasing
\naway of bad deeds with virtue,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"It is important to lift the spirits of Hindus, especially the
\nyoung, to help face life in the big city,\" Putu said.<\/p>\n
He said that, unlike the old, young Hindus here have found it
\nhard to fully appreciate the meaning of the Day of Silence, which
\nis, to examine our past deeds by restraining from all activities
\nsuch as working, leaving the house, and lighting fires, for a
\nwhole day.<\/p>\n
Wisnu, a young Hindu, told the Post after the ceremony that he
\nand his friends couldn't handle not leaving their houses and not
\nwatching television, both forbidden during the Day of Silence.
\n(03)<\/p>",
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