Hindus call for more temples in Jakarta
Hindus call for more temples in Jakarta
JAKARTA (JP): A dearth of temples is depriving the Hindu community in Jakarta of their traditional social and religious activities, according to the vice-director of the High Institute of Hindu.
Speaking after the ceremony to welcome the Hindu Day of Silence Nyepi on Wednesday, I Ketut Lila Murti told The Jakarta Post that the city's nine temples are too few to accommodate the 100,000-strong Hindu community here.
"It is impossible for all Hindus to conduct religious activities in the temples because the temples are too far away from their homes," Ketut said.
They can always worship at home, but for some Hindu religious activities one needs temples, for the feeling of peace and solemn tranquility, he said.
Besides major Hindu celebrations such as Nyepi, Galungan and Saraswati, Hindus are supposed to carry out daily prayers and periodical ones once every 15 days.
Ketut said that among the nine temples, which are spread out over five city mayoralties, the Adityajaya temple in Rawamangun, East Jakarta, is the only one with the three areas required for a proper temple.
Adityajaya temple, located on a 8,000 meter square plot of land, has a sacred room, rooms for social and religious activities, and a public area.
"Most of the temples here only have sacred rooms," Ketut said, adding that some are even built on 300-meter square plots of land.
As a result, on major Hindu holidays, especially Galungan and Saraswati, which are celebrated once every 210 days, almost all Hindus crowd into this temple, which has all the facilities needed for a procession, he said.
"During the celebrations, we usually conduct up to seven masses, to process everyone," he said.
He said the high cost of land and the difficulty in getting permits from the government are among the constraints being faced by the Hindu community.
Procession
Around 700 Hindus gathered in a procession in the Adityajaya temple in East Jakarta on Wednesday.
Following the prayers and animal sacrifices, they paraded a giant evil-doll called ogok-ogok in the compound, with Balinese music being played in the background.
"We will bring this ogok-ogok to meet others from other temples in a parade in Tanah Abang and Monas tonight," Toto, a young Hindu, told the Post on Wednesday.
He said that after the parade, the ogok-ogok will be returned to its temple to be burned. "The burning is a symbolic chasing away of bad deeds with virtue," he said.
"It is important to lift the spirits of Hindus, especially the young, to help face life in the big city," Putu said.
He said that, unlike the old, young Hindus here have found it hard to fully appreciate the meaning of the Day of Silence, which is, to examine our past deeds by restraining from all activities such as working, leaving the house, and lighting fires, for a whole day.
Wisnu, a young Hindu, told the Post after the ceremony that he and his friends couldn't handle not leaving their houses and not watching television, both forbidden during the Day of Silence. (03)