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.
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