Sounds of Religion

During the past few months I have experienced auspicious holidays and visited holy sites for five of the worlds most prominent religions. For example, I was in Turkey for Ramadan, and visited Vatican City and Jerusalem. Now I can say I have been to Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha. In Buddhism there are actually five Buddha's, and last week I visited three of their birthplaces. The three birthplaces I saw are marked with stone pillars. The fourth Buddha is who we know as Lord Buddha or Siddhartha, and the fifth Buddha has yet to come into existence. Surrounding the stone that marks Lord Buddha's birthplace, there are many monasteries, which have been built by different countries. Each monastery is architecturally unique and some mark holly sites. For example, Sri Lanka's monastery houses the tree that Buddha sat under to meditate.

While the main religion in Nepal is Hinduism, Buddhism is also very prominent. There are also a few Muslim and Christian populations here. As soon as I arrived in Lumbini and settled into my hotel I heard the Call to Prayer. Although Lumbini is a place that Buddhists pilgrim to from around the world, there was as mosque in the middle of town. The sound of the Call to Prayer was a nice reminder of my life in Turkey. It was almost calming to hear what I had grown accustom to hearing five times a day. However, it was also a bit ironic that this is where I would find a large Muslim population in Nepal.

The sound of religion in Nepal is different from that in Turkey. Instead of hearing a voice singing five times a day, I hear a bell ringing twice a day. My Nepali family is Hindu, and twice a day my mother practices Puja. Puja is a ceremony done for many different occasions and to mark many different holidays. The Puja my mother does everyday is in honor of her deceased father and husband. The process involves ringing a bell, lighting a candle, reciting a few verses, and taking Tika. Tika is typically a red powder that women and men put on their foreheads or on their hairlines during ceremonies or after marriage. When a womens husband has died, instead of the traditional red Tika, her Tika will be a lighter color such as pink, white, or yellow. Anyway, my house is next to a Hindu Temple, so every morning I can hear people going to the temple to pay tribute to someone or pray to the gods, or my neighbors ringing a bell in their home's personal shrine. Although I live next to a temple, there is a room in my house dedicated to doing Puja. Other Puja ceremonies I have participated in have been for the engagement of a Pitzer graduate who lives in and is from Nepal, commemorating the death of my Nepali great grandfather, an occasion when the entire side of my Nepali mothers family came together, and to celebrate the beginning of studying in Nepal.

I am now growing accustom to hearing these bells ring everyday. When I go home in June, I hope to realize another sound that I may have missed before.