Pilgrimage To A Hindu Temple

Year Published: 1969

Creator: American Institute of Indian Studies.

Complete Record: Explains that making a pilgrimage to places of special sanctity is an age-old tradition of popular Hindu piety. Follows a brahmin pilgrim into the temple and to the innermost shrine. Shows areas inside a temple, which are normally inaccessible to non-Hindus and suggests how the areas appear to a believing Hindu. Filmed within the Tengalai Brahmin community of Srivaisnavas. Filmed under supervision of Prof. H Daniel Smith. First shot is of a sign post seemingly nowhere. The sign reads: SRIPERUMBUDUR, M2 in one direction, and KUNIRATRUR, M10. [Spelling hard to read.] Camera pans left. Shot of low lying agricultural fields. Shot picks up a bus which the camera follows until it goes under a sign: Highways SRIPERUMBUDUR. NOTE: Sriperumbudur (Tamil) is an industrial town in Kanchipuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located in proximity to Chennai. It is famous for being the birth place of Sri Ramanuja, one of the most prominent Hindu Vaishnava saints as well as the town where former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in 1991. Since 2000, Sriperumbudur has seen rapid industrialization, attracting huge investments due to its proximity to Chennai port, infrastructure growth, establishment of STPIs and SEZs and availability of quality manpower. Sriperumbudur is strategically placed on the Chennai-Bangalore highway, just about 40 kilometres from the city, and offers all facilities that the international industrial giants want for their business to operate in the country. Old name of Sriperumbudur is Bhoodhapuri. It is believed that the doors of heaven will be open for those who die at Sriperumbudur.] LS. From a full stop, Bus entitled A.B.T. P. LTD. slowly pulls toward the camera and out of frame leaving a quiet village street. An Indian in street dress with a brief case makes his way towards the camera and left as narrator says: “To revive the Spirit, to rekindle the Heart, to reform the Mind, and to refresh the Body, by every means to remove the sins of this world, one should make pilgrimage to a holy Place.” Camera follows the back of the Indian as he goes down the street to left of camera. Vishnu was born in this village and this is the celebration of his birth. MS temple servants make ready a palatine [royal seat] for Vishnu’s image to parade through the village streets to display to his devotees. LS the pilgrim withdraws to the ‘temple tank’ to make ready for his own temple devotions. Pilgrim is under a stone loggia over a reservoir. He slowly disrobes. Various MS and LS of villagers with oxen in street, and the beginning of the pilgrimage of Vishnu from the temple. The idol of Vishnu moves towards the camera to CU with CU of those that bear the litter. Young man plays flute for the procession. The attendants of the litter dress the idol. LS the pilgrim wraps himself in traditional garb for entering the holy temple grounds. Man is shown carefully doing the pleats that will be tucked in his waistband. LS of procession from an inner courtyard to the temple grounds. MS of pilgrim as he fastens his dhoti in orthodox tradition, then turns to purify himself in body and spirit in the waters. VLS of procession as it draws near. The pilgrim readies himself to join the procession. Various MS and LS of the procession. Villagers come outside to witness the pageant. Some step forward for blessings as the idol passes. LS at the temple, the pilgrim leaves the procession to go to a small stand (MS) to check his attire and to purchase food and flowers as offerings for the deity. LS as the pilgrimage enters the shrine, the pilgrim prepares to enter the main portal of the temple. In the temple, once more he pays homage to the saint’s portrait. MS pilgrim stands with his offering looking at the portrait. He crosses the threshold of the temple with his right foot first as proscribed for the pious. MS to LS of the impressive portal. CU of stepping over the emblem of the portal with right foot. MS to LS tilting upward from the pilgrim’s genuflection to the golden standard of Vishnu. CU he offers greetings to the Lord Vishnu. LS and MS from the outer courtyard through a series of enclosures always proceeding clockwise he comes nearer the center where divinity dwells. The progress of the pilgrim reenacts the spiritual journey of self discovery. He encounters various “creatures of transport” MS and CU, that loom out from the interior gloom. He encounter these symbolic archetypes of these natural forces through his inner eye. Camera pans from left to right as it watches pilgrim approach and go on his way down a corridor of pillars. As he continues inward, the pilgrim recalls the words from the Upanishad: “Lead me forth from darkness into light, from the unreal to the real, from death to immortality.” [NOTE: Upanishad means the inner or mystic teaching. The term Upanishad is derived from upa (near), ni (down) and s(h)ad (to sit), i.e., sitting down near. Groups of pupils sit near the teacher to learn from him the secret doctrine. In the quietude of the forest hermitages the Upanishad thinkers pondered on the problems of deepest concerns and communicated their knowledge to fit pupils near them. Samkara derives the word Upanishad as a substitute from the root sad, 'to loosen.,' 'to reach' or 'to destroy' with Upa and ni as prefixes and kvip as termination. If this determination is accepted, upanishad means brahma-knowledge by which ignorance is loosened or destroyed. The treatises that deal with brahma-knowledge are called the Upanishads and so pass for the Vedanta. The different derivations together make out that the Upanishads give us both spiritual vision and philosophical argument. There is a core of certainty which is essentially incommunicable except by a way of life. It is by a strictly personal effort that one can reach the truth.] CU images hewn from rock bring to mind episodes from Hindu scripture illustrating God’s dealings with Man. Camera follows pilgrim every inward in LS. Chanting echoes in background. Ancient steeds symbolize the leap of faith and in imagination prerequisite to meeting God. Pilgrim’s eyes transverse the symbols and in POV we see the power of the objects he sees as well as the massive architecture which diminishes Man’s power to that of God. The pilgrimage -- both inner quest and outward journey -- culminates at the final threshold. Both MS and CU captures the awe on the faces of praying devotees. Some chant; others’, like the pilgrim, lips move in silent recitation. Both men and women pray. These faces are rapt with devotion. In the presence of Vishnu in the final room, the vision of the holy authority reserved for the faithful transforms all his fears, making them one with God. The camera captures the dome of the holy spot. CU pilgrim’s face. Every pilgrim must make the sacrifice to God alone. The pilgrim enters under the golden dome to “God’s blessed seat” to make his offering. MS pilgrim again genuflects to the gatekeeper of the sanctum sanctorium. And then, with his offering, the pilgrim leaves. MS and LS as pilgrim finds his way out of the temple’s paths.