How many times have we entered a temple with complete focus on God and his form and with total concentration in conveying our love and devotion to him? Very often or shall I say almost always, we enter the temple with ten things on our mind, we add a few as we sit inside the temple and by the time we have left we have even perhaps forgotten all about God and taken a list of extra items on our mind. We are busy making full use of our wandering senses gossiping to people we meet, paying attention to someone’s dressing, thinking of the next meal etc etc. Sometimes, we even wonder if the shoes left outside the temple are safe!
Long time ago my family visited the renowned Ganpati temple in Titwala, Mumbai. My then 6 year old brother touched the tortoise at the doorstep with devotion. I mocked him. “The tortoise is not a God” I said “and it is not even a messenger unlike the Nandi and the Mushak!”. He said “Akka, then why do we have it there?” It is after so many decades that I respect his innocence – the tortoise would have been installed there for a purpose!
And the purpose is this! The presence of the image of a Tortoise near the temple entrance is a warning for us to be like the Tortoise. To practise detachment. Just like it pulls back all its sensory parts inside the shell when it needs isolation and protection, so should we control all our senses and retreat into our mind as we enter the temple and surrender our mind and body to God.
One other reason for its presence is that just like Lord Vishnu in his Kurma Avatar provided stability for the Mount Meru during Sagar Manthan, so should the Tortoise provide stability to the temple design and architecture. This could also be the reason why the very famous brass lamp at the Mahalasa Temple, Goa as do many other temple lamps in South India have the tortoise at its base.
So next time, you enter a temple, give the humble, overlooked Tortoise some attention, take a deep breath, feel inspired and surrender to God whole heartedly!
Om shanti shanti shantih….