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Durga Mandir
8400 Durga Place, Fairfax Station, VA
703-690-9355

by Elizabeth Hanner

My encounter with another religion took place on March 14th around 11 a.m. I visited Durga Temple, a Hindu temple. Durga Temple is located on the corner of two streets, I've seen it before at night and it looks really neat because it has huge windows on both sides so you can see inside the temple. I like the architectural deign of the building, it looks very modern. When you walk to the front there is a sign that says you must take off your shoes before entering, and there are shelves for the shoes. When I first entered the building there was a lobby area with what appeared to be small blankets for sale that are used to decorate a shrine. There were announcements on the wall and table with papers on temple hours, events, donations, and things of that sort. There was also a miniature display of the building.

What caught my eye was what was beyond the lobby. Through the glass door, I could see a huge shrine that was really beautiful. I could hear soft music playing from a distance. Once I entered there was a long red carpet that led to the huge shrine. There was one large deity and eight miniature deities all lit up. A man was playing the music and another man was sitting next to him; they were both priests. There was a small table near them with different items such as incense. First I went  around  and  took  pictures   of   all   of   the

miniature shrines that were built into the wall. There were probably more than twenty shrines. Each shrine had some money sitting around it. The priest said it was just a donation to keep the temple running. Each shrine was decorated with flowers and bright colored cloth. There was a sign that said you could only offer the deities milk, fruit, and water during certain hours. I noticed there were only about ten chairs to sit on. The rest of the room was just a big empty open space that was carpeted.

After taking pictures of everything I went and spoke to one of the priests named Bhatta. He told me people can come to the temple whenever they want. In Christianity people usually attend church on Sunday but in Hinduism every day is equally holy. In India they generally visit the temple every day but since lifestyles are different in America most Hindus don't visit the temple every day, unless they live very close to it. They have service at Durga Temple all day on the weekend and specific hours on the weekday. On weekdays about 100 people visit the temple per day. About 400 people gather at the temple on Saturday and 600 people visit on Sunday. During the Sunday service there is a discussion, prayer, and songs in the form of prayer called arati. Occasionally they will have a special guest. They burn incense in the morning and evening and play music throughout the day. Bhatta said that some people choose to worship one deity but when they enter the temple they give their respects to each deity.

Bhatta explained there are four stages of Yuga, and right now we are in the beginning of the last stage or period known as Kali Yuga. He also spoke of the three incarnations of Vishnu, Rama, Krishna, and Kali. He said Kali is yet to come.

The biggest celebration is coming up from April 2nd through the 11th. April 2nd is their New Year's Day. On the 10th they have a bonfire outside and they offer margarine. They say the smoke from the fire reaches to heaven. The temple has celebrations every day from the 2nd until the 11th. When a member of the temple has a birthday, the priests and other members will go to that person's home and perform Puja. This temple has four priests. 

Two girls entered as I was speaking to the priest, and I watched them to see the routine. When they entered they went along the wall to each deity and appeared to be praying or giving their respects. I saw one drop money in a donation box. When they were done walking around, they sat on the floor to pray. After I finished speaking with the priest, they spoke to him. He told me the priests will offer the people dried fruit, kind of like Christian churches offer bread and wine to the members. 

I really loved how the temple looked. It was so beautiful. All of the shrines had such vibrant colors. There were brilliant cloths around each shrine that were red and gold, and they just sparkled. There were mostly pictures along the walls, but there were some sculptures and dolls. I was surprised that there really weren't any chairs and that you were required to take your shoes off (I'm glad I didn't wear socks with holes.. just kidding). 

This experience was great. I've always been curious to see what a temple would look like inside. I have only been in Christian Churches which are basically all similar. There is usually Jesus on the cross, Mary, and maybe stain-glass windows but the colors are fairly dull. When I went to the Hindu temple I felt like I was in a museum. This experience does make me appreciate their religion more because now I actually have witnessed where and how Hindus worship God rather than just reading about it. It was nice to see the deities I learned about and actually recognized them such as, Ganesh and Lakshmi. I saw Lakshmi many times portayed a little differently in each shrine. I'd like to go back again some time. The best word to describe the temple is beautiful.

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