Our stay in Chiang Mai was a cultural and religious excursion. The city and it’s neighboring areas are full of temples – old and new. Since Buddhism is the main religion in Thailand, these temples are adorned with Buddha statues. The temples glitter with bright red and golden colors, the air is filled with beautiful fragrance of incense sticks and people kneel down to pay homage to Buddha and to light candles while making offerings of lotus flowers. Being a Hindu we could relate to these rituals and idol worship.
We witnessed so much faith and devotion towards Buddha statues and on the same ground we watched teenagers sitting in a group showing same devotion to their smartphones. We watched people taking selfies with Buddha statue in the background. We didn’t know whether to laugh or be sad. After all we are one of them….taking pictures of ourselves everywhere we go….we have an excuse though, we are travelers exploring these new countries and cultures.
Nevertheless, some questions come to mind again and again. Don’t we all get busy capturing these moments on our cameras and phones so much that we forget to live that moment?? Don’t we want to share our experiences with others so much that we do not share these day to day experiences and beautiful moments with our own Selves?? While performing rituals, do we really know the history, the story and it’s importance or we are just following our parents and ancestors?? Whatever religion we follow, do we REALLY know what it stands for??
