My New Found Love For India

During my 2009 Winter semester I took a humanities of Asia class, words cannot explain how much I loved this class. We studied and explored the unique and fantastic cultures of India, Japan and China. India our first unit and I instantly became enthralled with this beautiful land and its people. It was in this class that I learned about the Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork and all it has to offer. For one of our culture papers we could go to any of festivals or activities that the temple offers, what a wonderful and purely amazing opportunity! So I asked my sister Bethy who loves to explore and discover new experiences with me to come to Night of Shiva, she willingly accepted.

I was blown away by the beauty and intricacy of the design and decoration of the temple. Who knew that little farm town Spanish Fork could have such an outstanding beauty! It was also complete with llamas! I love llamas they are such funny animals.

Inside they had a program that included traditional Indian dancing, musical numbers, and reenactments of important religious stories and an Indian food buffet. Their costumes and adornments were so fascinating to me as well as the execution of the dances, everything down to facial expressions was choreographed. After the program they had the bathing of Shiva ceremony, here members of the congregation would pour small cups of milk over a miniature statue of Shiva, then received a red dot on their foreheads, it was very interesting to watch. Then we enjoyed a wonderful array of traditional Indian dishes.

Going to this awesome festival inspired us to have an India day to learn more about the country and to share what we already knew with our Culture Club friends. Bethy decorated her house to look like an Indian palace it was truly magical. We made an Indian buffet of our own which included naan (my all time favorite Indian food), a hearty curry served over rice, a cucumber and yogurt salad and mango lassi it was delectable! Then I prepared a short power point lecture about India, its culture, and religion from the notes I had taken in my class. Then Bethy served us some home made Chai as we opened our favors which were peel off tatoos we had gotten on our visit to the Krishna Temple. It was such a fun day! It is now a new life goal to go to India and experience it for real!