Describe the main features of a specific place of Hindu worship
Describe the main features of a specific place of Hindu worship
A i) There is a Hindu temple in Happy Valley, Hong Kong. Hindu temples are supposed to face East West because it is the direction that the sun rises, so each day the light shines into the temple, but because of the lack of space in Hong Kong, the gate of the temple faces east, the temple itself faces North. As such, there is a picture of a sun on the gate.
The temple has a white dome on top to represent the snowy Himalayas because it is the centre of the world and the home of Shiva. It is white to symbolise purity. The shikhara on top of the dome points into the sky, like pointing towards moksha. Once you get in the gate, there is a very long staircase with steps going up to the main building. This is for the same reason, it is ascending to moksha. When you reach the top, there is a shrine on your right hand side. Inside the shrine is Hanuman, the king of monkeys and all animals. He is there to protect the temple. On your left, there is a shoe rack for you to put our shoes in because before going in the temple, you have to take off your shoes. It is a kind of respect and that you are not bringing anything inside from maya, the external, unclean outside world.
