This past weekend I explored a little bit of my own city. Houston is home to the first traditional Hindu Mandir of its kind in North America. ‘Mandir’ is a Sanskrit word for where the mind becomes still and the
soul floats freely to seek the source of life, peace, joy, and comfort. Knowing this, it seems so out of place in Houston. You literally pass a modern apartment complex and then boom, you find yourself at a divine, architectural masterpiece with over 33,000 pieces of Italian marble and Turkish limestone that was
all hand-carved.
Inside the Mandir, my friend and I were greeted by a volunteer who took us to a small statue in the back and told us to make a wish and pour water over the statue. This small golden statue, a murti, represents Bhagwãn Swãminãrãyan, who at 11 years old, commenced a journey of spiritual
awakening across India. He came
to be knows as Nilkanth Varni and as a mark of devotion and gratitude for his sacrifice and compassion for humanity, we were able to participate in offering abhisek to the murti of
Nilkanth Varni.
The volunteer spoke to us about the teachings of Hinduism and left us with a fleeting thought that, "we have a body, but we are a soul."
I'll leave a link to their website here.
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