Why There are Only Two Temples to Lord Brahma? India

Why There are Only Two Temples to Lord Brahma?

Hindu Devotees on the steps of The Brahma Temple in Pushkar, Rajasthan

Lord Brahma, the Hindu’s believe, created the world and all the creatures in it. In that sense he was just like the omniscient Old Testament God who the Judeo-Christians believe created the world in six days. Along with Shiva and Vishnu, Brahma is the third of the all powerful Hindu Trinity. But while there are millions of Hindu temples dedicated to Shiva and millions to Vishnu there are only two major Brahma temples in the world.

One is in Pushkar, Rajasthan and the other is in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu. (There are some minor Brahma temples in places like Khajuraho, Goa and Thirukkadaiyur). Despite a prominent Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, Hinduism is often broadly categorized into Vaishnavism and Shaivism. Those that worship Vishnu and those that worship Shiva respectively. Brahma the third God in the trinity is completely ignored. Why?

Largest Shiva Lingam at Bhojeshwar Temple dedicated to Shiva, Bhojpur

There are of course Puranic explanations about this strange discrimination. The Puranas mention a story of how Brahma the four-headed God was cursed by Shiva for lying . In another version he was cursed by his consort Saraswati for hobnobbing with a Gujar girl. Both the curses held that he would not be worshipped. There is another more plausible reason. Brahma was worshipped by Demonic kings from Ravana to Hiranyakashipu and when pleased with their penance, he would carelessly grant them boons which ultimately wrecked a lot of havoc in the word. Vishnu had to destroy all these boon- induced Demons in several avatars for example as Narasimha to kill Hiranyakashipu and as Ram to kill Ravana.. Therefore, as per the Puranas, the worship of Brahma was discouraged.

A man prays at the St George's Church (sanjay austa sanjayausta@gmail.)

A man prays at the St George's Church, Jordan.

Reason is Ingratitude and our self-serving ideas about Prayer.

But the reason is more quotidian. It has more to do with human nature and our idea of prayer.

Prayer as practiced by all organized religions of the world is a sort of begging. The believers worship a certain God, either out of fear or to fulfill their needs (material, emotional or spiritual). Shiva the Destroyer, is very much like the angry Old Testament God. He has to be kept happy, lest he wreck havoc on the world and our lives. Vishnu the Preserver has the power to fulfill our dreams. His various avatars from Krishna to Rama are worshipped by Hindu’s for a better salary, better grads in school, good husband, safe air journey etc.

But Brahma? What is the point of worshipping him? He is the creator and he has done his job. He has no power to either destroy our dreams or fulfill them. So why worship him? That’s why Brahma has been completely ignored by the Hindus.

However if prayer was a gratitude and not the sort of begging that it is, there would be millions of Brahma Temples and not Shiva or Vishnu temples in the world. The discrimination tells us more about us than about the celestial beings before whom we bow and genuflect.