title: Cult of the Goddess: Social and Religious Change in a Hindu Temple
author: James J. Preston
description: Titles of related interest from Waveland Press: Gold, Fruitful Journeys: The Ways of Rajasthani Pilgrims (ISBN 9781577661337) and Knipe, Hinduism: Experiments in the Sacred (ISBN 9781577660118).
zlib_text: A TEMPLE OF GOD 
   
  Swami Paratparananda 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  Editorial of The Vedanta Kesari Magazine – April 1967; Vol. 53; page 499  
   
   
   
  PEOPLE all over the world are familiar with the idea of sacred places of 
  worship, a temple, a church, a mosque and the like. We build temples, 
  decorate them with architectural beauty, install images, appoint proper 
  persons to perform worship and engage people to keep the precincts 
  clean. For as the proverb goes, cleanliness is next to godliness. 
  Cleanliness in the exterior is an essential contributing factor to cleanliness 
  of the interior, of the mind. A clean place spontaneously produces a 
  soothing effect on man. 
  Now, what is the idea behind these temples? Millions of people, 
  even today in spite of the materialistic trend of the society, attend 
  churches, temples and mosques. Why? Because there is in man an 
  unquenchable thirst to know the Unknown, to know the Wielder of 
  destiny, to know the Highest Principle and to adore, and to