It’s been a sort of dilemma for us for years now: whether
to keep an altar in the home and, if so, where to place it.
Credit: Jorge Royan |
I have at times suggested to hubby that we not keep a mantap at home, but I’m always
secretly relieved when he vehemently disagrees. I’m not crazy about the
traditional “look” of most mantaps, either. They’re occasionally cluttered dust
traps, populated with a mish mash of plastic figurines or frayed photos of
dubious swamis or cartoonish deities. Other times they are just too traditional
for me. Ours now is like that, encased in a genuine silver mini-altar, with
scalloped edges on the mini-roof and a temple-like spindle. Very boxy and very
old school.
One of my own personal bugaboos is that for an altar to
evoke any kind of spiritual stirring within me, I can’t really appreciate the
photos of living swamis, who are after all, just people. Hinduism in fact makes
us aware of how complex the concept of God is—so complex that we have a crowded
pantheon of deities who embrace all forms, genders, and approaches. (Seriously
the only philosophy, not so much religion, I think I could really espouse.)
The purpose of the mantap, though, is to serve all the
members of a household, including its visitors, yet to me it mostly tends to reflect
the personality or ideals of the person who sets it up and arranges it. It tends
to feel more like a personal space, a highly personal one at that, something
even my husband and I can’t quite agree on. And yet … it would feel like a sacrilege
not to have one at all, even if we don’t much use it as much as other families
might.
Credit: Yann Forget |
But now, here we are, doing a top-to-bottom spruce-up of the
house, renovating our kitchen, painting everything from the trim to the
ceilings, replacing old décor with fresh new colors, furniture, and designs.
Our goal is to be done with it by Thanksgiving, when we will have a house full
of Savkoors. So here’s that question again—where to put the mantap? We can’t keep it the closet
anymore, can we? Not when we’re giving so much thought to every other nook and
cranny of the house. Maybe, as I’ve suggested several times over the past
decade, we can gut out this lovely wooden armoire I purchased years ago for
just this purpose. Miniature armoire, really, as it was originally made for
showcasing jewelry, but how lovely it would look hanging on a prominent wall. I
don’t know, he still says, I’ll have to think about it. (That’s actually his stock
answer to most of my most brilliant ideas.)
Then a few weeks ago, the perfect idea materialized at just
the perfect time.
I was at a friend’s house, on a rare occasion of
preparing food for a religious event. (Seriously, I attend one, maybe two, such
events a year, and I rarely cook for them, so this was serious kismet.) While
at her house, I found myself admiring a wall of lovely abstract art she had
displayed in her kitchen. I reveled in it actually, thought it hadn’t occurred
to me that it was anything more than “just art.” When I looked below the
display, there was a small table of silver and bronze containers, the
traditional type with the tight lids I grew up seeing around a mantap. That was
my first realization: a mantap can be anything you want it to be.
And so, Thanksgiving guests, prepare to be dazzled!
Thanks for sharing Supriya! I'd be interested to see a picture of your mantap when you've finished the new version!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Beth! I'll definitely share that with you. The challenge is getting it done in the next month.
ReplyDelete