Our visit to the temple

Class R went on a really interesting visit to the Balaji Temple in Dudley yesterday.  The first thing we saw were two huge concrete elephants outside the main doors.  They were amazing!  We were met by our guide, a lovely Hindu gentleman called Abhi Ji.  We had to take our shoes off as a sign of respect and then we were shown around the temple.  The temple is beautiful. It has lovely marble floors and lots of ornate carvings and beautiful flowers everywhere you look. We were shown around several different shrines.  Each one had a different god inside.  Our favourite was Lord Hanuman who is the monkey god.  We heard special bells ringing which signalled when the curtains were going to open to each of the shrines and we watched the priests as they carried out their rituals in each shrine.  We watched Abhi Ji take some holy water and food from the priests and some of us had some too.  Before we went home we were given fruit, biscuits and a drink and the grown-ups had some special rice to taste.  Everyone at the temple was really friendly and welcoming towards us.  Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos inside the temple but if you click on the link below you will be directed to their homepage and be able to see some pictures there.

Balaji Temple website