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Eudaemon1 t1_jdwo9lj wrote

Reply to comment by supercyberlurker in TIL india is the biggest exporter of hairs in the world. India's hair exports account for 80% of the global market by pinkcheems

>Basically religion

Many Big temples are really business places . They will try to profit from everything , that being said shaving hair at temples and such is a very common way to thank the deity , it's kind of like " I will do this if my wish is fulfilled" or a "mannat" if you will , and a mannat comes in different forms .

Also this buying of hair doesn't exist only in temples . For example back in my uncle's village there are people who will buy hair or barter an amount of hair for an utensil or such .

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supercyberlurker t1_jdwsf2u wrote

Yeah, I respect the people giving their hair as a way to thank the deity. I think that part is actually pretty cool, like giving of yourself as a sacrifice is really probably the most noble sacrifice to do.

It's the part where the temples take that hair and it becomes commerce where it starts to feel sketchy.

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Eudaemon1 t1_jdwttey wrote

>It's the part where the temples take that hair and it becomes commerce

That's why I said , many big temples will try to profit from literally EVERYTHING , because sadly that's what many of them have become

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supercyberlurker t1_jdwub7s wrote

I saw this movie "OMG – Oh My God!" which was like a Bollywood takedown of the fake gurus in India. It also has an interest plot in that the main character doesn't believe in Shiva, but the movie literally has Shiva there interacting with him.

It goes into things like the wasted milk, money/idol industry.. but it does also make some exceptions where real charity is done, like it doesn't attack the kitchens that do things like langar.

As an American I can't evaluate the truth of it, but it was interesting.

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Eudaemon1 t1_jdwwsx3 wrote

Then let me tell you a story , usually several big temples have some fixed men in the pujari attire who try to take money from you by various means , so when I was a kid my mom visited one such temple , a pujari literally blackmailed her into giving him money , saying that bad things will happen to me if she didn't give him money , so yeah . Very many places have these crap while others focus on charity for example the Ram Krishna Mission , or like the Dakshineswar temple is such a nice peaceful place which exists for worshipping without any sort of con artists in its vicinity .

Also you should watch PK . It really does question several things about the gurus and stuff while . The movie is kinda an attempt to distinguish between religion itself and the con artists of religion all under a comedic film

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