Dear Jeyamohan
When I was 18 years old, I visited Tirupati Venkateshapperumal for the first time. I saw the ornaments of the deity which were all gold. I didn’t find the outfit pretty at all . An uncomfortable feeling formed inside me. Then, I transformed that feeling into a concept.
Humans’ sense of beauty is another form of desire for wealth. His desires have compelled him to personify the deity in this way. That decoration’s symbolism suggests that he views God as a repository of wealth. If you think of gold as God, then the RBI’s depository is a bigger god than Tirupati Perumal, right?
R. Rajagopalan Aravamuthan
Dear Rajagopalan,
Why do men perceive gold as wealth? Why are gems, such as diamonds, considered wealth? At first, humans admired their beauty, then developed a passion for them. This demand led to the creation of rare materials from these objects, which later became coins. People use them to purchase other items, and they have become a symbol of wealth and power.
What makes them beautiful? Look at how men have described gold and diamonds in poetry. Poems compare gold and diamonds to flowers, fruits, tender shoots, children, women, morning, dusk, and fire. Gold and diamonds began to look beautiful because they became a symbol of everything that man loved in nature. Their beauty was what made them assets.
Gold and diamonds symbolise all that is beautiful and precious in this world. We refer to our child or fiance as gold. We call precious thoughts and precious moments “gold.” Then we describe the essence of the universe as gold. In Chilapathikaram, Kovala describes Kannagi as ‘pure gold’, and a devotional song similarly describes the female deity Menakshi as ‘flawless gold’.
Let’s say this. We describe everything beautiful as gold. Gold symbolises the beauty of nature. We then make it symbolic of what he perceives as nature’s essence. Why do men do this? This represents the boundaries of human capabilities. That’s all he can do. He considers beauty to be the best expression of nature. He can express it only through a metaphor. Metaphors are the only means by which human beings can express any idea. Gold is such a metaphor.
If you view gold ornaments as mere wealth, then that is your problem. I don’t see it that way. When I first saw Tirupati Perumal’s idol in 1982, I thought it looked like a blooming tree with golden flowers instead of leaves. Later, when I remembered it, I thought it was the morning’s golden sky. That’s how all devotional poets have perceived it. In a recent conversation, I heard a farmer describe his golden paddy field as being similar to Tirupati’s idol.
