Mumbai (AsiaNews) – The Church in India is taking on the challenge of inculturation in order to “maintain positive aspects of Indian culture and offer them to God.” With this in mind it is opening a meditation centre on the shore of Lake Ashtamudi, Parimanam village. Mgr Stanley Roman, bishop of Kollam, led the opening ceremony.
The building, called “Jagat Jyoti Mandir”, was built by the Quilon Social Service Society (QSSS) and inside it displays a blending of Christian and Indian traditions. In its inner chapel a statue of Jesus was consecrated, a representation that is reminiscent of the Buddha meditating under a 'bodhi' tree.
“The position of the statue represents enlightenment and symbolises a guru. Over the statue there is scene of the Last Supper but with a difference. Jesus and the 12 apostles are sitting on the floor with banana leaves spread out to be served with bread and wine. Two traditional lamps (kuthuvilakku) light the room.
In the prayer hall the mantra "aum yeshu christuve namaha" is visible. It echoes the Vedic invocation of the Supreme Being. Its walls are decorated with symbols that represent the four Gospels as eagle (St John), bull (St Luke), lion (St Mark) and angel (St Matthew).
The building itself looks like a typical mandir or Hindu temple with a 4 metre-tall (12-foot) stone lamp (kalvilaku) in front.
According to QSSS director Fr Romance Antony, the mandir is conceived as a place for inter-faith dialogue through meditation, prayer and meeting.”
“It is an attempt to incarnate the Christian experience in the religious ethos of India by bringing about a blending of Western and Indian art forms to transfuse the Christian theology in Indian motifs,” he said.
Mgr Thomas Dabre, former chairman of the Commission for Dialogue and Inculturation of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, said he appreciated “this genuine interest in inculturation on which depends much of the Church’s mission.”
“Inculturation has a premise, a presupposition, that whatever is good in other cultures can be consecrated in Our Lord Jesus Christ because, Jesus preserves and fulfills all that is good in the world. Inculturation is ultimately a vehicle and instrument for the communication of Christian Faith in Jesus Christ—this is the test of authentic inculturation. The Church is ultimately at the service of Jesus Christ. Hence to make the message and mission of Jesus is the goal of inculturation.”
“These initiatives,” he added,” are ways to communicate the faith in Christ”.