Leap of Faith

On my rickshaw trips

I took pictures of various

places of worship

in my city.This is a small Hindu temple.
The free masons came to India
with the British.
There are quite a number of them
present in India.
Influential prosperous people.
An Anglo Indian free Mason (now living in UK) whose
pilot son was killed in a helicopter
crash in our church campus
about 38 years ago
approached us to let him build
a monument for his son on our church land.
We could not permit him.
He could embellish his son 's grave in the cemetery instead.


This is a Muslim shrine.
Mazar or grave of a Muslim saint.
People come here to pray and make offerings
hoping the dead Baba will sponsor their prayers.
(in the background is a Protestant English Medium School,
(K-12)

Here is another view of the mazar.
The dome is being repaired.
People visit various shrines and ask for mannats or wishes to be granted.

This is the Green Mosque

Not far from my house sits a roadside shaman,

or Baba.

He is a fortuneteller, soothsayer, exorcist and

wizard all rolled into one.

He has a little tent dwelling which I could not photograph.

Besides his occultic practices he is very

kind to stray dogs and feeds about

5 of them. The canines are very

faithful to him and guard him 24/7.

I have seen him feed a semi paralyzed dog with his hand.

For his consultation fees Baba asks for

liquor or opium.

He owns a fleet of rickshaws which

he rents out to drivers and receives a steady income.

His wife lives in another house not far from this place.

She sends him food etc.

He has 2 other girlfriends

who are his tent companions.

His wife doesn 't mind as they look after his needs.

He is 60 plus.

I got all this information from

our church helper, who drinks

tea at a tea stall near the Baba 's domain.

22So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: "Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, unknown, this I proclaim'To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being. Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28for "'In him we live and move and have our being" Acts 17

Mars Hill or The Areopagus in Athens , Greece

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