Page 84 - Hinduism

devotional festivals should be performed in the afternoon.
Great care is taken for maintaining the purity or sanctity of the temple. God is pure and perfect. Expiatory ceremonies are prescribed for the slightest act of impurity. The underlying idea is that God who is essentially pure and free from all kinds of taints, withdraws His presence from places polluted in the slightest degree as unfit for His stay. The devotee should go into it with pure body and mind. Cleanliness leads to godliness and only the pure in heart can reach God. Certain ceremonies are performed to purify the atmosphere of the temple if it is made impure. Expiatory ceremonies are prescribed for the entry of impure persons and animals into the temple. Even the appearance of fungus and anthills inside the temple is considered to be a fit occasion for expiation. Expiatory ceremonies are also described for portents which forestall evil to the country.
Bharata Desa is the birthplace of universal religion and is the holy land of the avatāras, ṛṣis, Ālvārs, Nāyanmārs, Ācāryas and other seers of God. The birthplace of avatāras and godly men is called a kśetra or sacred place sanctified by their advent in the interests of spiritualising humanity. Mother India has infinite capacity to produce godly men and is therefore worshipped as perpetually young though
she has given birth to a countless number of sages 84