Adiyen,
Thanks for the lucid explanation and I should take it as it as something that is followed by our Acharyans and our ancestors and should not be questioned as they very well know what pleases HIM. I will use this to answer the question posed by my children.
Thanks again
Adiyen Ramanuja Daasan

Aravindan

Srimate Ramanujaye Namaha,

This answer when read by people who have faith in sastras and acharyas (like Devareer), is convincing for such group of people. But if you provide the same answer to your children they may or mayn’t be convinced.

If they are not, perhaps you should play some of our swami;s earlier audios on how there are examples of how sastiric conclusions match with the present day scientific conclusions..( like prediction of astronomical movt including eclipses..anti bacterial activity of cleaning using cow dung etc..)..So once they have heard such proof they can come to a conclusion that sastras are not man made and are not defective.. once this faith is formed.. then they will be able to accept.

Adiyen

Thirukachidaasanudasan

Here are some reasons which may appeal to our ‘logical’ understanding:

1. The loud and clear sound of bell ringing is auspicious. It keeps away subtle negative vibrations.
2. While arathis and offerings are made to God, we do not want stray sounds to bother Him (stray sounds like people chattering, coughing, sneezing, burping, farting, cell phone ringing etc)
3. The sound of bell reaches very long distance and conveys to all devotees in the vicinity that the arathi and offering is going on; this will prompt everyone to assemble in the temple to take darshan.
4. 1,2, and 3 above are applicable even during worship at home. Also, ideally people take their daily food as prasadam after offering to God. So, this ringing of bell sets a pavalonian response system to everyone inside the house and also to those seeking charity outside the house.

These are some of the practical relevance we can think of; but the real reason why Perumal prefers to have the bell ringing when He is receiving our offerings of arathi and food is beyond my knowledge. But I have heard that ringing bell is very important. I have heard a story in Krishna avataram where the elderly gopis wanted to catch the butter stealing Krishna butter-handed. So, they tied a bell to the உறி hoping that when Krishna reaches out to the pot the bell will ring and they an catch Him.

Krishna and his band of friends came there; Krishna climbed up on the shoulders of His friends; when He  saw the bells He understood the intent of the gopis, and He told the bell not to ring; as He collected the butter and passed on to His friends, they ate nicely. The bell kept quiet all along. But when Krishna Himself started eating, the bell started to ring. Krishna asked the bell why is broke the deal. The bell replied, “I am supposed to ring whenever You are eating”!

So, it is sastrically prescribed to ring the bell during offerings to Perumal.

However, in the homes of many families in the Iyengar tradition bells are not used during worship at home. This has some connection to the fact that Swami Desikar is an amsam of Lord’s bell (Hence the name Ghanta-avataram (bell-avataram) for the biopic on Swami Desikar); I don’ remember what is the exact correlation between Swami Desiar avataram and the tradition of not ringing bells at homes by these families. Hopefully one of the members on this forum will be able to add that information.

adiyen dasan.

Also, the ringing sound of bell has a profound effect on our mind. Usually the mind is absorbed in something from the past or in some plans/desires for the future. We are hardly ever in the present; practise of meditation / mindfulness is to help us be in the present. Whenever there is a heavy bell sound near us, it is very difficult to keep the mind wandering. The mind is automatically brought to the present!  That is why in some buddhist traditions too they use the ringing sound from a metal bowl to focus their meditation upon.

Please tell these positive effects of bell sound to your wonderful children and help them understand & appreciate the knowledge passed down by our ancestors through practices built in our tradition. Such children who are eager to understand and practise will be the ones who will preserve this knowledge.

adiyen dasan.