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Archive for December, 2006
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Vasadohara
In the photo above you see a priest holding a long wooden stick over the homa fire. Here’s how it was explained to me: This is part of the ritual that takes place at the very end of the yagya. Not all yagyas. Mostly for special yagyas like Navaratri and Shivaratri. The idea is that [...] -
Little lights
Towards the end of the yagya each day, the priests would prepare a series of small lamps made out of dough with a wick and a little bit of ghee. They would be arranged in specific places around the homa kund (yagya fire pit), resting on a banana leaf with a mixture of cooked lentils [...] -
Smoke
There is a saying that there is no yagya without a few tears from the smoke and Navaratri was no exception. The tradition is to offer chakara pongal (rice and lentils mixed with jaggery and ghee). The mantra for the yagya was the entire Chandi Path of 700 verses and after each verse some pongal [...] -
Scam Artists
Well, not these specific guys. They are drivers of an auto taxi, a 3 wheeled motorcycle that seats two in back..although I’ve seen as many as 5 or 6 crammed in. I’d walk out of the hotel, flag one down and then show him the address of the yagya house written in Tamli and off [...] -
The Doctor’s Office
When I had little trouble with “apple juice” (see earlier post) I initially went to a doctor near the hotel. But after a couple of days I still wasn’t feeling 100% so I mentioned to the priests that I wanted to go to the doctor’s office again. One of the priests showed up at the [...] -
Photo
I need to test an easier way to upload photos for this blog. So I thought I’d use one of me and Seetharam that was taken at the conclusion of the Navaratri Yagya series. -
Ice Cream Swaaha
Who says you can’t have a good laugh at a yagya? During the navaratri yagya series in India the outdoor temp. each day was in the mid 90′s with 60-70% humidity. Add to that a pretty good sized yagya fire, some poor ventilation and you have some serious heat. One day, after the end of [...] -
Apple Juice
During the Navaratri trip to India the day’s events would begin at 8 AM and they’d do pujas until 10:30 at which point all the priests would take a break. Typically they would gather in the kitchen and make different things to drink. Some would have coffee, some tea, and some would make fresh fruit [...] -
Patteswaram Temple
This temple has been a real favorite of mine going back to my first visit there almost 10 years ago. It is a Shiva/Durga temple that is very old, and yet well maintained compared to most. The Shiva temple is modest in size and has an amazing feel of antiquity. The lingam is not all [...] -
In the beginning (agnim elai purohitam)…
Well, this is the beginning. I spent a geeky hour tweaking the CSS layouts in order to get my logo on the top of the page the way I want it. The actual install and configuration of the Word Press Software was surprisingly easy and now all I need is content. Actually I have lots [...]