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Archive for April, 2007
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Coconuts
Coconuts are a major part of every puja and yagya performance. Symbolically they represent life, with its hard exterior and sweet soft interior. The hard shell of the ego must be cracked before the inner sweetness can be enjoyed. In the photo above a coconut half has been offered into the yagya fire at the [...] -
A Simple Ghee Lamp…
Even with all its elaborate rituals, the vedic tradition is also about the simplicity of a ghee lamp and a stick of incense. -
Floating bridge
In March, we had a yagya performed in the Durga Temple at the Ram Nagar Fort as seen in the above photo. The fort is in the distance and was once the residence of the Maharaja of Benares, although it is now only the site of museums and a few temples. There is an amazing [...] -
Invocation
At the beginning of every puja, there is a section called nyasam where the deity is invoked first in the body and limbs of the priest and then transferred into the purified water contained in the kalasam as is seen in the photo above. Interestingly, the water pot in this photo (taken in Varanasi) is [...] -
The Colors of a Puja
India is certainly a land of color and that is seen especially in the colors of the puja; flowers, the various grains, colored rice, the brown clay kalasam. One of the most enjoyable aspects of pujas in India is that they are fun! It is a cheerful and festive occasion, meant to be enjoyed with [...] -
Sunrise
Could there possibly be anything more timeless than sunrise over the Ganges in Varanasi? These photos were taken the morning of our big yagya at the beginning of Shivaratri. I love all the lingams, freshly made from Ganges clay, ready for decoration and pujas. -
The Sweetness of the Divine
Many of the actions that are a part of a yagya performance are symbolic, meant to remind the participants of different aspects of the nature of divinity. In this case, the photos are from a recent Rudra Abishekam performed at the Malibu temple and as you can see, honey is being offered by pouring it [...] -
Uttar Kasi
Since many of the members of puja.net group practice TM, I thought it might be interesting to play around with Google Earth to see if I could find Rishikesh and Uttarkashi where Maharishi’s guru; Bramananda Saraswati studied in his younger years. In the image above, Rishikesh is in the lower left, and Uttarkasi is in [...] -
North India temple style
In my 6 trips to India, I have only visited the south (Tamil Nadu) where the typical temple looks like the following; tall walls painted in red and white striped, a tall gate structure (called a gopuram) and smaller generally individual temples (called mandirs) within the walls as seen in the photo below. When we [...] -
Hanuman and the mountain
In the Ramayana, Hanuman the Monkey God was tasked by Rama to retrieve a special medicinal herb that grew only in the Himalayas. Being the son of the Wind God, Hanuman could fly and change his size from very small to gigantically large, not to mention having vast strength. So, reaching the Himalayas he realized [...]