City temple procession
August 18, 2007
This was taken at the Varadaraja Temple across from the yagya house in Kanchipuram. The Vishnu murti can been seen under the umbrella (dressed in red) and Lakshmi (also in red) is off to the right being carried separately.
Country Shiva temple
August 17, 2007
One evening we drove abot an hour out of Kanchipuram into the area of rice paddys to watch Shiva Abishekam at the temple where we sponsor the annual Shivaratri celbration. It is a beautiful small temple and really really in the middle of nowhere. Very peaceful.
The utsava (festival) murtis were brought out to ride on the back of Nandi, Shiva’s bull.
After the abishekam was compelted for the large temple lingam (over 4 feet tall), Shiva and Parvati were taken on 3 turns around the entire temple. Afterwards we all sat and ate the offerings of spicy tamarind rice and fresh fruit. Because most of the temples that we’ve visiting were in the city, the quiet and peacefulness of this temple were a real treat.
The whole gang
August 16, 2007
Just after the final abishekam ready for the final pujas.
(that’s me in the orange dhoti)
Abishekam
August 15, 2007
During a yagya there are a series water pots (Kalasha) into which the form of divinity being honored is invoked at the beginning of the pujas each day. So we had 10 pots which were decorated with fresh flower malas every day. On the last day the priests took the water pots and poured the contents over us one by one. It is one of the most profoundly cleansing experiences that I know. Oddly enough afterwards you feel 10 years younger.
The team
August 14, 2007
The group of 12 pundits for the June Vedic Recitations were extraordinarily qualified, each having started their training around the age of 10 and not finishing until well into their 20’s. One might expect with a group of “experts” there might be an occasional fareup of conflicting expertise or even just the occasional bad mood. But as we reached the end of the program we noticed that there had never been even the smallest hint of tension or disharmony.
Me? Frequently I was hot or uncomfortable or cranky for one reason or another. I think all the shanti mantras they know really take harmony from an admirable emotion to a consistent reality.
Coconut
August 13, 2007
At the end of every yagya there is a final offering called Poornadhuti that has special mantras and one final offering that can be quite elaborate (sometimes including a silk sari). In our Kanchipuram yagyas we used a fresh coconut each day of the 12 day series. It is traditionally offered using the special carved wooden spoons as seen above. It can be quite a balancing act and most of the time the coconut rolls down to the side of the homa kund and has to be re-positioned to the center so that it will burn up.
On the last day of the whole yagya series we did a great Lakshmi yagya and when they dropped the coconut into the fire…it landed right in the middle of the fire and instead of rolling down, just stood there straight up! As I said at the time, “coincidence or conspiracy?” I think divine conspiracy.
Every 40 years…
August 12, 2007
In the Varadaraja Temple across from our Kanchipuram house, there is a special area (seen above) where the deity is considered to be so powerful that it has to be kept under water in the temple seen on the left. The murti is taken out once every 40 years! And even then only for a week or so for a festival and then back into the water. Apparently there are only a very few people who have even seen it twice.
Aside from the obvious curiosity of the story, it also shows how old some of these traditions are and how carefully they are maintained over time.
Red Ganesha
August 10, 2007
This photo was taken in Varanasi and I am posting it here because the Ganesha in the background is quite large and completely red! Until now I had never seen a Ganesha that was red and I don’t recall ever seeing a Ganesha that was standing up!
Raw materials
August 9, 2007
This is where it all starts. Just years of manual labor with a hammer and chisel and you have a temple.
And just for the record, our guide was absolutely charming and refused anything more than a few rupees for tea after giving us a tour for well over an hour.
Then it was back into our autorickshaws for the trip back to Kanchipuram.
The Wheel
August 8, 2007
I am not sure where this wheel is going to go in the temple, but it is beautifully carved from a single piece of stone. The center hole is so perfectly round that it could be used as a real wheel! It is about 4 1/2 feet tall.
If you look closely you can see that each of the spokes has a round symbol at the center of the wheel. Each one is the sign of the zodiac. You can easily locate the fish of Pisces at the top, the crab for Cancer, the lion or Leo, the scales for Libra, the scorpion for Scorpio, the bow and arrow for Saggitarius, and if you look closely, the crocodile that jyotish uses for Capricorn (Makar in Sanskrit).