Peaceful
October 31, 2007
Walking a little ways away into the rice paddy, the yagy stala looked timeless. There was very little to give one a sense of what century this was, particularly when the farms walked their waterbuffalo down to the Ganges for an afternoon swim, followed by their daughters with herds of goats.
Cooler and muddier…
October 31, 2007
The next day began with showers but they certainly didn’t change the pujas! Each element of the daily vastu puja was performed with the same care as it had been on the dry days! The dark sky suggested that this would be a rainy day, although the air was warm and so we were quite comfortable.
Durga was comfortably snug in her bed of flowers.
And Shiva had his usual abishekam of milk and other ingredients followed by elaborate decorations that featured local fresh flowers of many different kinds.
Chandi Havan
October 30, 2007
As a gesture of respect, we went to each pundit and placed a small tilak of red kumkum and a few grains of rice on his forehead. As with most parts of the yagya rituals, this act symbolized the purity of the place and participants, and showed respect to the the ancient vedic tradition.
These sorts of things are not usually part of the modern world and they certainly take a lot of time, but it felt right and huge amount of detail seem appropriate to the scale of the yagya that was being performed.
Then we offered grains of rice and flowers onto their text of the Chandi Path; the 700 verse text that they would be reciting.
We began the fire yagya and recitation of Chandi Path and just as we did the rain came. It was a strong rain and large sheets of yellow plastic kept us dry. The wind was warm and the rain was a real treat particularly because it was accompanied by thunder and lightning; something that a southern California like me doesn’t get to enjoy very often.
Clouds….(day 2)
October 29, 2007
The next day starts early at 7 AM with the sky rapidly filling with clouds. This is a welcome sight because the Bhagavad Gita says that the “fruit of yagya is rain” and the priests consider this to be a good omen.
At the conclusion of the vastu pujas, the priests unveil a beautiful large Shiva lingam and guide us through Rudra Abishekam as they chant Rudram from Yajur Veda. We pour water, milk, yogurt, ghee, honey, and a fruit mixture over the lingam and on a small golden image of Durga riding her lion.
The Rudra abishekam ends with us pouring Ganges water over the lingam using an object called a shringi. Originally, it was a hollow cow’s horn, but these were made from brass. It is a way to pour a continuous stream of water over the lingam while mantras are chanted.
Day one ends
October 28, 2007
The yagya performance ends with aarti, the burning of camphor while mantras for Shiva and Shakti are recited. After pradakshina, we are all tired and ready for a good meal and rest.
Fire yagya (homam)
October 27, 2007
At the end of the first day, we sat by the newly kindled yagya fire for a homam. The priests chanted Rudram and other mantras as I offered ghee andthe others offered black sesame seeds, wheat, and rice into the fire. This is always the highlight of the yagya day!
Starting a vedic fire (part 3)
October 26, 2007
The homa kund (fire pit) is four feet square and is, by tradition, supposed to be four feet below the earth and four feet above.
Once the fire has been lit, it must not go out for the duration of the yagya (4 more days). It will be fed around the clock with long wood logs. By the end the accumulated ash is almost 2 feet deep!
Starting a vedic fire (part 2)
October 25, 2007
The tool itself is very simple. The shaft rotates as you pull back and forth on the rope which is wound around it. The block of hardwood at the bottom has a hole worn into it through repeated use. Interestingly, it takes a long time to get the wood heated up to the point that it will burn! This takes work…and about 5 minutes of vigorous pulling.
Interestingly, the goal is to wear away the hardwood so that there is a small pile of burning sawdust inside the hole which is then dumped
on top of a pile of cotton, coconut husks, and leaves. It catches fire surprisingly quickly and stays burning slowly while the pujas for the homa kund (fire pit) is performed.
Starting a vedic fire (part 1)
October 24, 2007
The Rig Veda begins with a prayer to Agni as the entity who take our offerings and conveys them to the divine. And in the traditional ways, the yagya fire must be started manually using frictions instead of chemical matches. So it makes sense that the first step is to sanctify the tool with which the fire is started with a puja!
Flags
October 23, 2007
As the first day progressed, a series of flags were made and placed in specific spots around the yagya stala.
During the pujas we had to touch the flag pole as the deity was invoked. Here you can see the Ganges in the background.
By the end of the process the flags look magnificent and of course Indra, the King of the Gods, had the tallest one.