Final aarti
January 12, 2008
Since we were making the offerings to Ganga, it seemed reasonable that we could retreat a ways up the steps to take some cover because that was going to be the only way that we could get the camphor . So our final aarti took place in the rain and it resulted in one of my favorite photos from the entire trip.
And the rain arrives…
January 11, 2008
Once you start a yagya it has to be completed no matter what. Rain? Looks like we’re gonna get wet, and when it rains in India it doesn’t drizzle, it really rains! So first they held up a cloth and that helped a bit so we could finish the offerings into the yagya fire. But even with the cloth gone, the fire kept burning for long time.
And note the poor tourists who had been watching from their boats. At least we could run under some cover…they ended up sitting in the rain until the squall passed. Thank goodness it was a nice warm day!
Ganga Yagya cont’d
January 10, 2008
After the initial pujas, we began the homam or fire yagya. Although we were performing it on a small scale, it is the real source of the power that yagyas have, thus it is important to do even if the rain clouds were on the horizon as seen below. One other note…in the Gita it says that rain is the result of yagyas, so we considered the fact that we were going to get very wet a good omen!
Happy New Year!
January 9, 2008
This is Ganesha at the Malibu Hindu Temple on New Year’s Eve.
May he remove all obstacles from your life during the coming year.