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.