“We invoke the Sun God who incessantly works day and night and rises daily without showing any kind of lethargy.”
~ Rig Veda

“The person desirous of success and strength should perform good karma continuously.”
~ Rig Veda

The morning inspires scholars to work and also those who desire wealth.
~ Rig Veda

Scriptures are invaluable source of knowledge because it is only through their study that the mind is filled with good thoughts. Good thoughts help us in leading a virtuous life.This is the sure way for growth of the mind and also to acquire eternal happiness and peace.
~ Rig Veda

“Truth prevails ultimately.”
~ Rig Veda

“A combinations of righteous knowledge and righteous actions help us to earn wealth.”
~ Rig Veda

Those who are intelligent tread on the path of truth and adhere to all the rules and vows strictly. They are the ones who become successful in this world and become famous. They succeed in achieving everything they desire.
~ Rig Veda

“Indra only blesses those who perform good deeds, tread on the righteous path and perform religious sacrifices.”
~ Rig Veda

“One who follows the path of virtuosity need not be worried about wealth as it comes to him naturally without making efforts.”
~ Rig Veda

“Only the knowledge of the Vedas can help us to know the universe, which is vast like an ocean. It enlightens everyone’s minds.”
~ Rig Veda

“We should tread on the path of knowledge and attain growth and progress.”
~ Rig Veda

“God always blesses all the scholars and great souls with wisdom.”
~ Rig Veda

Offering the light of burning camphor as the opening pujas are concluded.

Our pundits continue with the recitation. As you can see, the books are large and their qualification test when becoming a pundit was to be given 3 words from a random point in the Rig Veda and then to start chanting from that point. I’ve seen them do it and it is never short of astonishing the ease with which they are able to do this.

During a riutual like this, they use the books because the yagya itself proceeds in stops and starts and it saves a lot of time.

“By attaining godliness one shall be blessed with happiness and growth.”
~ Rig Veda

“Scholars are pleased to meet people who are learned because there is a scope for mutual benefit by exchange of views.”
~ Rig Veda

We are now half way through the Rig Veda program for this month and it has gone wonderfully well.

Each day the pujas have been performed with care and dedication.

“Just as the Sun is respected for providing heat and energy to the world, in the same manner you too can attain respect in this world by acquiring knowledge.”
~ Rig Veda

The Daily Yagyas continue with Rudra Abishekam.  Here the priest is pouring milk over the Shiva Lingam.

The Rig Veda pundits continue to enjoy their work as they reach the halfway mark.

“One should never fear sorrow because it is the stepping stone to happiness”
~ Rig Veda

“A religious person, who spends his time in devotion and worship gets blessed with happiness and prosperity.”
~ Rig Veda

Of course new flower malas for the kalasha pots.

And for the Shiva Lingam as well.

“It is the nature of flames to move upward and illuminate the nearby area. Those great souls who tread on the path of truth become famous and successful.” – Rig Veda

The colored squares of cloth represent the nine planets and Seetharam performs a puja, with extra emphasis on Jupiter, every day.

The senior pundits (left) continue to enjoy themselves and add more and more recitations every day. It isn’t often that they have the opportunity to perform this yagyas so they want to make the most of it.

Of course the daily Rudra Abishekam continues, shown here with the offering of milk.

And then perfumed sandalwood paste.

“One should, perform karma with nonchalance without expecting the benefits because sooner of later one shall definitely gets the fruits.” -Rig Veda

Every day begins with fresh flower malas for each of the kalasha pots.

As some of the preliminary Rig Veda texts are recited, the Daily Yagya begins with Rudra Abishekam.

There is always an invocation of the deities, especially Ganesha to remove all obstacles to the successful completion of the yagya.

The recitation is performed by 5 Rig Veda pundits…about 1500 verses per day, plus the senior pundits are insisting on extra recitation in the evening, and the recitation of Lalitha Sahasranam – the 1000 names of the most beautiful form of the divine mother. This text is a specialty, long associated with Kanchipuram.

The vedic fire yagya and recitations are beginning before 8 AM and are continuous through after 1 PM and then again in the evening for 3 hours. Can you imagine singing for that long? the strength and stamina of the pundits can easily match that of a professional opera singer! It is hard work, to say the least especially because this is summer time in south India and the temperatures are wellover 100F every day.

Even in the heat, the yagya fire is a necessity.

The yagya continues hour after hour and even in person it is never boring.

The two older men on the left are the most senior rig veda pundits at the Shankar Mutt in Kanchipuram. Their knowledge of Rig Veda is truly impressive. The pundit looking at the book is a steady participant in our yagyas and I have watched and listened to him recite the vedas many times. His knowledge is so thorough that he can continue to recite the veda, never losing his place, while he looks up some reference in another book; reading one book while reciting from another. Impressive!

Each day begins with the Rudra Abishekam and Daily Yagya. In the process, all the kalasha pots have fresh flower malas.

The mantras and flower offerings symbollically purify the water in the kalasha pots and the different deities are invoked and invited to reside there for the purpose of the pujas.

There are traditional offerings of incense, fire, fruit and coconuts.

The burning of camphor is symbolic of the gradual dissolution of our “papas” – bad karmas, which are eliminated as a result of the yagya performance.

The yagya fire is started and the offerings are made while the Rig Veda verses are chanted.

There is certainly a timeless quality to the yagyas. They have been performed just like this for well over a thousand years.

Our May program in Kanchipuram is beginning and it will be an interesting 10 days. The Rig Veda is the oldest and longest of the Vedas and it contains many of the most important yagya rituals. So this program will be like having all the big yagyas performed all at once.

This month is also the time for Jupiter to change signs. Here you see the traditional arrangement of colored cloth, grain, and flowers for each of the nine planets. The yellow square in the second row represents Jupiter. The Sun is in the middle and next to him is Mars – both in red. The front row is, from the left, the Moon, Venus (white) and Mercury in green. The back row has Saturn in the center flanked by Rahu and Ketu. Rahu is the dark cloth and Ketu the multi colored.

The Shiva lingam is also nicely decorated because the Ati rudra program and daily yagyas continue throughout the month.

What yagya would be complete without vast quantities of fresh flowers. It is still jasmine season, so they are very fragrant.

And of course everything begins with Ganesha.

The Rig Veda yagya program requires special Rig Veda priests. We are very fortunate to have the most senior Rig Veda pundit from the Shankar Mutt in Kanchipuram. His knowledge of this Veda is nothing short of amazing and he is deeply respected by everyone.

Seetharam is one of the few priests that I know of who is proficient in both Yajur Veda and Rig Veda. So his organization and participation in this yagya is an honor for us.

Yagyas are fun and enjoyable to perform. Everyone is in a good mood.

The main focus of this ritual is the offering of ghee into the sacred yagya fire after every few lines of text. Here the priests start the yagya fire for the first time. It will be kept burning continuously for the next 10 days.

The yagya begins…

This is sumer time in Kanchipuram and the daily temperatures are generally in the 104-110 range, so the fire is understandably kept on the small side.

The more junior pundits use their books so they don’t loose their place. The senior pundit doesn’t need to. He is really quite something to watch. But all of them can recite the entire text from memory.

The April Navagraha Yagyas concluded with a very nice five priest fire yagya (havan) performed at the countryside Shiva temple just outside Kanchipuram.

The yagya itself was performed in an outside pavilion. Here you can see the priests making preparation for the yagya. The fire pit has been decorated with colored rice flour symbols for each of the nine planets

The yagya begins with pujas and mantra repetitions for each of the planets.

All the traditional ingredients are being used. Each of the planets has specific seeds, wood, bark, etc.

Each planet has its own kalasha pot with coconut and flower mall on top. Since this is a Shiva temple, the temple deity is seated on top of the white bull named Nandi.

The priests enjoy the opportunity to perform the puja to the highest traditional standards and often times will research mantras and slokas to be recited as a part of the ritual.

Of course there is a special puja for Shiva.

The yagya fire is lit and introductory mantras are chanted.

Each planet has its own section with vedic mantras being recited for the planet.

Even though it is summer and the temperatures tend to be over 100F every day, there is no skimping on the yagya fire! It can get quite large.

After several hours the final offering is placed in the yagya fire.

This temple is one that I always call “the countryside temple” because it is located a few miles outside of Kanchipuram in an agricultural area, surrounded by fields of sugar cane and rice.

It was a favorite of Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, the previous Shankarcharya who was responsible for the construction of the temple around an ancient Shiva Lingam nestled beneath a very old neem tree.

Each of these rock carvings are for nagas – divine serpents, of which Rahu and Ketu are one.

They are regarded as deliverers of karmas and so remedial measures for Rahu and Ketu can be very important.

In part due to the continuing support of the Puja.net community, the temple was able to renovate the water tank and construct new temples for Rahu and Ketu.

The temples are modest in size, but very attractive.

The statues are first cleaned with sesame oil and then water rinses the dirt away.

Then they are bathed in turmeric.

And in perfumed sandalwood mixed in water.

And lots of milk.

Some honey.

And the final decorations are made with fresh cloth and beautiful flower malas. Rahu is on the left and his cloth is either blue or black. Astrologically the influence of Rahu is much like that of Saturn.

Ketu is on the right with the multi colored cloth. Ketu’s astrological influence is similar to that of Mars.

The final aarti concludes the day.

The Sun is recognizable because of the large halo around his head.

The statue is tall and a little thin and radiates a sense of dignity.

The offering of milk.

Perfumed sandalwood.

Honey.

And the final decoration complete with fresh malls and the offerings of fruit and coconuts.

The final aarti completes the yagya performance.

Each of the deities has a vahana or mount that they ride around on. In fact, because a lot of the statues look so similar, this is a good way to tell the deities apart at a glance. Here we see Saturn, with his crow behind him.

The crow is more easily seen in this photo as Saturn is bathed in sandalwood.

…and then milk.

Then decorated and aarti is performed.

A temple is a wonderful place at dawn, before the heat of the day arrives. The air is fresh and cool, the birds are singing, and the temple radiates a special peacefulness.

Looking at the temple buildings, it is amazing to think about the effort that was invested in their construction over a thousand years ago.

The presence of peacocks on the roof of this temple mark it as being for Subramanya, Ganesha’s brother, and embodiment of the energy of Mars. He is the general of the divine armies of the devas who do battle with the demons. He rides on a peacock.

The Navagraha are ready for their abishekam.

As usual, the Sun is at the center and receives the first cleansing offering of turmeric and water.

That is following by milk – here for Venus.

Here Venus enjoys a bath of perfumed sandalwood.

After the abishekam, each planetary statue is cleaned, dried, and decorated.

Venus has a white cloth and a mall of white jasmine flowers.

The final offering of light is always a little dramatic in the dark temple.

Thursday is owned by Jupiter and so our priests went to a temple in which there is a huge Navagraha area.  The temple itself is, as all Navagraha temples are, part of a Shiva temple. Over the entrance you can see Shiva, Parvati and Nandi the bull that they ride.

The temple grounds are very typical of a south indian temple with smaller temples for individual deities, and the main temple area reserved for Shiva.

The roof of the Ganesha temple. Ganesha rides on a mouse named Mushika. The mouse carrying an elephant headed god is amusing, although here they seem to be large enough. I am not sure that they look too happy about it. Why a mouse? One story says it is because the mouse can get into even the smallest corner of a house and like that Ganesha can get into even the smallest corner of our hearts.

This time of year is summer in Kanchipuram and the daily temperatures climb well over 100 F most days, so the yagyas are being performed early in the morning, just as the Sun is rising.

This temple is unique in that the nine planets are arranged in a circle around the Sun – as opposed to 3 rows of 3 planets each which is more typical.  They are also quite large and sit on a platform that is slightly raised. More commonly the statues themselves are only about 16 inches tall and are sitting on a much taller platform.

Some of the copper kalasha pots are showing their many years of use.

After being rubbed with sesame oil and given a water bath, the offerings begin with turmeric mixed with water while the vedic planetary mantras are chanted.

Jupiter enjoys some special attention.

Everyone is rinsed off, and then milk is offered

Here again Jupiter gets some extra attention.

The offering of honey on the Jupiter murti.

Towards the end of the abishekam, the Sun receives a bath of perfumed sandalwood. Being the center of the solar system, he always goes first!

And, being the most benefic planet, Jupiter goes next.

All the planets receive more baths of water to rinse away all the different offerings. Then they are dried and decorated with sandalwood and appropriately colored dhotis and fresh flower malas.  In the foreground you can see Mercury has a mala made from green tulsi (basil) leaves because green is the color for Mercury.  Jupiter is to the left and has a pure white jasmine mala with just a bit of color at the ends.

Jupiter receives extra attention with offerings of coconuts, fruit and more flowers.

The final offering of the light from burning of camphor is always beautiful and dramatic.

The entrance features a tall traditional flagpole.

A lotus carving where offerings are placed.

The entrance hall to the temple itself.

Looking back through the temple doors you can see Nandi, Shiva’s bull in the courtyard. In all Shiva temples, if you stand in front of the Nandi you can see all the way into the inner sanctum where the main Shiva lingam is placed.

The temple is quite old and the carving of the pillars and stone roof and floors have a timeless quality. In this image, you can see Ganesha at the end of this corridor.

The Shiva temples usually have many Shiva lingams throughout the temple in the different hallways. This one is typical and in the foreground you can see Nandi, Shiva’s bull who is always looking at him.

This is a form of Shiva called Dakshinamurti, Shiva as the prototypical teacher – the first Guru who passes knowledge of spiritual development to others. Interestingly, Dakshinamurti teaches in silence – emphasizing that true knowledge is transcendent and resides in pure consciousness.

These are the festival deities, smaller brass or bronze deities that are portable and are frequently taken out of the temple on festival days.

Of course, this being a Shiva Temple, there are cows on the roof!

In one of the walkways around the temple you can find a neem tree under which there is a small area is dedicated to Rahu and Ketu.

The Mercury temple is nestled inside the larger temple and is painted green because green is the color associated with Mercury.

Getting ready for the abishekam.

The abishekam takes place inside the small sanctum of the temple.

The first offering of water and turmeric.

Then lots of milk…

The cascading milk always makes the deity statue look so nice in contrast to the black stone.

We usually offer several gallons of milk.

Honey is an important ingredient because it represents the sweetness of the divine, but it also makes a mess…so just a little is used.

Perfumed sandalwood has a special color to it, not to mention the fantastic smell.

At the very end, the deity is given a special shower to conclude the abishekam.

In the Mercury temple, the deity is dried and decorated. While that is taking place, one of the priests performs a puja for the rest of the nine planets.

Final aarti – an offering of light – in the Mercury temple.

After an abishekam, the deity is always dressed as nicely as possible. In this case the temple priests brought out special decorations that are embroidered with hundreds of pearls! The effect is exceptionally beautiful.

Generally the planetary temples are contained within Shiva temples and frequently there will be a “featured” planet, in this case Mars.

For our abishekam yagya, the deity is cleaned and rubbed with sesame oil. The stone is actually a green granite found in the south of India, but it turns a beautiful deep black when it absorbs the sesame oil.

After being rubbed with oil, several kalasha pots of water are poured over the deity, and then turmeric mixed with water. Turmeric is used for its cleansing qualities.

Then several gallons of milk are offered. Milk is used because it is a pure food and comes from the cow, who represents Lakshmi. In the vedic stories, the gods live on a cow called Kama Dhenu and their food is milk and ghee.

Perfumed sandalwood is mixed with water and poured over the deity. This is soothing and cooling, and when you are there in person smells really good.

Honey, another sattvic food, is offered as the essence of sweetness.

The deity is dried and then clothed in a new dhoti and then decorated with yellow sandalwood and red kumkum. The summer time is the season of jasmine and the fresh flower malas are wonderfully fragrant.

The offering of the light of burning camphor is called aarti and it is the last step in the abishekam yagya. You can see offerings of coconuts and fruit in the foreground as well.

The vedic tradition holds that the temple is a place where the presence of the deity is invoked in the stone image. Periodic abishekam rituals are a bit like cleaning the lens on a camera, so the light shines through more clearly.

Afterwards the temple feels refreshed and lively.

This is the Shivalingam that is the main deity in this particular temple.

The April Yagya program begins with a temple abishekam for the Moon.

This temple includes a nice area for Rahu/Ketu underneath a Neem tree.

All the planets are represented together with the Sun tallest in the center.

All of the planets receive the abishekam offerings but today the Moon gets special attention. Here, turmeric, a cooling and purifying spice is mixed with water and poured over the deities.

Then milk is offered.

This is coconut juice.

Lastly, sandalwood mixed with water is poured. It is so nicely perfumed.

And at the end, each planet is decorated especially with fresh flower malls.

Offering flowers during the last puja.

The final offering of light called “aarti”.

The first photo is the northern style and the second is the southern style.

Dakshinamurti is a form of Shvia who is the universal force of evolution towards enlightenment and liberation.

He is said to teach only in silence…the internal revelation of higher truth and knowledge.

He is always shown sitting beneath the tree of knowledge, relaxed with one leg across his knee. You can see the Ganga River flowing through his hair, and he holds blessings in his hands while demons are contained beneath his feet.

On either side are rishis who look perfectly happy to be enjoying his presence.

The most famous temple in Kanchipuram is the Kamakshi Temple. Kamakshi is a form of the divine mother who gives pleasure (kama) at a glance from her eyes (akshi). In other words, all you have to do is see her to receive her blessings.

The temple grounds are wonderful to walk around in the evening. The golden dome…and yes that is real gold leaf…shines in the evening light.

Generally traffic police seem to be active at rush hour to prevent complete grid lock – a monumental task at which they are largely successful. Other than that, everyone is left to make the best of it.

The yagya pavilion is the largest and only fully vastu yagya facility in Varanasi. It was designed very carefully to meet the precise vedic standard.

The dimensions and proportions are precise as is the inclusion of 16 pillars supporting the roof.

Especially from a distance the design and proportions look beautiful.

The surrounding countryside is primarily agricultural with crops of wheat and rice for the most part.

That path to the Ganges is only a few hundred yards long and passes beneath these beautiful trees. The building on the left is a small Hanuman temple.

The Ganges is broad and moves at a regal pace.

I walked down to dip my toes in for a bit.

On the walk back up, the Hanuman temple looked inviting.

The Hanuman was typical of the north indian style.

Looking upstream there are more beautiful trees amongst the wheat fields.

And pretty much the same in the other direction too.

The following photos were taken on the 20 minute drive into Varanasi from the yagya facility. We were going to the evening aarti which was described in a recent post. I just sat in the from seat with my camera and clicked away. Here’s a selection of what I saw.

The yagya ashram is located out in the countryside in an area that is predominantly agricultural. As we started on the road we came upon a boy herding cows, water buffalo, and goats back to the family farm. He did his best to get them all to move over enough so we could get by. Above all else India requires a bit of patience and a flexible schedule.

In contrast to western style dairy farms, there seems to be no barns. The cows stay outside all the time (no winters to worry about) and have these large patios with water and feed. They seemed to be pretty contented.

Of course traffic is always interesting especially on a one lane road. If you get caught behind a truck, you’re going to be there for a while.

After q quick shortcut across the grounds of Benares Hindu University, we arrive at the gate to Varanasi. Due to some road construction, this is where the congestion really begins.

The shops are amazing. Note the mannequins on the second floor.

Because you know, Babas need new shoes and there is nothing like a good Shoppe.

This seems to be a book store for students.

On a hot day there is nothing like a deep deep cold drink. Sadly, Coke and Pepsi taste nothing like they do in the US, which is probably a good thing because that makes it easier for me to break my rather unhealthy addiction to them.

Digital studio with a snack cart out front.

So many different ways to get around – the three wheeler with the yellow roof, the rickshaw with a silver back, bikes, cars, two wheelers, horse carts, etc etc. Incredible variety.

Modern western technology is seamlessly integrated with traditional indian life.

A plastic plate shop. Especially in the south, even when you are served food on a plate, there is almost always a banana leaf underneath, carefully cut to fit.

The traffic jam culprit.

Indeed.

A great place to stay. Right on the Ganges at the start of the ghats. Besides, who can resist the opportunity to stay in a palace?

And we’re there. As you walk down to the river, all of ancient Varanasi lies before you, curving along the river and stretching out for miles ahead. It is a graceful and impressive sight.

Just for fun, I brought my GoPro camera (about 2 inches square) into the Ekambeshawara Shiva temple on Shivaratri night just to see if I could sneak a few shots. It was pretty dark so most of them were too blurry to use, but here are a couple that I thought gave an interesting view of the temple interior.

The temple is located on a 20 acre site and the main gopuram (tower) is 192 feet tall. The temple itself dates back to at least 600 CE.

Inside the temple, the outer walls have 108 Shiva lingams all of which are nicely cleaned and decorated for Shivaratri.

The temple itself is fairly small and is built around a large Shiva lingam.

Nandi is the bull that Shiva rides on. There is a charming tradition of whispering your wishes into Nandi’s ear because he will then convent them to Shiva at just the right time for him to grant your desire.

We supply all the ingredients…especially some wonderfully huge flower malas.

Young brahmin pundits-in-training from the local patasala came to help out.

The lingam is bathed in various liquids; water, milk, and as you can see here a lot of sandal paste.

This container is full of milk – 20 gallons I would guess.

The lingam had fluted sides which make the milk run down in beautiful rivulets.

In person the effect is quite hypnotic.

It take almost 45 minutes to decorate the lingam with all the malas and flowers. Then there is the final aarti – an offering of light symbolic of the light of consciousness.

This whole process will be repeated 3-4 times throughout the night.

We arrived at the ghats and rented a boat to travel a couple miles down the river. Generally speaking the vessels are not exactly an example of modern design. Ours had a single cylinder hand cranked diesel that really shook the boat.

The trip down the river was leisurely and relaxing in the warm evening air.

There were hundreds of boats on the water full of tourists. This is a pretty popular thing to do in the evening.

We jam into the flotilla of boats watching the puja from the water.

The puja performance involves a lot of singing and loud music.  I found it all a bit touristy, but still  the spectacle was fun.

This is the offering of incense.

Aarti involves the offering of light and when you have the large camphor lights burning….5 or 6 in a row moving in unison, the sight is quite impressive.

Once the puja was over, the flotilla broke up and we motored leisurely back to our starting point. Just like the roads in India, there is always something to look at and wonder about. The trip back was no exception.

This last photo is someone sitting near the funeral ghats performing some kind of meditation practice. He was absolutely still, with a mosquito net over his head. He never moved at all. Wonderfully mysterious.

When we got up, the lights on the yagya pavilion were on, but the sky was dark. The trip into town takes about an hour.

From our location we could see the city stretching out in front of us along the natural curve of the river. Because of the important role that the Ganga plays in supporting material and spiritual life in this part of India, (irrigation, etc) she is considered to be a form of Lakshmi – the goddess of abundance.

It had rained the night before and this made for wonderfully clean air and a sense of freshness, not to mention a dramatic sunrise.

In case of rain, we could have used these, but there was no need.

The priests and their assistants assembled the yagya quickly and we began the ritual facing the river bathed in the warmth of the rising Sun. It was a wonderful experience.

Afterwards we all enjoyed eating the prasad and enjoying the morning before returning to the ashram for the afternoon’s yagya.

The day began early as usual and I snuck in some time to walk around the grounds and enjoy the greenery, the flowers, and the view of the Ganges in the distance.

The Shiva Lingam was all ready for the day’s event. The emphasis would be on the feminine and as is tradition, the ingredients in the Shiva Abishekam were changed from the usual milk and water.

We used fresh sugar cane juice, fresh pineapple juice, and fresh pomegranate juice (about two gallons of each) as well as milk, sugar, and honey. So much sweetness! The pundits explained that this enhances the wealth producing effects of the yagya. Sounded good to me

Here we are midway through the abishekam ritual. You can see the buckets of water and one with the white cloth they used to strain the juices.

The traditions in the north are a little different and there are generally more kalasha pots representing different deities. Here you see three pots, one for each of Chandi, Lakshmi, and Saraswati.

This one is for Ganesha, the remover of obstacles.

Each pile of colored rice and each round red circle in the triangular diagram represents a different deity. As a part of the yagya performance, each one was invoked and and offering of rice was made.

The fire ceremony is the last part of the yagya. They used huge pieces of wood, and the fire lasted for all 4 days that we were there.

The priests always dress in red when the yagya is for the goddess.

Every now and then you see something that is both organic and elegant at the same time. This is a bunch of darba grass tied into a special knot and is used to represent purity during the yagya performance.

I apologize for not posting photos for the past few days. The yagya facility has been without internet due to frequent power outages which eventually fried the router. (oh well)

I am about to begin the 23 hour flight back to the US and I’ll resume posting photos and an account of the Varanasi Yagyas on Tuesday.

THanks for being patient and for being interested in the first place!

The focus of the yagya was Shiva and Parvati (Shakti) – the balance of male and female energies that Varanasi is known for.

The Shivalingam is very large. Later on it was decorated as a part of the yagya performance.

The program included a full Navagraha (9 planet) yagya. This mandala is used to represent the planets. Note the Sun in the center flanked by Mars on the left and Jupiter on the right in the same row.

The back row has Saturn in the center with Rahu on the left and Ketu on the right.

The front row has Venus in the center with the Moon on the left and Mercury on the right.

Nandi, Shiva’s bull, beautifully carved out of marble.

One of the beautiful rice manadalas used in the yagya.

The yagya ingredients are very different here in the north. Lots of flowers, especially marigolds.

The Shiva lingam is beautifully decorated at the end of the yagya and his weapon (called a trisul) stands beside him.