Subramanyam Yagya - Kanchipuram, August 2005

In the month of August, our priests travelled to a small temple outside Kanchipuram to perform a special yagya for Subramanyam, son of Shiva and brother to Ganesha. Subramanyam is a very popular deity in South India and is referred to as the "Divine Commander". He is also the personified form of the planet Mars. So a yagya for Subramanyam balances our agressive side and enhances the positive qualities of Mars; optimism, energy, enthusiasm, clear thinking, etc.



As usual our puja.net priests did an excellent job providing all the traditional yagya ingredients many of which are too expensive for these smaller temples to afford on a regular basis. So, our temple yagyas are as much a blessing to the temple and the local villagers as are they for us as sponsors. Certainly the local priest regards our support as a great service!



One of the advantages of performing yagyas in India is that we have access to (and can afford) spectacular malas to decorate the temple deities. In this photo you see the variety of malas that we bring made of beautiful carnations and fragrant jasmine. The longer malas are about 10-12 feet in length.

On the right side of the photo you can see 20 small plastic 1 quart bags of milk.



In Tamil Nadu, the murti is carved from a dark green granite which turn a deep black from the sesame oil that is poured over it during the abishekam. In this photo you see the priest pouring milk.



The white powder is called vibhuti which is a perfumed ash made from the remains of a special yagya fire.



After the abishekam, the murti is dressed in a fresh silk dhoti, his face is coated in sandalwood paste and kumkum (the red powder), and surrounded with the fresh flower malas.

Of course, we couldn't ignore Ganesha! He also received the abishekam bath, fresh dhoti and malas along with all the pujas.

Shiva Yagya - Kasi, July 2005

In July Seetharam travelled to Varanasi(Benares) to perform a series of yagyas for us. Varanasi is an ancient city and one that is supposed to be the favorite of Shiva.



The yagya series was focused on Mrytunjaya Yagya (for health) and Rudra Abishekam for enlightenment. Because these yagyas took place in Varanasi, they were also dedicated and directed to our families and particularly previous generations.

The yagyas took place in a beautiful Shiva temple with several local Vedic pundits.



It is interesting that the temple is open and airy in contrast to the more closed style that is found in Tamil Nadu.



Each day Seetharam and the priests would sit and perform the full yagya sequence starting with pujas and the homam (fire yagya).



The priests were interested in what our puja.net group has been doing. They were quite impressed with the long term dedication to this yagya program and asked (insisted!) that we do this again next year.



One of the great pleasures of performing yagyas in the various temples on India is that we are able to obtain such amazingly beautiful fresh flower garlands. Just look at these garlands with beautiful carnations, marigolds, and fragrant jasmine flowers.

In this photo you see 11 kalasha pots, one for each of the forms of Rudra (Shiva).



Following the pujas and homam, the priests moved into the temple sanctum and performed pujas and abishekam (ritual bathing) for the Shiva Lingam. In this photo you see the lingam decorated with Bilva Leaves and a few jasmine flowers.



In the evenings, Seetharam would go down to the banks of the Ganges River and watch the evening pujas.



One evening he rented a boat and watched from the middle of the river. The low light and movement of the boat made the images a little fuzzy.