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.
