Durga and Annapurna Pujas - December 2006

At the conclusion of the Navaratri Yagya series in October Seetharam took us to a great temple in the area of Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu. The temple is very old and has a great Shiva mandir as well as a Durga temple that is one of my favorites. He returned there to start the December yagya series.





At night the temple gopuram (tower) looks beautiful as one looks in towards the Durga temple which is seen directly ahead.



At this temple, like most in India, they are very strict about not taking photos of the deity. But Seetharam snuck this one at night, so it is rather blurry. The Durga temple is right ahead and you can get a glimpse of the solid gold kavacha (armour) on the Durga was wearing after our abishekam.



Rahu and Ketu have changed signs so Seetharam arranged for a Rahu/Ketu yagya for which one of the ingredients are these beautiful purple flowers.



With all the kind donations from our monthly yagya participants, we purchased fresh new dhotis for the young men who are being trained in the patasalas to be vedic pundits. This one is in the Kumbakonam area. It is a primarily agricultural area and while these individuals are not poverty stricken, they lead a simple life in the patasala and the gift of a dhoti and fun meal is more meaningful than one might expect.





A couple of days later, we did the same thing in Kanchipuram at another patasala; dhotis and a festive meal.



The support of westerners like us is genuinely meaningful and a valuable source of inspiration because it shows that the vedic tradition is valued even outside of India.

Jupiter/Subramanyam Yagya - November, 2006

November is the month each year when Jupiter changes signs. This fall Jupiter moves from Libra to Scorpio in the Hindu calendar, followed shortly afterwards with Saturn and Rahu/Ketu. Thus this is a good time to influence the planets and the manner in which they will behave over the coming year. Our Chief Priest, Seetharam visited a famous Jupiter temple in the southern part of Tamil Nadu just a couple of hours north of the southern tip of India. The town is called Tiruchendur and is very close to the ocean.



The Tiruchendur temple is very old and sits on the spot where Subramanyam, son of Shiva and Parvati, battled a demon on the seashore. The temple is quite large with many different areas and halls for various deities. The main deity is Subramanyam. Because of its location on the oceanside, it is subject to a lot of wear and over the past 1500 years, the temple has been rebuilt many times. It now boasts several beautiful gopurams (towers).



Of course what temple would be complete without a big friendly elephant?




Note also the goat and calf and the long hall (right) made with rough hewn granite columns and panels for the ceiling.



For three days, Seetharam and the temple pundits (priests) performed a series of fire yagyas and abishekams. These took place in the main temple in a large area off to the left of the Subramanyam area.



The preparations begin early in the morning...




Our goal is to always perform the yagyas in the most authentic and traditional manner possible. Here we see 108 different ingredients for the fire yagya; seeds, herbs, sticks, bark, leaves, dried fruits, etc. It is really quite amazing the complexity of some yagya procedures!



Of course, we always use the temple priests both for their expertise and as part of our goal to protect and preserve the vedic tradition as much as possible by using their services.



The kalasha pots have fresh flower malas every day and the scent of the jasmine fills the hall.



Of course a lot of smoke fills the hall also!



But the chanting goes on uninterrupted. Note the beautiful mandala on the floor under the kalasha. It is made with colored rice flour. And you can count nine smaller kalashas; one for each of the nine planets.



Eventually the smoke clears...



Our priest, Seetharama Shastry is seen here reciting the sankalpam, the statement of purpose and recitation of sponsor names at the beginning of a yagya.



Some of the ingredients for the final offering at the conclusion of the fire yagya.



It was a good three days and I hope it becomes a part of every fall season!

Varanasi Yagyas - September 2006

Two of our Kanchipuram priests; Seetharam and Ganeshan, traveled to north-eastern India to the city of Varanasi (also known as Kasi or Benares) to perform a series of yagyas to honor our ancestors and to ask Shiva to bless us with greater enlightenment. Both these outcomes are related to Shiva, and Varanasi is his city; one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.




The Ganges River has been at a very high level this year. Note that the river is so high that there are just a few steps showing in the photos above as compared to what is typical this time of year as seen in the following image.



Each morning our priests joined five Sama Veda specialists from Nepal to perform our yagyas. They started on the day of the full moon (poornima) with a Ganesha and Shiva Yagya. In the following photo you see Rudra Abishekam being performed.



Towards the end of the yagya scented sandalwood powder is mixed with water and rose water and poured over the lingam.



The lingam is decorated with flower malas and bilva leaves (green). Here the priest is offering camphor light (aarti) at the conclusion of the yagya while mantras are being chanted by the other priests.



The next day, the priests prepared a huge navagraha yagya to balance the influence of all the planets. When performed properly, a traditional yagya requires a lot of ingredients, many of which are available only in India.



First an elaborate navagraha yantra is constructed with cloth of specific colors, various grains, and fruit. Pujas and mantra japa are performed and then all the grain and other ingredients are offered into the yagya fire while the navagraha mantras are being chanted.



In the evening more pujas were performed along the banks of the Ganges.



It is quite a performance with chanting, drums and big aarti lamps.







The second two days of the Varanasi Yagyas consisted of a series of special pujas which, on the first day, were conducted individually for each of the sponsors and their relatives who had passed away. These pujas required special offerings of balls of rice sprinkled with black sesame seeds.



Special containers were made for the offerings. The leves are from a special tree, and the grass is darba grass; the sacred grass of the vedas.



Here all the little boats with rice and flower garlands are ready for the pujas on the first day.





Our priests visited five specific sacred spots along the banks of the Ganges and performed pujas and left offerings of flowers. At the end of the day, each little ancestor boat was decorated with a ghee lamp, which was then lit, and left to float down the river.

The yagya series concluded with pujas at a beautiful Shiva temple...



...which had a beautiful, tall Shiva lingam which was honored with a final Rudra abishekam and simple flower and bilva leaf decorations.

Update #2 -- Lakshmi Yagyas - August 2006

Our August sequence of Lakshmi Yagyas concluded at a very nice temple where our priests performed an Abishekam Yagya. It was performed during the evening and this temple is typical of smaller temples in India; nicely painted and decorated with lights.



There are two murtis of Lakshmi seen here. The larger one in the back is made of south indian green granite which turns a beautiful dark black when sesame oil is applied to it. The brass statue in the foreground is called an utsava murti. It is used in temple celebrations and can be moved out of the temple sanctum whenever needed. The alrger murti weighs many hundreds of pounds and is never moved!

Here the priest is offering a little camphor light during one of the initial pujas.



Many gallons of milk are used to pour over the murtis during the abishekam. The tradition is that an abishekam is performed to purify and enliven the temple.



Sandalwood is very finely ground up and mixed with various scents. When it is mixed with water and a little rosewater the temple smells amazingly fragrant.



After all the ingredients are poured over the murtis, they are carefully dried and dressed in new silk sari's with beautiful fresh flower malas made of jasmine and carnations. You can see that she wears all sorts of gold and a tall crown in the style of south india. Her hands are covered with metal "raksha"; armour. Her right hand is help upright in the sign of protection, and her left hand points downward in the sign of blessing or granting wishes.



Even the smaller utsava deity is dressed in a sari. Although the murti is only a couple feet in height, it still take a full 7-8 yards of cloth to dress her!



By the end of the evening Lakshmi is fully refreshed and seems very powerful. Note the pink lotus flowers arranged around her.

Lakshmi Yagyas - August 2006

This month's yagyas series is focused on Lakshmi, the goddess of Abundance in all its forms. We begin with a four day intensive focus on the eight different forms of Lakshmi (Ashtalakshmi). Each day, our priests perform a full series of yagyas with unique ingredients.

Here we see fresh lotus flowers and bilva leaves, both traditionally associated with Lakshmi.



By the end of the puja the pile of flowers and bilva leaves gets quite high....and is topped with a fresh jasmine flower mala.



In the evening the priests recite the 1008 mantras (namas) of Lakshmi, called Lakshmi Sahasranam enough times so that the total nama recitations will exceed 100,000 times by the end of the yagya series.



The puja is called a kumkum archana because with each nama a small pinch of kumkukm (a natural red powder symbolic of Lakshmi) is offered





And there are 10 more days to go!