Shivaratri 2006 - Report #3

The yagyas continue very nicely and I have been listening to the chanting every evening along with some of the participants from around the world. The yagya performance starts around 7:00 AM and concludes around 1:00 PM. Again in the evening the priests meet to chant the Vedas and vist local temples.

Here you see some of the ingredients for the abishekam prepared and ready for the start of the yagya. There is water, milk, yogurt, fruit mixture, honey, ghee, sesame oil, sandal paste, coconut juice, and water mixed with threads of saffron.



At the conclusion of the Abishekams a very nice puja is performed with fresh flower garlands and bilva leaf offerings.



Once the 11 abishekams are completed, the priests perform the fire yagya, making offerings of ghee and other ingredients into the homa fire.





At the end of the fire yagya the final offering of ghee is made using a long carved spoon called a Vasodara. A single unbroken stream of ghee is offered into the fire which the vedic hymn called Chamakam is chanted.



Evenings include a visit to some of the ancient temples in the area.

Shivaratri 2006 Report #2

The yagya series is progressing nicely as we get closer to completing the second week. Each day 11-14 priest gather at 7:00 AM to perform the Rudra Abishekam 11 times; each time using a different ingredient.



Here the priest is using a leaf to pour one of the ingredients over the gold lingam in the center of the photo. As is traditional for those who follow the traditions of the Shankaracharya, in addition to the Shiva lingam you will also see in rear of the photo a crystal Meru; the home of the gods, to the immediate right of the lingam is Annapurni a form of the goddess who feeds the worlds, to the right of her is Subramanyam (Shiva's son), and in the right fron of the photo is a black stone called a shaligram which is associated with Vishnu. To the left of the lingam is a special stone that represents the Sun, and behind it is a crystal Ganesha.

In the following photo they are shown after a portion of the yagya has been completed. The lingam has been decorated with a bilva leaf, the favorite plant of Shiva.



An Abishekam is a special kind of yagya where the offerings are poured over the deity; water, yogurt as in the following photo, milk, sandalpaste, etc.





There are 11 forms of Shiva (called Rudras) and each one has a kalasam (water pot) topped with a coconut and filled with water. The vedic tradition says that the purifying influence of the mantras is concentrated in the water, which is used at the end of the yagyas series for the final Rudra Abishekam.

Shivaratri 2006 Report #1

Our 14 day Shivaratri yagya series is underway. We began on Monday, Feb 13th (the Full Moon) with the Satyanarayana Yagya for harmony.



Then we followed with a day-long Ganesha Yagya on the 14th, that removes any obstacles to the successful completion of the yagya series. This yagya includes the offering of a wide selection of special ingredients as seen in the following photo. There are bits of different kinds of wood, grass, and basil leaves. In the second photo you see various seeds and spices plus bags containing 1008 modaka balls, a favorite of Ganesha.







While this was taking place, the huge Varadaraja Vishnu Temple that is across the street had a festival in which the temple deity is out of the temple for a ride through the streets in the lavishly decorated cart seen here.




On the 14th, the priests performed full Navagraha (9 planet) and Lakshmi yagyas to obtain their blessings before the big yagyas begin.




On the 15th the Maha Rudra Yagya began. We are fortunate to have such qualified and dedicated priests because they began at 6 AM and continued until 1:30 PM. The first part of the yagya is called Nyasam, in which the priests invoke Shiva and perform all sorts of preliminary pujas to assure his presence, and to purify the yagya area.




The Shivalingam shown here belongs to Seetharam and is a very large topaz gemstone in a solid granite base.




Eavery day through next Friday the priests will perform Rudaraabishekam 11 times each day, each time featuring a different traditional ingredient.



Following the abishekam, the priests will perform a full Rudram Homam.







In this photo if you look towards the back, you can see Seetharam's mother who is a very stern taskmaster indeed! She is watching over everything to make sure it is performed exactly as it should be. Last year, she was annoyed when the priest's cell phones kept ringing, so she confiscated them! This year, I'll bet they don't bring them at all...