Rain is a good omen on yagya day.
The abishekam begins with offerings of water.
Then turmeric is mixed with water and poured over the murti.
The contrast of the white milk looks nice against the black stone.
After the abishekam, the murti is decorated with beautiful malas and offerings of fresh fruit and coconuts.
Then the final offering of burning camphor is made...
...while everyone watches.
There is another form of the divine teacher called Dattatreya. Our Varanasi priests performed an yagya in a beautiful old temple.
Recitation at the beginning of the yagya...
A beautiful mandala made with colored rice flour.
Beautiful aarti...
And after the pujas, the yagya fire is constructed on the top of the mandala.
Note the temple priest observing the yagya proceedings as the fire gets larger.
Our mrytunjaya yagyas are very popular and there are lots of different temples in Varanasi to choose from.
Note the large copper lingam in the center as well as the traditional stone lingam with milk being home over it.
Very nice decorations (alankaram in Sanskrit).
The offering of light is also nice when it is a small ghee lamp.
Note the unusual triangle shaped homa kund!
The setting of a yagya on the banks of the Ganges is very beautiful especially under a tree which offers some shade and coolness.
