Lakshmi Temple Yagya - Kanchipuram - Nov 2005

Our monthly temple yagya took place at one of the many smaller temples in the area around Kanchipuram. This month our priests selected a small Vishnu temple that dates back almost 900 years; about the time of the Middle Ages and Crusades in Europe, and Ghengis Kahn in Asia!



The temple as you can in the photo above is relatively small. This is the main building which houses the central deities of Vishnu, Lakshmi, and Bhoomi Devi (his 2 wives). It is impressive to note that these deities have been the object of continual mantras, pujas, and yagyas for almost 900 years!



In the photo above, Vishnu is in the middle with Lakshmi on his right and Bhoomi Devi, the goddess of the earth on his left. Together they support and protect creation. The murtis are made of a dark greeen granite that turns a dark black when sesame oil is applied as a part of the yagyas.



The Lakshmi temple is on the right side of the main temple. Here in the main courtyard, you can see the stambum (flagpole) carved from a single piece of granite. the Lakshmi temple is off to the side on the left of the photo.



Our priests did their usual fantastic job with the abishekam yagya and provided new silk saris and flower malas. Here you see the priest performing the offering of camphor light towards the end of the yagya.



The large murti in the back of this photo (red sari) is large and made of granite. She is not movable. The smaller murti (green sari) is called the utsava murti; or festival murti that can be moved adn taken out of the temple for different temple events.




The murti's right hand (palm outward and fingers pointed upwards) is offering the blessing of protection, and the left hand is granting wishes (fingers downward).



This is a new temple for us and now that we have established a successful event with the priests and management we have been invited to return in December to perform a yagya for Narasimha and Sudarshana.



Narasimha is the form of Vishnu that protects and supports families.



Sudarshana is Vishnu's weapon which provides strength and cuts through all obstacles. The yagyas will be performed on the day of the full Moon, December 15th.

Tulsi Vivaha Yagya - Kanchipuram - Nov 2005

Tulsi Vivaha celebrates the divine Tulsi plant; a favorite of Vishnu. For the complete story listen to the Tulsi Vivaha podcast or read the story in the show notes on puja.net. For the pujas in this celebration, they replace a traditional murti with the tulsi plant as representative of the simple devotion of Lakshmi.



A full puja is performed and then the traditional vedic marriage ceremony is performed (called Kalyana Utshavam).



By the end the puja areas is full of flowers!

Navaratri Temple Yagya - Oct. 2005

During the long Navaratri Yagya series we sponsored a full Abishekam for Durga at a local temple. Every morning our priests did a full set of pujas and a fire homam.



On Navaratri evening, they all went to a local Durga temple to perfrom the traditional Abishekam with the traditional offerings of fruits, herbs, and of course a new silk sari, for which Kanchipuram is famous.



An Abishekam is a ritual bathing and so it requires lots of milk (in the bags)and yards of beautiful fresh flower malas.

The abishekam begins with a lot of fresh water.



And milk...



Scented sandalpaste is very cooling and smells wonderful!



Vibhuti is purified and scented ash from yagyas and is associated with Shiva. Because Durga is considered to be a form of Parvati,(Shiva's wife), vibhuti is sprinkled over the murti.

After each offering is poured over the Durga, the priests perform a brief puja in whcih flowers, fruit, coconut, and light are offered to the murti. In this photo notice how they clear her face of the vibhuti and apply sandalpaste to her forehead and kumkum to her lips.



Finally, the murti is dried and dressed in a new silk sari and decorated with all the fresh flower malas. In this photo she is standing on a water buffalo which is one of the forms that the demon Mahishasura took in the story of Navaratri. If you look closely you can see how the horns have been outlined with sandalpaste below her feet.