Ganesha rules beginnings so he is always asked to bless the new year. This Ganesha is in the garden of one of the temples.
The series began with two days of yagyas in a local patasala (school) where our priests performed pujas and a complete fire yagya (homam) for the nine planets. They did 1008 repetitions of the mantra for each planet and worked from 8 AM to 5 PM both days. That's a lot of chanting and vedic recitation!
Here, at the beginning of the day, the priests are constructing a beautiful installation for the nine planets with a cloth for each in the appropriate color. On top of that is the grain for the planet and a kalasha pot with water inside and a coconut on top surrounded by mango leaves and a flower mala as a crown.
By the end of the pujas and homam all the offerings of flowers, and fruit, herbs and grasses have been made. Pujas tend to make a glorious mess!
At the beginning of the pujas, the priest (in this case Seetharam, seen above) performs what it called the sankalpam or statement of purpose. It begins with the priest preparing himself to invoke the deities. This moment of personal purification (called nyasam) includes a moment of meditation and pranayam.
The names of the sponsors are recited before the pujas begin.
The yagya fire is lit after the pujas and ghee, different kinds of wood, grain, puffed rice, and herb mixtures are offered into the fire with each mantra repetition.
Even though the fire yagyas go on for many hours uninterrupted, there is a sense of timelessness when you are there. It is a very calm and joyful experience.
At the very end of the yagya, a final offering is prepared. Here you see dried coconut halves; one filled with ghee, some fruit and flowers. The silk cloth is tied around various other offerings of herbs and spices, fruits and flowers, and sometimes coins for good luck. The it is offered into the fire while mantras are chanted. This final offering is called pornadhuti.
This is the entrance to the Sun temple. Each temple has a "flagpole" called a "stambha dwaja". Some are elaborate and shealthed in brightly polished brass or copper and some are outdoors like this one.
This is the entrance to the Jupiter planet temple. The large towers are often brightly painted and contain beautiful representations of the deities from traditional stories.
This is the entranceway to the Mercury temple. Note the scaffolding made from small trees in place for some renovation work.
Once the sticks are erected, they are covered with palm fronds which makes a cooler place to work, sheltered from the heat of the Sun. This is at the Rahu temple.
This photo is from the 2006 yagyas at the Saturn temple. Note the round yagya homa kind (fire pit). The Saturn murti is to the left on the top of the multicolored platform.
This is what they call the "tank". All temples have them and I suppose it may have historically been a supply of water for temple use. They frequently play a role in stories. For example this is the tank at the Saturn temple at Tirunallar and it plays a role in a great story where a rishi's curse turns a King and his family into elephants. They regain their human form by bathing in this sacred water at this particular temple.
