The Puja

Last night I moved in with all the Hindu glory of assuming residence of a new place.  We conducted the traditional Puja exactly at 6:00pm as designated by the Hindu Priest conducting the ceremony.  The Puja is a traditional Indian ceremony that is performed in a new dwelling to ensure health, happiness and prosperity.   I had no idea what to expect, but I never imagined that I would be part of the main event. 

The Puja began with me sitting cross-legged on a mat of straw in front of an elaborately decorated framed painting of the appropriate god..  Around her was a garland of jasmine and roses.  To the left there was a swastika (not the Nazi one, but one with the points reversed) made of white sand surrounded by a jasmine garland in the shape of a square with roses decorating the inside in a symmetrically pattern.  There were plates of fruits, mangos, bananas and coconuts, as well as a lantern set squarely in front of me.  Behind me. my guests we also seated on mats and the entire scene looked like something out of a Bollywood movie. 

It begins with some instruction

I begin with lighting and placing the lantern

The actual ceremony began with me lighting the lantern and placing it in the middle of the swastika as the two priests on either side of me began to chant.  I must admit that these two priests in an empty room of blank walls and marble made a sound that you cannot describe.  It was like something from the travel channel.  The attached video does not do it justice.  The main priest on my left had a deep and raspy voice that made the walls vibrate.  It was pretty incredible.  For my part, I mostly threw rose pedals at the picture when signaled.  There was the occasional water drinking and offerings of other types, but mostly I waiting for the priest to put rose peddles in my hand and I threw them. About 30 minutes through the ceremony, the priest said to me that for the next 25 minutes he was going to chant the incarnations of the aforementioned god.  By this time, my legs had actually gone to sleep and most motor functions in my feet had ceased operation.  He stressed that it was important to meditate to the chat.  I squirmed a little, got the blood moving and was ready for the last 25 minutes of the most intense chanting I have ever heard.  Both priest chanted, sometimes together, sometimes differently, but always in perfect harmony.  I was so mesmerized by it, I actually forgot I had no feeling in either of my legs.

More instruction

The chanting begins

This continued for abut 25 minutes

The ceremony ended with a large plate of orange gruel-like stuff (again, I am sure there is a more technical name) being carved up and spooned into the right hand of all the attendees.  For what was left, I needed to roam the neighborhood and offer the orange stuff to all that crossed my path.  Apparently, everyone knows the orange stuff, as in short order, I had a line of workers, servants and neighbors on the street waiting for a spoonful of orange goodness.

The icon and all the flowers need to stay in the location for 24 hours.  I will need clean it up tomorrow night and sprinkle the flowers around a “people tree.”  The “people tree” is a tree that emits more oxygen than any other, but a night emits carbon dioxide, so you are not supposed to sleep under it.  In the mean time, the apartment smells of jasmine and roses and that alone should give it positive energy!