10 days filming the vedas/ GUARDIANS : offerings

Here are some photos from last week's filming.

This week I totally change topics.... and will be photographing the Sri Narayani Hospital and its community activities.  However, before I endeavour into that theme... here are a few more images of the wonderful time I had filming the vedas.  It was extremely intense, and I admire the endurance of the priests (on the 7th day I spent the whole day in bed with headache, sore throat etc... all week the weather was about 35C and the fire was blazing + smokey... I didnt chant one bit but had such a sore throat!)  The vedas are definately a new love of mine.

Here is Ragavinda, preparing the offering to the agni (fire). First a silk sari is folded and laid in a basket.

Then a coconut filled with kumkum (red) and tumeric (orange) surrounded by flowers.

Added to the shelled coconut is a gold(?) coin of with the image of Lakshmi (the Goddess of abundance and wealth). To worship Lakshmi is to wish abundance  for everyone, so no one in the world goes hungry - this includes abundance of food and rainfall for the fields of food. It also translates to abundance / having 'enough' of what is needed to live (in order to alleviate poverty).

When people are alleviated from poverty and hunger and have knowledge/ wisdom/ education (Goddess Saraswathi is the Goddess of knowledge, wisdom, arts) then there is the space for people to grow to be compassionate beings (and this world is in need of more of this...)

Another offering of coconuts (just the flesh, no shell) are cut in half and filled with kumkum, tumeric, cashew nuts etc.

And each coconut is then topped up with a flower. All offerings to Goddess Narayani (mother Nature).

These two offerings to the agni (fire) are also accompanied by ghee being poured through a wooden hollow stick with a lion's face at the end of it (it looks like the lion is spitting out the ghee).