Adventures in India...
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| Pooja for Jagadish's father |
The following morning, we made our way to KotiLingala Revu (1 crore2 lingam 1 ghat), to bathe in the waters of the Godavari. At the top of the ghat, we were met by the journalist who spoke to us the previous day. He didn't know English and I didn't know Telegu, so Shailaja provided him with my name and some information about me and translated my comment on the festival ("Wonderful"). Then we made our way to the bottom of the ghat, where each of us in turn took our three dips in the Godavari River.
After our immersion Jagadish sought out a purohit (priest) to perform a pooja for departed souls for his father. While his father's male relatives participated in the pooja, the rest of us watched. They began by removing their shirts and donning a drape -- a towel with opposite corners knotted together. They moved this from one shoulder to the other several times during the ceremony. From long grasses, the purohit created a ring for each of them. On banana leaves they mixed together rice flour, water, coconut water, and poppy seeds; topped this dough with turmeric; formed it into balls; and poured honey on top of the balls. Some of this, Jagadish explained, would be left for crows, which are physical representations of the atman (soul). The remainder would be put into the Godavari to nurture directly the atman of his father, whose ashes were committed to the Godavari several years earlier. At the conclusion of the ceremony the men went to the river to deposit the contents while I went with the women to change out of our wet clothes. After the men returned, the purohit blessed us all, with rice sprinkled on our heads, and we visited yet another temple, at the top of the ghat, before leaving the riverside.
Westerners think that India is a spiritual country, but I have found little spirituality since I came. Although most of the people that I work with are Hindus, the majority of them are not active practitioners. This experience was the closest I have come in India to the living Hindu traditions. I've certainly
