12-year anointing in five blessed days

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Sept. 8, 2006, 9:51PM

MAHA KUMBHABHISHEKAM

A 12-year anointing in five blessed days

In Pearland, a temple and its resident deities are reconsecrated in

a sacred ritual

 

 

By BARBARA KARKABI

Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

 

PEARLAND - Women in richly colored saris and men clad all in white

stand in prayer as eight bare-chested priests begin to chant in one

of Hinduism's most sacred rituals.

 

With fruits and flowers spread on a white table and the smell of

spices in the air, the three-hour ceremony involving fire and water

is a treat for the senses.

 

Anticipation is also in the air on the first day of Maha

Kumbhabhishekam — an ancient ritual to purify, reconsecrate and

empower Sri Meenakshi Temple and its resident gods. The five-day

event occurs only once every 12 years.

 

Preparations have gone on for more than a year.

 

"It's such a big part of our lives," says Roopa Bala, who assisted

in Wednesday evening's rituals. "The rededication is very important,

and I feel very blessed to be here."

 

Sri Meenakshi is a smaller version of a temple in Madurai in

southern India. Dedicated in 1982, the Pearland temple had its first

Maha Kumbhabhishekam in 1994.

 

The opening day's rituals play out in the small Ganesh Temple — the

first to be built on the 10-acre complex purchased in 1979 by 30

Hindu families. Membership has grown to about 20,000 people.

 

"We always have to pray to the elephant god Ganesha," Bala

explains. "We start there for good luck, because he is considered

the remover of obstacles."

 

Priest emeritus Rajarathna Bhattar watches over Wednesday's rituals,

as he will do through Sunday, acting as a guide to priests with less

experience. Bhattar is dressed in a dhoti, loose-fitting pants that

are bunched up Gandhi-style and arranged to indicate the priests'

home states in India. Like the other priests, Bhattar is shirtless.

He's also barefoot, as are all visitors to the temple.

 

The ritual dates back several thousand years and, except for the few

men in Western clothes, it's as if a visitor has been transported to

another time.

 

"I like the way the Smithsonian describes Hinduism as going from the

sensuous to the sacred," says board member Ranjana Narasiman,

elegantly dressed in a blue sari edged in gold. "Everything appeals

to the senses ... and from the senses you are elevated to the

sacred."

 

Lalita Kancherla, in a red-and-yellow sari, is among the last to

leave the small temple.

 

"Ganesh is my favorite," she says. "I pray to him before anyone

else. I enjoyed it (the ritual) very much. I feel very pure inside."

 

That is one of the goals of the elaborate rituals, says A.K.

Subramanian, a member of the temple advisory council.

 

"My own awareness goes up because of the event," he says. "Just

coming and seeing thousands of people faithfully thinking about God —

that alone gives me spirituality. Everyone's spiritual level will

be refreshed and elevated after these five days. That's the key to

our goals of peace, harmony and happiness for all, not just one

person."

 

Sri Ganapathi Homam, the first evening ritual, starts slowly as the

priests, surrounded by gifts of flowers, fruits and cooked food,

begin their Vedic chanting, accompanied by drum and trumpet. It is

both monotonous and hypnotizing.

 

Five elements are included in the rituals — earth, represented by

statues of the deities; water, placed in brass pots for

purification; wind, brought in by the chanting of the mantras; the

sky, represented by meditation; and fire, which symbolizes power.

 

Before the priests light the fire, they recite the names of the 400

members who sponsored the ceremony, then chant a mantra to Lord

Krishna 108 times. The worshippers gasp as a small flame is ignited

in a square container on the floor. As the priests continue

chanting, clarified butter is ladled onto the fire, which grows and

crackles as the crowd gathers closer.

 

Milk, yogurt, honey and rosewater are combined for the main event —

the washing and purification of a small statue of Ganesh. By the

ceremony's end, Ganesh is dressed in wreaths of flowers, fine silks,

silver and jewelry.

 

Other deities will be cleansed and decorated in similar rituals

during the week. The ceremonies and the fires also will get bigger,

and priests from other cities will join the chanting.

 

"We treat our deities like they are members of our own family,"

Thara Narasimhan says.

 

barbara.karkabi (AT) chron (DOT) com

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/4173436.html