I know I might be pushing the subject a bit, but since the last posts have been about hindu temples
I just had to find out more about the symbolism in the puja offerings...
puja is essentially a prayer ritual of symbolic offering of our lives and activities to God....puja is done on a variety of occasions,frequency and settings...it may include daily puja done in the home,to occasional temple ceremonies and annual festivals to few lifetime events such as birth of a baby or a wedding.
outside one of the many temples I finally found female vendors....with a table of everything needed
the flowers stands for the good that has blossomed in the person, the fruits offered symbolise the persons detachment, self-sacrifice and surrender, the incense that's burnt collectively stands for the desires the person have for various things in life....the lamp represents the light in the person and the vermilion or red powder stands for the emotions.
An earthen pot or pitcher-full of water and with fresh mango leaves and a coconut atop ,is generally placed by the chief deity before starting the puja. The pot symbolises mother earth,the water-life giver,the leaves life and the coconut divine consciousness.
gangajal water=holy water from the banks of Ganges
The coconut (sanskrit=gods fruit) is also used to symbolise "God", a coconut is almost always offered along with flowers and incense sticks. Other natural objects that symbolise divinity is betel leaf,the areca-nur or betel-nut,banyan leaf and the leaf of bilva tree.
a little lesson in hinduism...I just hope I got it right...
that's it for today.....it's time to celebrate the two new medals at the olympics ! 2 more bronze medals so now we have 11 !!!
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