Of Rakhi, The full moon and the Sacred thread..hmm

Raksha Bandhan, as the name in Sanskrit says the protective bonding. It is a festival to mark the celebration of Sister and Brother relationship. India, is quite famous for these small festivals which have a lot of significance given the family and traditions this country is famous for and is RICH in its own ways.

I am happy to have born in a country which has these small small celebrations of joy. For readers, who are unaware of this – Read in detail here.

This day used to be celebrated with lot of reverence from the year 1990. I am glad to have a sweet sister who is so caring and loving, and then on – it was all good for us from then on. I am eagerly waiting for her rakhi sent over the courier, first time, I thought I am missing home in the last one year.  It makes more sense to have a sweet wonderful sister who is dearer and sweet…yeah, she is more like a Mother to me . Period!

The next occasion from 1995 onwards is my Upanayanam. Every year on the Sraavana Pournima, I need to change my sacred thread on this sacred day. It involves me doing all the rituals of a head bath and wearing the pattu pancha and performing the regular(well, I am lying here – its not regular these days) Sandhyaavandhanam with an additional set of mantras to change the sacred thread. It was no different this year. Except, it was in an alien country – which demands a change in the place and the time zone. It happened last year also – but the mistake I did was I used the same geographical co-ordinates of the Indian sub continent. This year, I got more acclimatised to this western part of the world – and it was perfect this time for the co-ordinates and the location.

The change was small, but realized that it actually makes a huge difference. Instead of ‘Jambhoodhweepe‘, I had to utter ‘Krounchadhweepe meroha utthara paarshve‘ in the ‘Sankalpa‘. After taking the guidance from online versions of the printed material, I completed the ceremony and it was all good for the day.  People staying at far-off distances away from home – google helps them a lot in all aspects of life.  I got this document to suit my needs today morning. Thanks Scribd and Google and the unknown user who uploaded it.

I realized late, that all these practices and the ceremonies and probably even the meticulous detail that involves in each and every stage of the human life in Hindu mythology is so planned and done with utmost care…all it takes is to just blindly follow them for mental peace. I realized today what meditation can absolutely do to your mind.  It gives you peace. The importance of Gayathri mantra is realized only when it is uttered properly and correctly. More when it is uttered with respect and clear mind – as it is almost like reading the ‘Vedas’.  Very few people know, Brahminism is more about Spiritualism, rather than Religious passion and fanatacism.

I am for once, being divided on the opinion of sects of people, and I am proud to be in the sect of people who work towards the betterment of the society and appease the gods and the nature for the prosperity of the world.

The full moon, After a long time – I am waiting to see the full moon tonight.  I wish to capture this full moon tonight and thinking of some nice hobby project associated with it. So, it marks an auspicious ocassion, or rather cynically auspicious – the waning moon from tomorrow onwards.  Let’s see.

Nam-as-kaar-am