Puja (sounds like Pooja): a religious ritual performed by Hindus as an offering to various deities, distinguished persons, or special guests. It is done on a variety of occasions and settings, from daily puja done in the home, to temple ceremonies and large festivals, or to begin a new venture. Puja is modeled on the idea of giving a gift or offering to a deity or important person and receiving their blessing.
Here in India it seems like religion is a full time job! People are constantly giving offerings, doing ceremonies, doing puja for everything: opening your shop in the morning, before driving their rickshaw, to start their day, if your musical instrument is giving you trouble, for weddings, to access the power of the Ganga, as you pass by a shrine on the street...
Lola and I visited several Hindu temples here, all beautifully made with marble flooring and some with elaborate pillars. You must take your shoes off before entering and the cool marble feels wonderful on your feet.
There are temples devoted to each different god...Shiva, Ganesh, Shanti, Hanuman, and the list goes on as many of them have different incarnations. So confusing!
Varanasi is regarded as a holy city by Buddhists and Jains, and is the holiest place in the world in Hinduism (and center of earth in Hindu cosmology). It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and probably the oldest of India. As such, there are many spiritual seekers here. The Sadhus are people who have given up their worldly possessions and now survive by begging. They generally wear orange and in other cities many of them live on the streets; here in Varanasi they seem to have some ashrams to stay at. Most of them also have crazy dreadlocked hair, and are seen wandering around in bare feet. However, there are some Sadhus who seem to have a harder time letting go of their worldly possessions as I saw one riding on a motorbike and talking on a cell phone.
Yesterday we went to the town of Sarnath which has huge significance to Buddhists as it is the place where Buddha gave his first sermon after attaining enlightenment. Such a peaceful place in contrast to Varanasi! We spent some time sitting on the grass, writing, drawing and chilling out. Some beautiful little Nepalese boys came and played with me for a bit while their parents were doing their circles of ritual around this big stupa (huge round brick phallic-looking monument).
It's interesting to observe all of these rituals and rites...it definitely makes for more interesting people watching!
I think that's all for today...time to go find some supper!
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