Mark's Blog

Shiva Ratri in Pushkar

Shiva's night was celebrated with gusto in Pushkar. One of the traditional ways of celebrating the most venerated god in India throughout his feast day is by the taking of Bhang.

I started off the day as usual, being woken by the birds who have a nest in the roof of my hut. This day, I went to the restaurant where I'd normally have breakfast. Today they were serving Bhang lassis for free.

Bhang, by the way is the male grass plant, the neglected one without the buds. The babas grind it down into a green paste and then either filter it into drinks like tea or lassis, or roll it into balls with pepper and herbs which you eat. In holy places like Pushkar and Varanasi, it's legal and you can have special lassis in many juice bars and restaurants. In Puskar this day there was bhang available in a lemon and ginger tea, bhang ice creams and cake, all over the place.

The guys who worked at the resaurant all chipped in to help make the lassis, which they served for free. This photo is of Raju mixing the Bhang in with the Lassi. All of the guys in the juice bar chanted Bom Bolenath Shankar over the mixture in praise of Shiva. The first lassi was presented to the wee Shiva shrine over the cash register and they assured us that since Shiva had had the first serving, he would get stoned for all of us on our behalf and we wouldn't feel a thing.

The other westerners in the juice bar smiled politely as they were handed their greenish lassis but eyed the concoction suspiciously. The guys beamed at me as I drank mine down and asked for more. (Since then, I'm always greeted warmly there when I come in for their fruit salad honey curd for breakfast, you can see it at the bottom of the photo with my chai. It has to be what Shiva has for breakfast, as it's the nectar of the gods). The lassi had an undertaste of wheatgrass juice but other than that, was just a mixed fruit lassi. I did feel very calm and contented all day after that though and had a particularly fine contemplatation of the sunset over the lake. See the photos below.

All along the bazaar, the shopkeepers all looked a little dreamy and were much less insistant than usual that you come into their shop. Pushkar filled up with Indian Tourists, all coming to make puja to Shiva by bathing in the holy lake and making offerings at the many temples in the town. Pushkar was filled, all day and all night, with the sound of bells and those endless Bajhans, or holy songs, amplified across the rooftops. (play the sound below) People greeted each other with Ram Ram instead of Namaste. Forheads were adorned with traces of Bhang and wrists with the red and white puja cord.

Trusty sandals by the lakeside.

One view of the sunset over the lake

The hill reflected in the lake. I was told by one baba once that Puskar lake is Deepak. I didn't know what he meant until I remembered that Deepak refers to a practice of meditation where the gaze is directed to the reflection of a candle in a bowl of water. The baba was saying that Pushkar lake itself was this bowl into whose depths we gaze in order to meditate.

The reflections in the lake

Have a listen to the sounds that surrounded these photos.

Some more sunset. This time as viewed from the smaller of the temple-topped hills overlooking Pushkar.

This is the arch over the entrance to the Shiva temple where I made puja on Shiva Ratri. I went inside when they were going through their chantings, gestures and ministrations of fire and water. They invited me in to take part, which was an enchanting experience, unlike any other ceremony I've witnessed. It seemed appropriate to have made proper Shiva Puja on his feast night.

More views from inside the Shiva temple. The main Effigy of Shankar (the human formed representation of Shiva) with the Om on it.

The head Shiva baba tends to the sacred fire in the temple.

Posted by Mark at February 22, 2004 09:55 AM