Ratha Yatra

You guys, I had an awesome Sunday.

Yesterday was Ganga Dussehra, but in my south Indian circle we had another celebration on Sunday. We had a special Ratha Yatra of Shiridi Sai Baba.

I only found out about it the night before, so I’m glad I didn’t have any Sunday morning plans because I always love getting to participate in ceremonies with my friends at the Sathya Sai Baba bhajan group.

We got an early start at 8:00 am at the house of one of the families in the group. They have a lovely home and it’s a little overwhelming to someone who scrapes by to afford an apartment! Their house is large and beautiful and they frequently open it up to us for events, which is so awesome of them.

There was rangoli in sidewalk chalk outside:

They even have a whole puja room! I was super jealous.

The priest arrived with a palanquin for the idols:

We all gathered in the antechamber of the room and the puja began. There were hours of chanting and singing, giving our family’s names, pouring milk over the God, offering money, getting prasad fruit, etc. There were MOUNTAINS of flowers and fruits!

I felt a little self conscious. There were several places where every person could go in and participate and several people ushered me up to do so, but I shook my head. I was too overwhelmed to participate in front of everyone.

Hopefully next time I’ll be a little less of a wimp!

During the part where everyone named their families for blessings I couldn’t help but notice that I am the only adult woman in this group who doesn’t have children. It made me tear up a little as I felt that familiar longing.

At the end of the puja, the priest carried the idol of Shiridi Sai Baba all through the house in a caravan along with the family.

After three hours of ceremony, we had an amazing potluck lunch. I brought a plate home to Brad.

It was a great day.