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Dear friends
Today we celebrated Cow Day at the Pongal Festival. All cows and bulls are celebrated this day, whether they are of flesh and bone or stone. Attention is paid to the cows that the Tamils have in their stables, and of course they do not forget the bulls of Nandin, who lie in front of each temple of the God of the Gods the Shiva. Nandin is the closest and most loyal devotee of Shiva, whom he also serves as a vehicle. This symbolizes the power of a spirit that is able to control even the power of nature symbolized by an adult bull
In the morning, I went to my favorite Vedic chants in Sri Ramana Ashram, where I took pictures of the decoration of the bull Nandin at Shiva's temple there, which is also the samadhi of Ramana's mother.
Then, after breakfast, I went to Samaveda Athithi Ashram's school. Last year's course of Yajurveda ended there, so there are no pupils at the moment, and Athithi is striving to find Samaveda's students to regain their original purpose. However, the barns at school are still full of cows, and they needed our attention. First I assisted by hanging flowers on cows' necks. This year I remembered how it hurts when a cow steps on one's leg, and I have stained by the wet paint of freshly painted horns. The young bulls are quite spiteful and quite dangerous in their strength, fortunately the cows are calmer. Later, a bus arrived from Athithi with garlands of delicacies, so we hung them on the cow's necks and the ceremony started.
First, the invited priest worshiped the chief gods, Lord Arunachaleshvara, Sri Krishna and Sri Ramana. Then came Lakshmi cow, the one who stepped on my foot, and her last year's calf, bull. Then there was a ceremony to honor the selected cow and of course all others. Then Lakshmi and her son received various delicacies, and then all the other birthday girls were given. Finally, we got a little of Pongal's cow as a blessed meal from the sacrifice
The pictures show Nandin from Ramana Ashram, then some classic rural Pongal still life. Then the pictures from the celebration - the sacrifice, and finally the photo of Nandin's greatest statue in the city from the great temple of Arunachaleswar.
Note that today the barn has turned into a temple. But not because of Jesus' visit, but because of the permanent residents and the dwellers. In one photo is a picture of the Indians dividing a cow, not by the type of meat they would like to eat, but by the location of the individual main gods, who all rest in each cow. There are Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, their wives and children, their other incarnations, the celestial bodies, and other important phenomena. That's why a cow is so rare and sacred.
So the next time you chew beef, remember what you have in your mouth.
Have a nice time !!!
Josef Fric
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