Aum Namah Shivaya

Please enjoy this video made by Indivar Sivanathan from Oregon.

Description: “Final day of the reinstallation of the energies into
Kadavul Temple’s Kodimaram, Bali Pittam (Peedam), and Nandi facing the temple entrance. Three priests performed consecration ceremonies for three days invoking the powers of the earth and inner realms.
Concluding, Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami gives an easy-to-understand explanation of the complex and intricate ceremonies.“

It is the Great Night of Siva. Enjoy a four minute slide show Rajkumar Manickam made, and enjoy the silence within. As Tayumanavar wrote:

"It is easy to tame an elephant in musth and bind the mouth of the bear or ferocious tiger, it's easy to ride the back of a lion. It is easy to hold a cobra in your hand and make it dance. It is easy to sit in a blazing fire, alchemize the five base metals into gold and sell them for a living. It is easy to roam about the worlds that are invisible to others, to live young eternally, command the celestial devas, enter another's body and walk on water. What is difficult is to control the mind and remain still.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AQzlU035Ks

Compilation by By Rajkumar Manickam

Not shown on our blog until now, Day Two Afternoon involved preparing for and blessing the shilpis to place ashtabandhanam around the base of Nandi, Balipeetam and Dhvajasthambha. Ashtabandhanam is a clay-like paste made of eight specific herbs mixed with wood lac, limestone powder, resin, red ochre, beeswax and butter. Normally it is used to affix a Deity to its pedestal, but in this instance it was symbolically rubbed on top of red-colored mortar mix applied earlier to protect against our extra wet environment.

A small Ganesha made of turmeric is worshipped first. In the corner of the yagasala with pots of earth, Kumar Gurukkal performed the pancha kavya puja, which honors the widely used substances produced by cows. After that, we moved to another corner for Surya kumbha puja, which is why Gurukkal offered only red flowers, symbolizing the sun's heat.

The first few photos below show some of the preparations in the days before events began.
After that, are photos of the Bhumi Puja under the bilva tree, during which Mother Earth was honored for providing abundance.
The rest of the photos show the process of transferring the shakti from the wood replica of Nandi, Bali Peedam and Dhvajasthambha back into kumbhas and bring the kumbhas to the yagasala for multiple homas to energize them.

Today's ceremony will reintroduce the energies into Kadavul Temple's Kodimaram, Bali Pitam and Nandi, which had been extracted for construction.

Chanting can be heard booming across the monastery today as three particularly powerfully voiced priests chant hundreds of sacred chants to begin the first day of the Kumbhabhishekam ceremony which will reintroduce the energies into Kadavul Temple's kodimaram, bali pitam and Nandi. Last September we performed a very similar ceremony to extract the energy from them into a miniature wood replica so the surrounding stone bases could be upgraded. The new bases look absolutely stunning it's hard to imagine they ever looked any other way! Today's photos just contain a teaser so you'll have to say tuned the next two days to see even more! All that stored energy will soon be reinfused into the three structures and everything will return to normal, but with even more refined power! Enjoy the photos! Aum Namah Sivaya!

December 25, Orange
Nurturing Harmony among All Three Worlds
The family sadhana for the final day of Pancha Ganapati is to bring forth love and harmony within all three worlds. Because of sadhanas well performed during the first four days, the family is now more open and aware of Ganesa’s grace, and their love for Him is overflowing. On this day the entire family experiences an outpouring of affection and tranquility from the great God Himself. His blessings fill the home and the hearts of everyone within it, inspiring them anew for the coming year. This exchange of affection between all members of the family and the Lord is invoked and perpetuated through the day by performing five special pujas. These five pujas to Pancha Ganapati (see sidebar below) solicit help from His devas in the home and establish the patterns for improvement in family life. The overflowing love that is felt today will inspire generosity in the year to come, bringing abundance and good fortune in return. All gifts received during the day are placed unopened before Pancha Ganapati.

Learn all about Lord Ganesha's Holiday celebration here: panchaganapati.com

Please also enjoy this explanatory video from Ganesha Bhaktars at the Shree Ghanapathy Temple in London: Day 5 - Pancha Ganapati Festival (25th Dec)