Namaste

[Guest guest]

Dear Family,

 

Namaste and Pranams!

 

I am now in Chennai. The two largest temples in the city are

Kapaleeswarar (Siva) Temple in Mylapore and Parthasarathy (Krishna)

Temple in Triplicane.

 

Yesterday I was able to visit a Hanuman Temple and Kapaleeswarar

Temple. The former was small; Lord Hanuman is the main deity and

there are small altars for Lord Krishna and Lord Ram. I said to

Hanuman, Lord please bless me with Buddhi, Balam, and Dhairyam

(Intelligence, Strength and Courage). The priest offers the camphor

flame to the Lord and gave us prasad of Tulsi Leaves and holy water.

Bajrang Bali ki Jai!

 

In the evening I went to Kapaleeswarar Temple. The temple has a 37

metre tall gopuram with exquisite stone carvings. My grandfather's

sister had taught me as a child, " Gopura Darshaname, Koti Paapa

Vimochanamae " . The darshan of a temple removes countless sins.

 

The temple is teeming with people. At Ganesh's altar, I remembered

His mantras by His grace. Next is a Shiva Lingam and then an altar

for His son, Skanda. The next altar is Karpagambal (Parvati). The

pujari offered Arati and gave us kumkum prasad of Divine Mother. We

then went to the main altar of Lord Shiva. Inside the enclosure for

Lord Shiva is a small Murti of Goddess Durga. As a child, My mother

had told me to pray to Her for victory and success in studies

student. I bowed down to Mother and offered Her Her 32 names.

 

We then made pranams to Lord Sani, offered Him a lamp and a garland

of blue flowers and circumbulated the murtis for the 9 planets, 9

times.

 

May we remember our Ishta, at all times.

 

with love and prayers,

srini