Puja

When I visited Subiksha I was taken down down down into the deeps of real Indian worship. Twice actually. A puja is "the act of showing reverence to a god, a spirit, or another aspect of the divine through invocations, prayers, songs, and rituals." Basically, any intentional spiritual act. An essential part of puja for the Hindu devotee is making a spiritual connection with the divine.

This photo is of a village holy man, who led me and a temple full of women in a long chant where we continuously chanted Om Shakti-e! (power) between his verses. The chant started out slowly, light-heartedly enough. Naively I looked around the room, smiling to the women staring at me, trying to establish visual connections and alliances.

Eventually, the repetitive chanting grows louder and hypnotic, trancelike from all the repetition. Some voices begin to crack...hands shake....eyes squint...I stop taking pictures and join the collective mood overtaking the tiny temple.

This photo is of the other holy man and the women lighting candle after candle after candle. the more candles in the puja, the better. The flickering lighting is calming and secretive, reminding us devotees that the gods we worshipped were whispering to us and we only need listen.

The other puja I was part of happened in a woman's house, in her tiny common room. It was organized by a self-help group of women. The groups are organized by Subiksha, and which I help find support for. They take part in microfinance activities, local leadership, empowerment...basically anything to improve their communities! So inspiring, I am so honored to witness Subiksha in action. Anyway, this particular self-help group of 30 women decided they wanted to do a semi-fast for 30 days, for peace, unity and to honor Muruga, the rain goddess who was having her festival at that time. For Muruga one wears yellow and saffron, bright as the sun. Each night they were holding puja at a different woman's house, then eating a light meal together.

These are photos which I was graciously invited to take. Privacy is not much of a concept in crowded India, and having sacred moments photographed is, in my experience, seen as an honor rather than an intrusion. So I was able to save the images and share them now.

To the left you see the Amma, the mother, the spiritual leader of the group. She was leading the chant, Om shanti, om shanti, om shanti (peace)...Again things started lightly...women and children coming in and out, smiles and chatting arising casually. But sloooowly, the chants became more urgent, more real. Amma's voice took on a strong, soulful quality as the other women's faces contorted with the look of not just faith and devotion but of the invoked spirit itself taking over, displacing their composure and making them stand up and sweat and weep. Amma arose, swaying, and went to the altar to greet the gods. Her legs buckled and other women held her up her collapsing body.

And then boom! Like many things in India it ends abruptly. Amma comes right back to us fully composed but with a lighter expression on her face. The women clear their throats, smooth their saris, and ask me questions, thank me for coming. I attempt to express my incredible gratitude but they say no, no, thank YOU for visiting. Namaste namaste and goodbye.

These invocations are commonplace here.