Thursday, April 7, 2011

Gaura Purnima/Holi

*Belated entry*

Today I woke up later than usual… I was especially tired and achy last night so I was knocked out as soon as II hit the bed. In the morning,I heard a loud kirtan headed our way. It was the Sri Guru Sangha going from home to home and begging for some donations. They carried a photograph of their Gurudev decorated with flowers and chandan. Today they were celebrating (exactly what I’m not sure) by applying colored powders on each other’s feet or forehead and asking for blessings. Some close friends and relatives offered prasad but we decline and carefully explained why. Only a couple people have tried to apply color on me today, so far one person has applied it on my forehead and two on the feet. I think if someone is junior to you they offer it on your feet, elders on the head and this also applies to the blessings. 

Chandaneswar prabhu explained that actually they are celebrating diluted version of Nanda-utsava, only that these people don’t know the origin of this tradition or the significance. I replied that when someone confronts me with any celebrations of which the origin and significance are dubious, I rather refuse to participate than follow blindly. Prabhu didn’t disagree with my statement but said, “That’s fine, let them do whatever they want.”

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