Pale_Desi contributes her story of the first proper Hindu ceremony she saw.

Recently, friends of mine who are a married Indian couple invited me to a Vastu Puja in their new home. Vastu Puja is the ceremony they chose to “bless” their new home. This was my first time at any Hindu ceremony so I didn’t know what I would understand or what I should do. I didn’t even know if I would get bored with everything being Sanskrit or Hindi. I dressed up in my finest (ok…only) Salwar Kameez hoping to blend into the crowd. On my way to their house I drove with Indian friend and another Indian couple. They mentioned that the priest/pundit for the ceremony was American. I wasn’t sure what to think but I definitely was intrigued.

When we arrived sure enough there was the American Caucasian priest sitting in the prayer room with all of the necessary elements for the puja. He was surrounded by items which included Ghee, rice, flower petals, sweets, metal containers for fire, and various other things unknown to me. As the puja started I had no idea what to expect… I didn’t know what was traditional and what was not. This priest thoroughly explained everything that was going on and why it was being done in English before he went through the different prayers in Hindi/Sanskrit. I’m not sure if the pundit usually takes the time to explain everything in such detail or if they usually just go with the flow of the ceremony fully expecting that everyone knows whats going on. Maybe he was explaining it for the sake of me and 5 other “goras” in the room amongst 20 Indians… It was interesting to hear the significance of each item in the puja and why prayers were being said to which gods/goddesses. At one point when he was starting the fire he put something on the fire that looked like a brown brick like thing…I whispered to one of my Indian friends to ask what it was. Immediately the priest turned around to me and handed me a block of the unknown stuff. He asked me if I had any idea what it was with a big grin on his face. Of course I had no idea. Then everyone smiled (and giggled) and revealed to me that was cow dung that I was holding. Hehehe I felt a bit silly but its better to be silly now than in front of my boyfriends parents ( in the future). The “audience” involvement did not stop there. Everyone was asked to through rice repeatedly into the fire when a certain mantra was repeated to help bless the home.

The ceremony ended with lots of NOISE outside! The man of the house cracked a coconut on the ground outside of the house. This is done so that if anything bad should happen to the house it should happen to the coconut instead (I think). Then the couple entered the house with the priest , a conch player and a gong player (both unsuspecting gora volunteers). Then everyone paraded around the house following the couple in and out of each room. After that we all had a nice Indian lunch… apparently made without any onions or garlic ordered from the temple. I didn’t quite get the reasoning on this… something to do with onions and garlic being inauspicious.

This was quite an experience for me. I was glad that my first Hindu ceremony/puja was done with lots of explanation throughout (without me having to ask). It was a great learning experience. After I left I wondered if every Hindu priest goes through so much explanation in each ceremony? I think having a priest (Caucasian or not) that is willing to explain everything in detail like that for an Indian/American wedding ceremony or any Hindu ceremony would be great.

I would love to hear YOUR experiences with Hindu ceremonies. Please Share.