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Puja

A Puja is a spiritual ceremony, and on 5 June 2004, I went to Hove to attend one in honour of Swami Premananda.

Swami Premananda was born in Sri Lanka in 1951. I spoke to several people who had written to him, and all had received individual replies.

I had no idea what to expect from the Puja, and when I walked into the terraced house in a Hove back street, I was a little taken aback by the quantity of candles, plates and ingredients spread across the floor on a cloth.

It looked like a cross between a shopping channel and a garage sale, but I tried not to make any rash judgements or assumptions.

Everyone was very friendly and there was a peaceful atmosphere. We were handed round a sheet with various mantras printed in Hindu with English translations. We sang or chanted the mantras and Bhajans (devotional songs), sometime repeatedly, as Tony Evenson led the proceedings.

The Bhajans help to calm and purify the mind, and the Puja mainly seemed to involve the ceremonial cleaning of a Lingam. Lingam means symbol or sign, and this Lingam looked like a small egg-shaped stone.

The ceremonies were very precise and intricate, and I didn't understand the significance of some of the procedures. The Lingam was washed with water and milk, and rubbed with various powders - spices and sacred ash.

To give a flavour of one of the rituals, a brass vase was wound with cord in a ceremonial manner.

Then a scarf was wrapped round the cord.

Leaves were then arranged carefully in the vase and a large curved knife was produced, which wouldn't have looked out of place in a Crocodile Dundee film. Fears of human sacrifice were swiftly allayed when a coconut was produced, but concerns of blood-letting reappeared when Tony tried to bisect the recalcitrant nut. Luckily, it was accomplished without incident.

One half of the coconut formed a base and the other half, once trimmed, formed the cup.

A banana was then chopped in half and placed in the cup.

Fluids were then placed in this cup, and it resembled a particularly complex exotic cocktail. I believe this ceremony was supposed to represent the world, to evoke nature and the energy of the fruit. This was but one element of the whole Puja and shows the depths of the rituals.

After the cleansing and energising of the Lingam, it was then used to bless us, and a spot comprised of the ash and spices was then placed on each of our foreheads.

Overall, it was an interesting experience, but I found the rituals a little off-putting - probably as a result of the twice-daily religious brainwashing of my school days. I tend to prefer my meditative experiences to be simpler and less structured.

Ceremonies do have their place though, and once I am ensconced in my own house I might think about introducing some of my own. I remember the simple ceremonies at the New Dimensions centre in Worthing, now sadly closed, and how they transformed a house into a very special and spiritual place.

I did enjoy the chanting and singing the Bhajans - they sounded lovely and definitely calmed the mind.

You can find more information on the Swami Premananda website, and if you're near Brighton or Hove, you can contact Tony Evenson on 01273 731 161 or by email on tonyevenson@btinternet.com.

updated Thu 10 Jun '04   give feedback...

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: : © Mike Bliss 2009