My Dad completed 80 years of his journey on this beautiful earth. Our Indian tradition has a beautiful way of celebrating all milestones. And for this 80th birthday, the milestone puja is called - 'Sahastra Chandra Darshan' . Sahastra means 1000 in sanskrit, chandra means moon and darshan means visualizing. So he has seen literally 1000 full moons in his life time. Witnessing 1000 full moons in a lifetime is no small feat. So we decided to make it memorable for him and for all of us.
The whole family got together for this epic celebrations. I was definitely looking forward to make it grand, but little did I know about the puja. The puja was planned for 28th December and on 27th night itself Panditji started the preparations. It took 3 hours for him and his disciples to just put the puja setup in place. Half of the stage was filled with photos of various deities and the things they need to be worshipped. Beautiful geometric designs were drawn with rice of different colors. The holy symbols were made with wheat, sugar, rice etc on the tables.
At the other side of the stage was a beautiful 'TULA', which is basically a balance machine used to measure things. The setup was elaborate and this was just the beginning.
On the Puja day, the preparations started at 6 am in the morning. 10 holy men (Panditjis) were putting flowers, rangoli, panchamrud, fruits, beetle nuts, coconuts, dry fruits and a lot of other things. I could see the hustle bustle around. I inquisitively asked Panditji, 'How long will the puja last?'. He mentioned 4 hours. I smirked. I thought it was a joke. He was exaggerating things. But believe me, it lasted for 6 hours and not a single moment of inaction or boredom. It was action packed and ensured, not only Mom-Dad but also every one in the family was on the toes and soaked in the richness of the tradition.
Dad looked amazing. As a daughter I couldn’t help but just stare at him. He has been such a pillar of support in my life, he has not only paid his duties as Dad but made sure he inculcated the values and ethics in us. He is a true HERO.
We started the puja at 7.30 am. The ceremony began with Ganesh puja followed by Punyavachan, Matruka pujan, Chiranjiv pujan, Navgraha pujan, Shashti pujan. Then the god of strength - Shakti - Lord Shiva; The god of prosperity - Lord Bramha; The creator of world- Lord Vishnu; All were worshipped with a specific ritual for them. In Hindu religion we have around 33 crore deities, if not all we must have called for atlease 3300 Gods.
Havan or The Holy Fire is a mandatory ritual in Hindu tradition. And for this occasion, they do a 'PoornaAahuti', meaning the TOTAL SUBMISSION. The holy fire is considered to be the path to reach the Gods and to free you of your past sins. It is supposed to evocate the Gods. Not only Mom-Dad, all the family and friends present there were called to put the holy wood/aahuti in the fire. HAVAN is considered to be a very powerful ritual which benefits everyone who participates. Just the sound of those mantras, the holy fire and the vibes created by people chanting SWAAHA can tell you how powerful and enlightening it is.
Another striking tradition is of son and daughter in law washing feet of Mom-Dad and offering them new clothes. This is in a way a tradition for the son to express his gratitude towards his father. Thanking him for the wonderful life and putting him next to God. Personally I feel, touching feet of elders was a tradition to keep people grounded. We in our egos never bow down, but when you touch feet of elders bowing down. You are leaving your egos and seeking blessings of the elders.
Next it was time for 'sahastra dhara snaan' means the ceremonial bathing with holy water. The water was poured through a brass streamer called 'Sahastradhara patra'. I and all the family and friends present poured the holy water on Mom-Dad through that streamer. It is a process of shuddhikaran (cleansing) of soul for the couple where all the near and dear ones participate in invocation of Gods to bring purity, love and happiness to the couple.
After the abhishekam/bath they are supposed to be a newer version of themselves. Mom-Dad wore new clothes and the whole family welcomed them in the hall with a surprise. We made a human chain with all the family members and made an arch with our hands to warmly welcome them. They couldn’t stop smiling.
Panditji did some more mantras and pujas. Then a very cute tradition of seeing each other in a plate filled with oil was followed. Panditji asked whether they saw each other in the oil. My Dad innocently said 'NO'. And then Panditji had no choice but to tell him to try harder. Then Mom quietly told him in his ears 'It is a tradition, don’t take it literally. Just say u saw the reflection!'. And Papa quietly did that. Even today, Mom is always at the driver seat when it comes to Papa. She is a life partner in TRUE SENSE.
It was time for AARTI. 81 lamps made of wheat flour and oil were lighted. All the girls of the family circled the plate with 81 lamps around the couple. This tradition is to keep them away from evil eyes and to pray for their health and long life. The warmth from the lamps and the glow of light brightened the whole place. Nobody wanted to miss a chance to wish them well.
The highlight of all the rituals was 'TULA DAAN'. Tula means balance/weighing machine and Daan means donation. Dad would sit at one side of balance and we would donate something equivalent to his weight. Traditionally, people donated JAGGERY equivalent to the weight. But my Dad is very fond of books, he is an avid reader and at this age also he can finish one book a day if he has time. And as they say, there is no better gift than books. Hence we decided to include books along with wheat, rice, jaggery, oil, sugar, etc. There were some silver and gold things also as per the tradition. He also held a knife in his hand while sitting on the weighing machine. The knife signifies that he is the protector of the family. He will protect the whole family from all evils.
The moment he balanced the TULA, it felt like we all were in CLOUD 9. Felt so much happiness and joy in all our hearts.
This was our 6 hours of eventful morning. 'SAHASTRA CHANDRA DARSHAN' ceremony for PAPA. His friends, well wishers, family; everyone was present around him.
He had such an impact in all our lives. His social work, his support in good and bad times to all his friends, his contribution to the extended family, his warmth and love has always blessed us. And it was very evident in the way everyone celebrated the occasion with so much love and grandeur.
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