Last weekend, we had a long weekend as it was Labour Day on Monday. There is so much happening in Sydney right now that we had busy weekend. I am so tired now but glad I managed to do so much. Here are some of the photos from the weekend.
Around 10am, we headed to Wattamolla Beach to enjoy picnic with family and friends. Wattamolla Beach is located within the Royal National Park and have nice beach perfect to go with family. It was awesome sunny day and we had heaps of fun in water.
On Sunday, we went to Helensburgh temple (details here) as it is Dashain now and it seemed like a great idea.. We went there with some of our friends and his family. As always, we had breakfast there, yummy vegetarian South Indian dishes.
From there we drove for over an hour and was in Parramatta, enjoying Parramasala (details here). Like every year, it was fun with lots of food and music.
On Monday, we went and saw the war ship at International Fleet Review. The review is a celebration marking 100 years since the Royal Australian Navy fleet first entered Sydney Harbour. It was worth the visit as we got to see so many navy ship from many different countries.
Today is Goru Puja, Govardhan Puja, Mha Puja and Nepal Sambat.
Goru Puja
Nepal is mostly an agricultural country so oxen are considered important animals as they help in ploughing the fields. That is why on this day they are worshiped with tika, garland and offered nice food.
Govardhan Puja
Govardhan Puja is performed by making a hill called govardhan parbat using Cow dung. Cow dung has big importance in Hindu culture. In the olden days it was used for everything from light at night (Methane) to polish mud floors of traditional houses. Even now no Puja is complete without cow dung in Nepali Hindu culture.
It is believed that once there was a drought in a village in Vridavan. The villagers were very worried and they wanted to perform a big Puja in honour of Lord Indra, the God of rain. But Lord Krishna convinced them that, they should not pray to Lord Indra since it was the Mount Govardhan that brought the rain and not Lord Indra. This made Lord Indra very angry and in his wrath he sent forth a big thunderstorm to flood the village. Lord Krishan lifted the Mount Govardhan as an umbrella above the village to protect the villagers and their cattle from the rain and flood.
Mha Puja
In this day, after sunset Newar community perform Mha Puja.
“Mha” means body in the Newari language so on this day the Newa people worship their body and their inner self in the evening. They believe that the soul never dies and our body is only a vehicle and so we need to understand and respect our body as it is the chosen vehicle for this incarnation. This Puja is believed to bring prosperity and physical well-being.
Members of the family, first males followed by females, sit cross-legged in a row. The elder group of females plays the role of facilitators for each member. A mandap, decorated with different colours and various grains, fruits and flowers, is drawn for each member of the family.
In between the grains and fruits lies a mini mandap of oil, which represents the human soul. The human soul is placed between various grains and fruits so that a person will prosper throughout the year since each object represents a particular God and it is believed that each deity will bless the person. An oil lamp with velvet cloth wick equal in length to one’s own face is lit on top of the mandap facing all four cardinal directions so that a person will be renowned in all the places of this earth.
Apart from worshipping oneself, all the household entities like brooms, water pots, utensils and machines are also worshipped in the same way.
I performed Mha Puja with my brother and his family this year. This year my cousins are in Nepal so there were only 4 of us unlike 9 last year. For the Puja, first the floor was purified by sprinkling water on it then we made mandaps in front of a row of seats on the floor where we were sitting. Our mandap was designed by AS and I had printed them out on A4 paper but in Nepal they are made by hand on the floor using oil, rice flour, vermilion, puffed rice and sometimes beans.
The number of the mandaps needed is three plus the number of people doing the puja. We need three smaller mandaps at the top of the row for the Family Deity (Kuladevata), Yamaraj and Janmaraj, one mandap for each of the member performing Mha Puja. Then at the end of the row, we had a crow drawn symbolising Yama the God of death.
Normally the puja is done by the eldest member of the family but this year I did the process as my elder cousin is not in Sydney.
Process of doing Mha Puja (according to my knowledge):
First I gave Nasala, a few drops of water, in the palm of the right hand of everyone to sprinkle some into the mouth and rest over the body for purification.
I worshipped the Family Deity and Yama’s mandap with water, rice, flowers, and vermilion powder.
I gave water, rice, flowers, and vermilion powder to each individual to worship their own mandaps. The mandap is used as a medium to present the various offerings to the self.
Then I put tika on everyone’s forehead and gave them flower to put on their head.
Normally in Nepal, they use Itaa (hand woven long strands made using white cloth soaked in mustard oil) but here we used tea light candle instead. I gave each person the candle and everyone took the candle from my hand, lighted them and put them on their mandap. This light is believed to brighten the inner self and keep evil at bay.
I used rice and flower to shower each individual and worshipped the god within.
Then I gave every a plate with roti, sweets, fruits and masala.
Then,I gave Sagun to everyone. For Sagun, you put a plate of egg, bara (lentil cake), meat (chicken), a piece of garlicand fish in the right hand and yougurt in your left hand.
Once everyone finished eating the sagun, we used kucho (broom) to sweep the mandaps from top of the row to the bottom touching each mandap to conclude Mha puja.
Nepal Sambat
This day is also New Year’s day for Newar community and is called Nepal Sambat. Nepal Sambat is the national lunar calendar of Nepal. The era started on 20 October 879 AD and was in widespread use for all daily purposes until the beginning of the 20th century. It appeared on coins, stone and copper plate inscriptions, royal decrees, chronicles, Hindu and Buddhist manuscripts, legal documents and correspondence.
The customs of celebrating Nepal Sambat started from October 880 AD. According to a popular legend, there used to be a learned person in Bhaktapur who ordered porters to get sand from Lakhu Tirtha, a river in Kathmandu because he knew that it would turn into a heap of gold the next day. A person named Shankhadhar Sakhwaa came to know about it, and he enticed the porters to leave the sand in his place.
The next day, the sand turned into gold and with that gold he paid off the debt of all the people in the Kathmandu Valley. So from that day, people started celebrating it as their New Year to commemorate their happiness.
Even today, people are very enthusiastic to welcome the New Year. Every year, the day starts with a rally and the greeting of “Nhu Daya Bhintuna!” which means “Happy New Year”. Different programmes and functions are also organised in the Kathmandu Valley every year on this day.
The months of the year in Nepal Sambat are
Nepal Sambat month
Corresponding Gregorian month
Kachha lā
November
Thin lā
December
Pohe lā
January
Sil lā
February
Chil lā
March
Chau lā
April
Bachha lā
May
Tachha lā
June
Dil lā
July
Goon lā
August
Yen lā
September
Kau lā
October
It is Nepal Sambat 1133 this year. Nhu Daya Bhintuna everyone!!!
Also from this day, boys in groups go door to door singing special songs called Deusi similar to the Bhailo sung during Laxmi Puja. You can write just about any Deusi song as long as each line ends with the word `Deusi’ or `Deosuray’. A group of males get together, carry what-ever musical instruments they have or can play, and sing Deusi door to door blessing the home and family in return for money and/or refreshments. Teenagers perform various Deusi songs to collect money for their picnic.
It is considered auspicious to have these groups come to your front door. The house owner will offer them some rotis, fruits and money and they sing Deusi songs blessing the household with good fortune.
A Sample of Deusi Song. Includes a similar meaning in English
Bhana Mera Bhaiho Deusuray. (Say it my brothers, Say it. Deusuray)
Sormelai Kana Deusuray. (Say it louder and say it in tune. Deusuray)
Rato Batoo Deusuray. (Red mud trail. Deusuray)
Chiploa Batoo Desuray. (Slippery trail. Deusuray)
Laddai Paddai Deusuray. (Slipping and Sliding. Deusuray)
Akeya Hami Deusuray. (Finally we made it to your home! Deusuray)
…. …. Deusuray
…. …. Deusuray
…. …. Deusuray
Yo Garma Laxmi Deusuray. (In this home Lord Laxmi. Deusuray)
I am sure you get the vibe from my blog that I am not a very religious person but I do enjoy going to the temple occasionally. My husband always reminds me how religious my mum is and he finds it a bit surprising that I am not like my mum in the religion department. I always tell him, “If I have a clean heart and make sure that I am not hurting anyone in my day to day life, God will consider me as a good citizen and will be happy with me. There is no need to really visit a temple all the time or pray for hours :)”.
There are not that many Hindu temples in Sydney and most of them are not close to where I live so planning is required to visit one.
From time to time I feel like I should go to the temple and pay my respect so I drag my husband along for some prayer. Last weekend we managed to go to a temple in Helensburgh called Sri Venkateswara Temple. It is around 45 minutes’ drive from my apartment or an hour from Sydney city center (55km). The temple is built on top of a hilly area 400 feet above sea level. It has four ‘praharam’ (encircling corridors). Sri Venkateswara Temple was built in 1978 by the Indian people in Australia as a South Indian-style Hindu temple.
So far there is no Nepali temple in Sydney but they are planning to build a version of Nepal’s famous Pashupathi in Sydney.
At the temple devotees are supposed to leave their footwear outside and wash their hands and feet before they enter the temple. The temple area inside has small shrines for each of the Gods. There are priests performing rituals at each of the shrines at a pre-determined time.
There is a temple counter inside which provides visitors with more information about temple rituals and prayers. They also sell puja for $15 which goes towards maintenance of the temple. You get a plate of puja which has Sindoor, flowers, dhup and fruits. Also, you can buy diyo (oil lamp) if you want to light just the diyo.
The temple has deities like Lord Venkateswara, Goddess Mahalakshmi ,Lord Chandramouleeswarar, Goddess Thripurasundari , Lord Ganesh, Lord Subrahmanya , Lord Navagraha, Goddess Durgambika , Lord Rama , Goddess Andal , Lord Krishna, Lord Brahma , Lord Hanuman, Lord Garuda , Lord Sudharsana , Lord Viswakshena , Lord Dhakshinamurthy and Lord Chandikesa.
I have seen lots of South Indian weddings being performed inside the temple in my previous visits.
I know it doesn’t sound so right but I love to go to this temple because they serve a great Indian food in their canteen during weekends. I always have Masala Dosa (made by stuffing a lightly cooked filling of potatoes, fried onions and spices in a fermented crepe or pancake made from rice batter and black lentils) and Vada (a donut shaped dish made from lentils and gram flour or potato) . They are so cheap but so yummy. They do sell other South Indian vegetarian dishes as well but those two are my favourite especially with masala tea (spiced Indian style milk tea).
The temple opens 8am – 7pm, week-ends and public holidays; 8.00am to 12.00pm and 4.00pm to 7.00pm on weekdays.
The third day of Tihar is GoruPuja, Govardhan Puja, Mha Puja and Nepal Sambat.
Nepal is mostly an agricultural country so oxen are considered important animals as they help in ploughing the fields. That is why on this day they are worshiped with tika, garland and offered nice food.
Also this day small hillocks made out of cow dung is worshiped. It is believed that once there was a drought in a village in Vridavan. The villagers were very worried and they wanted to perform a big Puja in honour of Lord Indra, the God of rain. But Lord Krishnaconvinced them that, they should not pray to Lord Indra since it was the Mount Govardhan that brought the rain and not Lord Indra. This made Lord Indra very angry and in his wrath he sent forth a big thunderstorm to flood the village. Lord Krishan lifted the Mount Govardhan as an umbrella above the village to protect the villagers and their cattle from the rain and flood.
This is also the day Mha puja is performed by the Newapeople.
“Mha” means body in the Newa language so on this day the Newa people worship their inner self in the evening. They believe that the soul never dies and our body is only a vehicle and so we need to understand and respect our body as it is the chosen vehicle for this incarnation. This Puja is believed to bring prosperity and physical well-being.
I performed Mha Puja with my brother , his family and with my cousins on my brother’s balcony. First the floor was purified by sprinkling water on it, then we made mandaps in front of a row of seats on the floor where we were sitting. Our mandap was designed by AS and I had printed them out in A4 paper but in Nepal they are made by hand on the floor using oil, rice flour, vermilion, puffed rice and sometimes beans. The number of the mandaps needed is three plus the number of people doing the puja. We need three smaller mandaps at the top of the row for the House God (Kuladevata) , Yamaraj and Janmaraj, one mandap for each of the member performing Mha Puja. Then at the end of the row, we had a crow drawn symbolising Yamathe God of death.
Normally the puja is done by the eldest member of the family but this year I did the process as my elder cousin is not in Sydney.
Process of doing Mha Puja:
First I gave Nasala, a few drops of water, in the palm of the right hand of everyone to throw some into the mouth and rest over the body for purification.
I worshipped the House-God and Yama’smandap with water, rice, flowers, and vermilion powder.
I gave water, rice, flowers, and vermilion powder to each individual to worship their own mandaps. The mandap is used as a medium to present the various offerings to the self.
Then I put tika on everyone’s forehead and gave them flower to put on their head.
Normally in Nepal, they use Ita (special long threads made using white cloth soaked in mustard oil) but here we used tea light candle instead. I gave each person the candle and everyone took the candle from my hand, lighted them and put them on their mandap. This light is believed to brighten the inner self and keeps evil at bay.
I used rice and flower in my hand to shower each individual and worshipped the god within.
I gave Sagun to everyone. For Sagun , you put plate of egg , bara (lentil cake), meat,piece if ginger and fish in the right hand and yougurt in your left hand.
Once everyone finished eating the sagun, we used kucho (broom) from top to bottom touching each mandap to conclude Mha puja.
This day is also New years day for Newar community which is called Nepal Sambat . It is Nepal Sambat 1132 this year. Happy New Year!!!
Also from this day, boys in groups go door to door singing special songs called Deusi similar to the Bhailo sung during Laxmi Puja. It is considered auspicious to have these groups come to your front door. The house owner will offer them some rotis, fruits and money and they sing Deusi songs blessing the household with good fortune.
nepaliaustralian 