Guru Poornima Yagyas
A day to honor the Guru in all forms
Kanchipuram South India
July 21 , 2005

On July 21, our priests wil gather in Kanchipuram, south of Madras to celebrate Guru Poornima; the day on which gurus or teachers are honored. In the Vedic tradition, the form of Shiva that gives enlightenment is called Dakshinamurti.   In the morning we will perform a full scale Rudra Abishekam and Mrytunjaya Homam (fire yagya).  Then, in the early evening, the priests will go to a very local Dakshmimurti temple and perform an Abishekam yagya where the offerings are mostly liquid and will be poured over the temple diety.


Dakshinamurti after the 2004
Guru Poornima Temple Yagya

From Dakshinamurti Stotram

Upasakanam yad upasaniyam
upattavasam vatasakhimule
Taddama daksinyajusa svamurtya
Jagartu citte mama bodharupam. (v1)

May that Supreme Spirit who has taken a human form, seated under a banyan tree, remain in my awareness and guide my intellect towards divine knowledge.

Vyalambinibhih parito jatabhih
Kalavasesena kaladharena
Pasyallalatena mukhenduna ca
Prakasase cetasi nirmalanam. (v17)

Thou with the long matted tresses hanging around your face, who is adorned with the moon that is not full, having an eye on his forehead and a face that is beautiful like the full moon, may you shine in the minds of those who pursue and honor purity.

The Guru's feet are honored as an act of humility and appreciation for the power of true knowledge to uplift and enlighten. In the photo above you see a silver representation of the Guru's sandals after flowers have been offered.

A series of pujas are performed for Dakshinamurti, the form of Shiva who grants enlightenment, then for Vyasa, the organizer of the Vedas and the first human guru to teach in a form other than father to son.  And then Shankara an important teacher who spent much time in Kanchipuram, and finally the planet Guru (Jupiter) who brings us our punya (good karma) because to have a good Guru is considered to be a very high blessing.  Then, as in the photo above, the fire yagya is performed in the same sequence as the pujas.

Kanchipurma is a famous temple town partly because of the many Shiva temples there. But it is also known as a center for worship of the feminine forms of divinity. One of the temples is devoted to Annapurni; the goddess of food. She is a manifestation of Parvati, wife of Shiva, and in that form of the Divine Mother, she feeds the universe.

If you look closely at the photo below, you will see that water is being poured over a small murti of Annapurni. After the puja, our priests will go to one of the largest patasalas (priest schools) and feed a special meal to all the students there.