Jai Bajrang Bali Hanuman!

Over the weekend, furgie and i were discussing Hanuman puja and its popularity in Trinidad. He is one diety that is always worshipped by almost all trinidadians. Nan said maybe that will explain why Trinidad is so protected......I must agree.
In Trinidad, we pray to Lord Hanuman for strength, courage, protection and the ability to discriminate right from wrong. We honor Him for his loyalty to Shri Raam. Finally, we look up to Him as the ideal devotee. In many Hindu homes in Trinidad, there is a picture of L. Hanuman above the front entrance of the house. There are many Hindus who observe fasting on Saturday mornings because of the belief that prayer to Hanuman on Saturday will remove the ill effects of Saturn/Shani. And me...in my own way...i try to wake up early on saturday mornings (note the emphasis on the word 'try') and say a prayer to Hanumanji before the morning is done.
Today we celebrated Hanuman Jayanti-the birth of Lord Hanuman. He is really Lord Shiva but for many of us, He has a special place in our worship. The entire atmosphere of the mandir was charged. We (furgie and I) arrived there at 6:30 am and joined in the puja and havan (offerings, etc.) and at 8:00, we began chanting the Hanuman Chalisa for 108 times. The chanting began slowly and went very quickly in the middle then we ended slowly. Furgie and i led most of the fast chanting because many of the people could not go as quickly without eating up the words. Well now, furgie can barely talk! my voice is alright though. by the time we reached the last chalisa and the arti, we were dancing/swaying...whatever you call it. everyone was totally engrossed in the worship.
Later on, we reflected about the day. It was a working day for most people and yet, there was a steady stream of people. some people took their lunch break and whoever had school came before or after and did their worship. it was a truly beautiful thing to see my fellow trinis show up and even more, take time from their jobs/busy schedules to pay homage to Lord Hanuman. An indian lady who comes to our mandir told us that it was nice to see that people came with their little children and stayed for the entire day. i never thought of it but yes, there were many kids there...and none of them were crying! not even the babies.
so the question was why would i take a complete day off from work for this?...nan told me that i must have really been into this because i gave up working with Laila to go to the mandir. Well, initially, i did wonder about how Laila would manage alone but the mandir was fun too. I enjoyed it...and i remember how i felt after last year's chanting. the feeling lasts for the entire year...and that is something i am willing to skip one day of work for. the magic of it stays with you.


The picture below is based on a scene from the Ramayana (Kishkinda Kand) where Lord Raam and Hanumaan officially meet and they embrace each other. Really, it is the meeting of L. Vishnu with L. Shiva. One of my favorites....kudos to the artist for the emotion in this picture!