Rituals and Why We Perform Them: Offering Hair at Tirumala Venkateshwara Temple

Thala Neelala Samarpamam or the offering of hair at Tirumala Venkateswara Temple

        
    Recently I had a friend who happens to have a significant following online visit Tirumala with his parents. As an offering to Venkateshwara, the ancient god on the hill, he performed Thala Neelala Samaramam; he shaved his head and offered the hair to Srinivasa. Upon posting pictures online, it surprised me how very quickly the pictures lost any spiritual significance, and people could only comment on how “cute” or how “hot” the individual looked after shaving his head.  
        

    In many cultures and religions, our hair is associated with either our pride or dignity; stories throughout history reveal this distinctly. Western audiences would be most aware of the biblical tale of Samson and Delilah; Samson, upon cutting his hair, would lose his great strength until he prayed to the biblical god to give him his strength back in one tremendous and terrible display that would destroy his enemy in completion. In Asia, and India in particular, the same can be true, but the loss of pride is viewed in a far more positive light. Buddhist monks shave their heads in a ritual of purity and loss of ego; Hindus of certain sects and specific communities keep only small tufts of hair on certain areas of their heads as marks of faith or tradition. 
           
  Why, then, has a particular temple become so famous for offering hair as a ritual? Two reasons can be given, the first being in imitation of the goddess of Neeladri hills actions. Neeladri Devi, who, upon discovering a sleeping Venkateshwara and seeing a balding patch on his head from a wound given when defending a cow, plucks her own beautiful locks of hair and fits them to Perumal’s head. The second, while still may be in imitation of the story told above, is also a personal rite to remove all pride, making us humble before climbing the hill visiting the sacred shrine of Venkateshwara. This is but one of several preparatory rituals that should be done before entering the temple.

     What happens to the hair offered and how it is used for the temple is a complex and political discussion that I will write a more detailed post on.
          

  Upon seeing my friend's online post, I realized how little the greater populace understands why we do these rituals and the deeper, more esoteric reasoning behind them. Many of the rituals we follow today have become only boxes to check off for either our older family members or the community at large. Over the next series of posts, I will try to cover the reasoning, both practical and esoteric, for why these practices are followed. I hope, knowing and understanding the meaning of each ritual will reinvigorate us to perform them. 

NOTE* Some pictures used from online and I cannot claim copyright. 

Lost- The Mercy of Sri Radha Gopinatha

Vrindavan Poem Series #1 


Sri Radha Gopinatha








Lost
Through dark and winding lanes I traveled.

In this place all roads led to you.

Lamps lit on stone stairways throwing shimmering rays on exquisite doorways.

Uncertainly I strode through mysterious alleyways.

Certain I was lost. I moved forward without knowing where my feet fell.

Suddenly a lantern appeared, and I was beckoned in.

Stumbling upon your courtyard your servants found me.

“Come to our temple.” She said.

A door was thrown open and blinding golden light filled my eyes.

I stepped barefoot into your sanctum.

My heart beating hard as I saw you there.

Flute in hand you were ready for your secret dance.

Showered with mercy, my eyes in tears.

Oh, Gopinath who cared for me and showed me the way home.

In moments it was done, and I was taken to the footpath.

Sent again into the material realm.

I left a piece of myself with him.

Oh Gopinatha.



 

A Lovely Sunday for Growing

Today while amidst my flowers and bee-hives I started to think about how much of our lives are a continuous journey. In truth we never stop moving or growing and the whole time we rarely realize it.

A plant starts as a tiny seed and eventually grows into whatever it's mature form may be. We often forget this, and to our detriment, when dealing with spirituality. I have had many friends and students jump into areas of spirituality, religion, and dogma that may be well beyond their maturity level to ever understand in the way it was meant to be understood.

This "jumping ahead" without a strong root base to hold you steady can often lead us to uncertainty and doubt within our particular faith and path. Several times, I have had friends who have become deeply involved in Hinduism, they may see the parts like deity worship that are exceptionally beautiful and try to jump into understanding it's finer details before ever letting their roots grow in the early philosophies and will sooner rather than later fall over and burn out entirely... usually deciding to move onto yet another path.

I have seen the opposite happen as well. People who grow strong roots but either are place in bad soil (in this I mean possibly a bad community) or who themselves stop their own growth and never try to emerge beyond pure philosophy. Eventually their roots bulge and burst and their faith withers and dies and they too move on to something different.

Faith, in any religion or path, must be handled carefully. One must nurture the seed with an understanding of the philosophies before you choose a direction and then you must let yourself grow (questioning and doubting are a part of growth but with a strong base to hold you stead fast this questioning often makes faith stronger than ever) eventually blossoming and then creating fruits and seeds that you and others can appreciate.

In this, I mean no offense to anyone who has started on a particular path and moved on as we do all have our own path to make. Though, I have seen to often individuals becoming overly involved to quickly, being extremely fervent and suddenly fading out like a burnt out light bulb (or in this instance a dried up flower).