Adventures with the Raos - Gopi and Adi

The Saturday before I left, I scored an invitation to lunch at my friend Mohini's house. It's too bad I didn't get any pictures of the delicious spread Mohini prepared. It was beautiful and bountiful! Mohini's son Adi, and husband, Gopi were there along with a couple other friends. Little did I know what fun was in store for me going on an adventure with Gopi and Adi. The whole family is magic!

Later that day, Adi and Gopi toured me around some Shiva temples at Shivansai, about 30 minutes away from Ganeshpuri. You know what I learned? 30 minutes in a tuktuk is a long time, especially on those roads. It was well worth it, though.

The first Shiva Lingam at the temple complex

This temple houses the naturally occurring Shiva Lingam. It's been here for centuries.

They are adding on to the temple after hundreds of years.

Up several stairs is the second temple.

Nandi and the tortoise keeping watch over the Lingam.

This Lingam was built by the Pandavas after the discovery of the first Lingam, also centuries ago.

The room beyond the Lingam.

And then more stairs to a third temple... Adi leads the way.

This is a Durga temple. It's a temple dedicated to the river that flows beside it during monsoon season.

Om Namah Shivaya 🙏

It was almost sunset, so we settled in outside the Durga temple for an Agnihotra ceremony. Agnihotra is an ancient Vedic fire ritual. Adi is the third generation in his family to observe this practice. He does a small fire ceremony precisely at sunrise and sunset every day. He has an app that times it for him.

It was so peaceful as we waited for sunset. I caught audio of the nature sounds around, and the sounds of Adi preparing for the Agnihotra.

The Agnihotra needs five things: the copper pot, cow dung, ghee, rice and mantra. It purifies the surroundings.

Gopi, Adi's father and Mohini's husband, is the second generation to observe the Agnihotra ritual.

It was dark by the time we left.