I never understood the glory of Abhishekam.
True, my Mom took me to the temple when I was a child and I’ve attended a lot of Abhishekams. But I never understood what the big deal was.
The priest offers various offerings (milk, yogurt, honey, sacred ash, sandalwood paste, etc) to the Lord. The attendees would be ecstatic with devotion, with oohs and aahs floating across the room. Again, I never had an ooh moment or an aah moment when I attended an abhishekam.
All this changed when I purchased a book for my toddler.
“Shiva, what do you hear?”, asks the young boy after ringing the bell.
Ding dong ding! “I hear sweet-sounding bells ringing for me”, replies a visibly delighted Shiva.
“Shiva, Shiva, what do you hear?”, ask the kids, after chanting devotional hymns.
Aaaauuuuummmmmm! “I felt heartfelt hymns being sung for me”, replies Shiva, taking in the melody of devotion.
“Shiva, Shiva, what do you feel?”, ask the kids, performing milk abhishekam (pouring milk) on the Shivalingam.
Brrr! “I feel cold milk and fresh water ”, replies Shiva, dancing while bathing in the cold milk shower, together with a delighted Nandi.
This picture did the trick for me.
The abhishekam offerings reach the Lord.
I consider myself a religious person, a practicing Hindu, yet this basic point escaped me.
So that’s the big deal — when milk is offered to the Lord (poured on the idol), we’re offering milk to the Lord Himself. When we go to the temple and pray, we don’t pray to a stone — we believe idol is the Lord — and indeed, a ceremony called prana prathishtha is performed when consecrating the idol, to infuse the idol with the Deity’s energy — so when we do abhishekam or puja or Arati, we’re doing it for the Lord Himself, as thought He were in front of us.
The highest level in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is self-actualization.
Indeed, for a man who struggles to eat three square meals, he can give a rat’s bottom about little else. Offering him advice to turn to the spiritual path is a guaranteed way to receive a flurry of expletives.
In that case, a person whose basic needs are fulfilled should graduate to pursue self-actualization. But it doesn’t work that way. People who have everything are often the most unhappy. They can’t fathom pursuing something as abstract as self-actualization.
Indeed, in the Vivekachudamani, Adi Sankara enumerates three blessings that are rare:
A human body (Manushyatvam)
A burning desire for liberation (Mumukshutvam)
Association with Great Masters (Mahapurushasamshrayah)
Mumukshutvam
Maslow’s hierarchy outlines the necessary conditions of needs — which turn out insufficient in practice. Think about it — only a small percentage of financially independent people think about pursuing self-actualization.
Self-actualization is a fancy term. Sanatana Dharma has a variety of rituals and approaches to connect with the Divine. Puja is one key component. Another is Abhiskeham.
Those with high devotional quotient experience immense joy when performing rituals such as Abhishekam.
It works the other direction as well — if a person performs rituals, even if their heart is not into it, over time they will necessarily cultivate devotion.
What would you say if I said you could perform an abhishekam yourself from the comforts of your own?
Well, you can.
The Sadhana App, a 100% free app that was launched in March 2022, offers the ability to perform abhishekam. The graphics are of the highest quality and the abhishekam experience is sublime.
You’ll feel transported in to the temples of the yore where the Gods resided and sported (for example, Shiva in the snow-covered Kailash mountains, Krishna in Gokula, etc).
Try it out, and you’ll be amazed.
When you go to the temple to attend an abhishekam, you’ll catch me among the devotees who go ooh and aah when offerings are poured on to the deity.
If Bhagavan came in front of me and I had the opportunity to apply sacred ash all over Bhagavan, or perform an in-person abhishekam of Bhagavan, wouldn’t I be delighted with the opportunity? Well, the abhishekam of the idol of Bhagavan is no different. So I learned.
Here is to a stronger connection with the divine, the one constant — the only constant — in our lives.
Cultivating devotion to Lord Hanuman is the most beautiful way to lead a meaningful and rich life. He is known as Sankat Mochan or someone who takes away your difficulties. He also bestows devotion to his devotees. Download the free and incredible Vedic Sadhana app to deepen your bond with Lord Hanuman by performing Abhishekam, Hava, Japa, Nitya Pooja, and Sadhana of Lord Hanuman.
