Wolfgang Praegler & Gudrun Mirbach-Praegler
Puja-music in a Hindu tempel
The musicians in the temple What you can hear is the original music, recorded here in the temple
Hindu believers are praying
The steep top of the Hindu temple shows gods and deities
Decoration and deities are taken out of the temple and carried through the city in a procession. Here the crowd is forming the procession.
  Puja is the daily prayer ritual of Hindus of a devotional worship of their gods and deities. We had the chance to participate in such a religious ceremony during our stay in the city of Trincomalee in Sri Lanka. Prayers are spoken in mantras, Gods are washed ritually, given a holy cord and touched with flavorsome sandalwood. Incense sticks  and lamps with ghee (clarified butter) are lightened and food as well as betel is offered. Priests are praying, and during the whole ceremony a band is playing a special puja music. We saw different drums and wind instruments looking like clarinets with a nasal sound.   Luckily, we picked a high Hindu festival day. When the puja was over, deities and gods were put on wooden barrows and carried out of the temple. When it got dark, thousands of colorful lamps lamps illuminated the scenery, powered by car batteries. Then a big crowd processed through the city.