Hanuman Jayanti

Balloons inside temple room for Hanuman's birthday

On Friday afternoon three friends with M names, (Mandy, Mathilde, and Megan) drove up north to Taos, NM to celebrate Hanuman Jayanti, at the Neem Karoli Baba ashram. Hanuman Jayanti is a Hindu celebration to honor the monkey god, Lord Hanuman. I am a devotee of the ashram, and try my best to make it to as many festivals and Sunday chalisas as time and my busy schedule permit. I found a dog sitter, and borrowed my mom's comfortable subaru. Mathilde brought fruit and crystalized ginger for the car ride. We made it up to snowy Taos in 2 hours, and squealed with joy as we ran through the falling snow from the car to the warm, cozy B & B, where Megan had gotten us a killer deal, because she has those kind of B &B connections. We instantly made ourselves cups of Stash tea, and pealed a few clementines and popped a few homemade peanut butter cookies in our mouths from the kitchen. I ordered my favorite chicken soup in the entire Western USA at the Trading Post restaurant, where they also bring you hot crusty bread and butter while you wait.

I had a good time making fun of Megan and Mathilde, because they are both passively go-with-the-flow types.

Here is a typical Mathilde/Megan conversation:

Megan: Do you want to sit in the front?

Mathilde: I don't know, do you?

Megan: Well if you want to sit in the front, I could sit in the back.

Mathilde: It doesn't matter. I can sit anywhere.

Megan: Me too.

Mathilde: So should I sit in the back?

Megan: No, I can if you don't want to.

Mathilde: Well, I sat in the front before, so I should sit in the back.

Megan: It doesn't matter to me.

Mathilde: No, you sit in the front.

Megan: Are you sure?

Mathilde: Yeah, unless you don't want to.

Do you see what I mean by hilariously ridiculous?

So we had a great dinner, and went to back to our room. We planned to get up at 3:40am to make it to the temple by 4:00am when the ceremony begins because its the most spiritual and quiet time of the whole festival, but we were enjoying our cozy B & B too much, so we slept in till 7, had coffee and showered, and made it to the temple by 8.

Hanuman Moorti (statue) that we praise

I reunited with many familiar faces at the temple, and drank several cups of their signature chai. I enjoyed the excitement of chanting Hanuman chalisas in the temple room, and singing loudly and clapping, and also the sitting outside the temple room and quietly chanting and observing people come and go. One of my favorite visuals was of an Indian grandmother squeezing grapes over a tiny baby's mouth so that the sweet juice dripped into her mouth. The baby kicked her legs and smacked her lips. After the grandma got all the juice out, she would eat the remaining grape skins, and start over with the process.

The 108 Chalisas finished around 2pm, with a Indian feast, and a singing of happy birthday to Hanuman, and a giant Hanuman cake, blessed by Neem Karoli Baba.

The whole experience was very fun, peaceful, overstimulating, spiritual, silly and refreshing.

We drove back to ABQ in the evening with lots of stories, giggles and read alouds from the Sun magazine.

Getting away if only for a day is always worth the trouble of leaving of planning, packing and putting responsibilities on hold.

Happy Birthday Lord Hanuman!

RAM RAM.

Hanuman Cake