Hanuman Jayanti 2010!

All pictures copyright of Meady's Musings Production 2010

It's that time of year again for us at UCP to wish our favourite little yet sometimes big yet sometimes human size monkey friend Happy Birthday again! Yep it's Hanuman Jayanti 2010...perhaps it's why over on Meady's Musings not too long ago we were thinking about him and wishing to have a prehensile tail like him. Who knows it must have been a premonitionary feeling visualization thing in the air hinting at us to remember his bday!? :)

I can say I have also had another lovely moment with him not too long ago as well when my niece who says to my mother that he, Hanuman Baba is her fav of the Hindu deities gave her necklace with a Hanuman amulet to me! :) It was the sweetest thing for my niece to do by the way and truly UCP at its finest! :) But I was having the creepies one night driving home and I called up my niece to say so...that it was just the weirdest creepy thing feeling...and when I drove into the garage she was waiting there for me and told me something to the effect that you see I, unlike most other relatives etc. continue to not have a mala, a pendant, or necklace or amulet of some sort hung up in my car...this would protect me and make me braver you see! I'd go with God full speed ahead! :) And then without me asking she proceeded to go into the house and bring out this amulet of Hanuman Baba on a necklace she owns and hangs it up in my car! HOW SWEET!:) And so very kind of her as if Hanuman Baba is her fav form it must also be one of her fav amulets and necklace too and she just gave it away to me!:)

So now here he hangs looking out my car windscreen...but I find the shadow it casts even more profound see pic above at start of the blog!:)



So Happy Birthday Hanuman Baba! And thank you my niece! :) According to Hindu stories you were asked by Ram to stay here on earth to protect us all through this age of Kalyug and I must say I'm surely glad he asked you to and you so humbly and willing agreed! As you are often a needed friend indeed! And on your bday I must cue your fav salute the Hanuman chalisa and re-show the clip from Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan where we see you are asked by Vishnu himself on earth to stay!:)

The Holy Week: Palm Sunday!

Image re-published from this site

Before we continue with today's posting, we here at UCP would like to apologize for the abrupt end to the Divine Mother Leadership Series. However at the end of the Hindu festival of Nav Raatri we felt it best to leave off on the series since we decided we would cover the Catholic Divine Mother Leadership roles during the Catholic Holy Week instead. Also truth be told is we got pulled into a wormhole over on our Meady’s Musings blog and was in some parallel world since last week Wednesday night! Check that blog for more details of what really happened there!

But now on to our Grand Opening of the Catholic Holy Week here on UCP! And as this is UCP-Universal Collective Prayer we begin with yes…a prayer by Deacon Greg Kirk:

"Brother Jesus, as you enter Jerusalem, I lift my palm branch high. I recognize in you, a heart of love, one of peace. In you, I see who we are called to become. How fleeting is recognition and praise - in a few days, the ones who line the avenue with me will not stand with you, at the cross. I wonder if I will stand there? Can I dare to drink in the horror of the suffering - and somehow continue to believe in the mercy, compassion, love and goodness of the One God who is One? This is a question that can't be anwered in a few days or even a week. It is a question that will have to be lived out over the course of a lifetime. I only know this - in this day, in this moment, I trust in you, to show me who I am, who I can become - if I dare to trust, if I can find it within me to share and to love. Love, it never fades, never dies. Love is eternal. May this Love always live itself out in me, and may I always live myself out in love.
Love. Eternal Love. You in me. Me in you.
Amen"

Now to my understanding Palm Sunday marks the kick off of the Catholic Holy Week as it is the day that Jesus would have come into Jerusalem riding on the back of a donkey some say. Now I mean no disrespect here on the prayers when I say this but for me all the time long since I’ve been preparing this blog I’ve been wondering what of this donkey? You see this isn’t a blog of any particular religion it is UCP-Universal Collective Prayer and here on the prayers we want to look at things from a new perspective…break down old boundaries…so tonight I want to look at this Palm Sunday entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem through a different lens…through my lens…it is UCP in itself as I’ve often said on this blog I am Hindu centric in my views as I was born and raised Hindu and continue to be but UCP isn’t a Hindu blog. Here I explore my journey into Universal Collective Prayer and as I’ve said in the past, what I try to do is show others how I explore this…the commonalities, the differences and how they can come together or take out what can’t be reconciled and so forth. As I often say too…“This is my journey… this is my prayer!” But then I also say and offer to all my readers and onlookers… “Welcome! And please come join me in this dance I call Universal Collective Prayer!”

So now as a Hindu it must be quite normal for me to ask… “What of the donkey?” To me as a Hindu all through the stories I hear of Jesus the Christ’s life I wonder about the animals that surround him…to me these stories are filled with animals from cradle to crave! I mean there were camels, sheep, cows and donkeys at his birth, fishing expeditions, snakes (I think?) as he made his way in life and now here he was about to be crucified and he is riding in to it on a donkey. And as a Hindu looking on at this I can’t help wondering about the connection to the animals and how they feel about all of this. You see from my Hindu perspective I see it that all the animals are also with soul and part of the Universal spirit…so to me I keep thinking of how they would have felt to be surrounded by such an enlightened spirit that was embodied in the flesh of Jesus the Christ while he was on planet earth. However I’m sure Christians must see it differently and so it must be noted this is just my point of view being shared with…no malice…no spite…and certainly no disrespect but just plain enquiry from where I stand in the journey!

So for the intent of my story I shall proceed to name this donkey upon which Jesus rides into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. I shall name him Sam…don’t ask me why but it is just what pops into my head as I keep seeing him before me…I don't perceive him as a talking donkey a la 'Donkey' from 'Shrek' but more that his spirit can communicate on a more subtle level with the spirit of Jesus...So as Sam walks into Jerusalem's gate with Jesus on his back he feels it...he knows this is the week it will all end...but at the same time his donkey hairs stand on end to know that is part of something bigger than him...something on a grand scale Universally!:)

In terms of Jesus' interaction with the donkey, Sam as they had travelled to Jerusalem I feel it would have been a very loving one...he would have been gently stroking him and stopping frequently on the journey for Sam to rest, drink and eat...he would have recalled too how another donkey took his mother, the Holy Virgin Mary to the manger for him to be born some more than thirty years before...and at that moment he would have perhaps recalled how he was about to go beyond his earthly maternal ties and make a sacrifice on a bigger Universal scale...although it would no doubt hurt his mother on the material plane very much!

And now as he sat upon Sam the donkey at the gates of Jerusalem he again touched the animal's mane lovingly and in that moment connecting with the animals spirit feeling both his fear and awe...He would have alighted from the donkey Sam and come before his face...caressing his snout in both his arms and explaining to him through divine connection that...Sam, the donkey should fear not for he would one day be liberated from the earthly plane and he would a greater spirit be for accompanying him on this journey!:)

The Divine Mother Leadership Series:Day 9-Saraswati for Peace and the Grand Finale!

Today is the ninth and final day of the Hindu festival of Vasant Navraatri and also the last day dedicated to Mata Saraswati in our series here on UCP. So today we will be looking at her as the white cladded embodiment of peace and reviewing the whole nine day cycle as we wrap Vasant Navraatri 2010. Ladies and Gentlemen…UCPers far and wide…it’s the grand finale!

Now we started our journey fighting the bad guys with Mata Durga riding on her lion or tiger, bashing the demons left, right and center! She slayed that Asura (demon) Mahish and then her tiger gave a great big roar as she finally realized she had to STOP! Let it go already! LOL! This realization coming in her Kali form when saw that her demon bashing was starting to get kinda out ah hand…so much so that she now had her husband (in her Parvati and Sati form) Shiva at the mercy of her feet!

The Mata Lakshmi came along and stabilized everything for us and gave us all the resources we need to move right along to finding our inner self…

As Mata Saraswati rode in, all cool and calm like a breath of fresh air on her swan…bringing us the knowledge that we were more than the material…all pure and white with light…as we come to this point…the point of peace…inner peace…

Leadership Lessons Learnt:

Well let’s write it like this as we have recently been having fun with our Fishbone Diagrams of Root Cause Analysis fame on our sister blog Meady’s Musings…

The Root Cause Analysis of ‘Why the Ladies Divine of Hinduism aka Devis are Leaders’ is:

The Ladies Divine of Hinduism are leaders because they display initiative, commitment and passion and know how to nourish. They also have the wherewithal to source the necessary tools and materials to get the job done and the knowledge of their self...none of their strengths and weakness lay hidden from them (their Johari window is wide open!). However above all they know how to go with the flow and find peace within and with who they are…they truly are to their own selves true!

So ladies I salute you!

Om Shaanti…shaanti…shaanti!

The Divine Mother Leadership Series:Day 8-Saraswati for Purity and Durga Ashtami

All photos in this blog post are taken by Meady's Musings Production but are photos of Art created by other artists (unfornuately their names unknown to me at this time)

In Hinduism you have to admit it's tough for a girl to get centre stage!:) I've always conceptualised God through Hinduism's eyes to be like a big huge diamond that had so many faces when it was cut and so many glittering rays reflecting off the diamond as it shone in the light that basically there were countless faces and rays. And each of these faces and rays could be conceptualised further...iconified and worshipped...so not many Gods really but many faces and rays of this infinite huge diamond that is the Universal spirit!:) But as we iconify and break them out...Boy does it get crowded and as I said in my opening line it's tough for a girl to take centre stage! :) She has to be pushing and elbowing her way up there! LOL!

But as I said at the kick off of the Leadership series we here on UCP were going to celebrate the nine days of Navraatri using the format of the first 3 days for Durga, the second three for Lakshmi and the final three for Saraswati. Making our way in a cycle on the three stops...facing and killing our demons....sustaining our self on the material plane and then reaching for the knowledge that is our pure and peaceful souls! Now having said that one can't count out the day like today though when Durga is worshipped in a big pooja normally in some parts of India and indeed here in Trinidad. It's Durga Ashtami folks! So here is how we here at UCP will reconcile it. We will upfront give Saraswati her day and then talk about the Ashtami after! OK...everybody happy! :)


SARASWATI FOR PURITY

Saraswati in Hinduism represents purity...dressed in her white sari with the innocent Hans (swan) as her celestial vehicle of choice. By the way isn't it cool in Hinduism how all the forms have their divine vehicles all being these animals!:) But now back to the devi hereself...I've often pondered on her peaceful form growing up as a child...I must say you can almost feel her presence and she must most appropriately sit and appear to I'm sure many a traveller at the side of beautiful, fresh flowing streams and brooks!:)Once in my teens I had woken up a early morning and decided on my own accord to do a hawan in our pooja room and I could swear almost hidden a step away or just as I turned I saw a lady in a white sari seemingly peeping out from some plane to peek at me and then hide or run off before I could really see her or catch her!:) Who knows I must have a vivid imagination...or perhaps it is the natural hallucinogen that is prayer or maybe just maybe she really did come to peek at me from some other plane or place?!:) When I told my mum she simply said...So Blessed! and smiled:) Isn't it lovely though whatever it maybe?

So I'm so so happy to recall her here today on UCP! :) :) :) That lovely lady!:) Now after having come upon a picture on a wall while renting a house with friends a few years ago in San Francisco. I am in this moment convinced that if she my beloved Saraswati was a devi in Japanese and Chinese cultured Buddhism she would be the lovely goddess and beautiful bodhisattva-Quan Yin! As seen below here in the image I took of the picture that adorned the wall of my bedroom in that vacation rental in San Francisco:



DURGA ASHTAMI

On my reading and research about this special day and celebration what jumped out at me was how they celebrated all the devis and 64 yoginis for Durga Ashtami and not just the demon bashing Universal mother herself! :) I'd love to find out more about these 64 yoginis...who are they? Can I one day become one? LOL! :) But they must be what I'd call the divine light rays reflected off the diamond faces...not quite the Divine Mother herself in potentence but a ray...a small subset of her divine presence indeed! And I'm glad their beauty, love and radiant presence is also celebrated on this day!:) I will one day research and write more on this yoginis in this space but for now you can read more about this celebration here!

The Divine Mother Leadership Series: Day 7-Saraswati: Knowledge

Picture republished from this site

To lead you must have knowledge else well it would be like the blind leading the blind. The Goddess Saraswati in Hinduism is the embodiment of knowledge. She represents the respect for knowledge...the knowing in the religion that the need to know is important enough to worship it i.e. focus and meditate upon it so it can be acquired...knowledge is found everywhere depending on what you are seeking to know about...but according to Hinduism the highest knowledge to be pursued is that of the self...and most societies would agree that the search for self knowledge is best expressed and documented in the Arts...music, poetry, theatre, literature and I guess in the modern day context...films, documentaries, TV shows and yep blogs...Youtube! :)

And so as we move into the last leg of three days dedicated to the goddess Saraswati we salute her here in the form of one of her embodiments...MUSIC! :)

The Divine Mother Leadership Series: Day 6-Lakshmi: The Opulent One!

Photo republished from this site

Any leader needs to be admired. She must be looked up to by her followers...respected by her team members...there must be some little spark about her...that twinkle in her eye that makes others want her to lead and to follow her. True leaders must be seen as things to admire. And of all the nine forms of Shakti i.e. the Divine Mother in Hinduism whom we are saluting on The Divine Mother Leadership Series, Maha Lakshmi is the most opulent of the forms. And today on the day 6 of the series we salute her opulence her splendour as a leader by wondering upon the beauty created as a monument to her worship in the form of the Birla temple in Delhi, India as seen above! What a magnificent site! :)

The Divine Mother Leadership Series: Day 5-Lakshmi: The Nourisher

Any leader knows that she must provide her followers with resources to carry out their tasks else nothing will get done. Goddess Lakshmi is know for that! She is the ultimate nourisher. She provides us with the resources we need to carry out what we must while here on planet Earth! Here are some of the forms she takes to provide these material needs to us...some say she takes eight forms to provide us with these resources as follows:

* Adi Lakshmi (The primal mother goddess)

* Dhanalakshmi (One who showers wealth)

* Dhanyalakshmi (Food – one who eliminates hunger)

* Gajalakshmi (Power and Strength)

* Santan Lakshmi (Children)

* Veera Lakshmi (Courage and Strength)

* Vijaya Lakshmi (Victory)

* Aishwarya Lakshmi (Prosperity)

The Divine Mother Leadership Series: Day 4-Lakshmi: The External Supporter

You can purchase the above beautiful poster from this site.

As we move into the 2nd set of three in the nine nights festival called Navraatri we focus on the Divine Mother in the form of the goddess Lakshmi. For us here on UCP one of her leadership skills is her ability to support others. Since any leader at some point in time needs to be there to support her followers. It might be a novel angle for some to approach leadership from but really a leader has to also sometimes support...mentor...nurture...and today on the Day 4 of The Divine Mother Leadership Series we will focus on Maa Lakshmi's role as supporter.

She sits at the feet of Vishnu massaging them...Vishnu is a leader in his own right and so it may appear that Lakshmi is simply the follower in such an illustration...however in the material world in our day to day lives...can't we see that even leaders need to support their teams at times? For instance in the corporate world can't you see how a team would best work if the leader went to each of the team members and figuratively speaking 'sat at their feet massaging them'. In that time they could sit there and listen to the thoughts and ideas of each of their team members in a relaxed and loving manner...this in the end makes the leader very strong...as she now knows intimately the views of each of the team members...so her ideas when put forward as the team leader is in the end a true agglomeration of the parts...and there is no better vision or viewpoint from a leader than a summation of all the parts...which when in gels together just right and flows from the leader can in act synergy and then the whole is greater than the sum of its parts! :)

The Divine Mother Leadership Series: Day 3-Durga: The Pillar of Strength

If you've been following day 1 and 2 of the series you would have heard about Durga's leadership qualities as follows:

-Initiative
-Commitment
-Passion
-The ability to be big and small and then big again...

However with all that demon bashing and expansion and contraction and expansion...to get big then small then even big again well you have to have to be strong! I mean your ductility and malleability have to be high! And the leadership lesson is simply here...A LEADER HAS TO BE STRONG!

For sure Durga is a pillar of strength I'll tell you that! In fact in her chalisa(40 verse poem usually dedicated to Hindu Gods and Goddesses)she is called:

"In you is merged the strength of this world,
And you provide it with food and wealth."

And so on today the last of the three days dedicated to Durga in the Vasant Nav Ratri festivals let's enjoy her chalisa! Let's salute you Oh Great Mother Goddess and LEADER!

The Divine Mother Leadership Series: Day 2-Durga:The Big and the Small!

Image re-published from Exotic India Art where the murti (sculpture) in the image can be purchased.

As I previously spoke about on the Festival of Shiv, Hinduism is an excellent religion when it comes to capturing things on the microscopic and the macroscopic simultaneously and its ability to do that is not only illustrated by the adventures and activities of its Gods but also its Godesses! So just like on one hand Shiv can do the dance of destruction but then on the other take a seat next to his consort Parvati with baby on lap...well so too can his consort!

In fact in the same Shiv story I discussed during the festival of Shiv, Parvati's ability to be big and then small is seen when she got mad...really mad...really mommy mad in all nine forms mad with the devas (angels)! Let's recall it here as she took on the form of Nav Durga:



However other than that katha there is the time when Parvati who is also a form of Durga took on her other form of Kali and went on a rampage of demon bashing! She got so into it just like when on Day 1 of our series she was beating up Mahish Asura... well Kali couldn't stop! So Shiv decided to step in and well she was kicking his blue form too! But as she was about to as they say in Mortal Kombat...FINISH HIM! She went "Oh my Lord! It is you!" as she realised it was her husband Shiva (when in the Parvati form) and she could only stick her tongue out in shame that she had gotten that carried away! And she stopped stomping and suddenly the big became small again! :)(See Image at top of article)

So What's the Leadership Lesson Here?

Well like the fascinating peepal tree in my front yard...the ability to know when to be big and when to be small and when to be big again if need be! I mean to be a true leader you have to know when to step up to the plate like discussed on Day 1 of the series...but here on Day 2 we learn you have to also know when it's time to step down. You also need to know how to stoop to conquer. And a leader must never feel she is too small to do something but neither must she feel too big to do something...if nothing is above you yet nothing is below you well then my dear...you are a leader I'd say! :)

PS:The story of Kali stepping on Shiv has many versions and intepretations and you can read more about them here.

The Divine Mother Leadership Series:Day 1-Durga:Is She the Cheese Standing Alone?

I do not hold the copyright for this photo but it seems to be all over the internet and I made the assumption that it was copyright free. Please contact me if you consider this misuse.

Today is the beginning of Vasant Navratri in the Hindu calendar and we are also in the Catholic month of fasting known as Lent which leads into the Holy Week that culminates on Easter Sunday with the Resurrection of Christ! As a result on UCP I'd like to launch a new daily series that will run from today the first day of Vasant Navratri until the start of the Holy Week-Palm Sunday i.e. this series will run from today, Tue 16 Mar until Sat 27 Mar 2010. It will as a result be covering the entire Vasant Navratri festival. And in some parts of India and often of recent times here in Trinidad as well, the festival tends to be marked by celebrating the Divine Mother in triplicate. The first three days as Durga then followed by another three for Lakshmi ending up with the final three being for honouring Saraswati. UCP likes this approach where it is said in the first three days we look at destroying our demons...then for the next three days we pray to accumulate the wealth that is needed to execute stuff on the material plane and in the last three days we look for the wisdom to carry it all out! All three necessary to execute well on planet earth in all our divine feminine splendid forms! :)

As discussed on Meady's Musings yesterday the series will cover the way the Divine Mother in Hinduism and to a lesser extent in Catholicism personifies Leadership. Leadership in all the forms or as how we here at UCP and Meady's Musings Production define it that is! So here we go kicking off the series with Goddess Durga herself and we will continue daily until Sat 27 Mar 2010...hope you all have as much fun as we plan to have on this series...now let's carry on!

DURGA as a LEADER: And the Cheese Stands Alone!

If we here at UCP had to sum up Durga's leadership qualities in one phrase it would be that..."And the cheese stands alone!" For in this form the Divine Mother needs no help and is all out on her own except I guess for her vehicle which is either a lion or a tiger at most times! But other than that in this leadership form she needs no helpers...no men...no followers...she just kicks demons around all on her own! Just look at the licking she put on ole Mahish asura (demon) while in this form. LOL!

Also in this battle with Mahish no holds were barred...they were fighting tooth and nail! Just out there in the middle...get to it... and when such a grand battle exists sometimes one cannot tell who is who...each takes on the other so intensely that they momentarily become one and there is momentarily no distinction...'good' fighting so intensely to overcome 'evil' that in a moment the 'good' almost looks like 'evil' as it becomes so obsessed with fighting the 'evil'. It reminds me a lot of Bram Stoker's Dracula tale where Van Helsing is so obsessed with killing Dracula at times you wonder if he had not taken on the very nature of the being himself...I guess the classic tale of...Who is the hunter?...Who is the hunted?


So what leadership qualities does Maa Durga display in her fight to the death with Mahish asura?

1. INITIATIVE:The raw ability to lead...walk out there in the middle of the battlefield of the unknown...take the initiative...be the first one to step forward when everyone is hesitating...step up to the plate even when you look around and you see you are the only one who came out in the middle of the battlefield (the cheese standing alone). And it's why many a time leaders tend to look around and realise there is no one else there...no one to whisper a word of advice...no one's shoulder to leader on...since no one else stepped out! And that can't be an easy place to be! With all the devas (angels) looking on Maa Durga stepped up!

2. COMMITMENT: Once already out there on the battlefield there is no turning back and you have to stick with it. Have the commitment to fight to the end! Its either I die or my opponent but I'm not leaving! As did Mother Durga as she fought until she slayed Mahish Asura

3. PASSION:So yep...she took the initiative and stepped up to the plate...and even after having realised the dauntingness of the task and the fact that 'you are in this alone baby' she decided to commit...stick with the task to the end! But guess what that was not all...she didn't just go through the motions till the end. No siry she proceeded to fight with passion! Maa Durga took on Mahish asura with such passion well it got to the point of obsession! And that combo of Initiative, Commitment and Passion folks is why we today on UCP salute you as a leader Mother Durga...you're the woman! :)

The Festival of Shiv:The Grand Finale!

All photos copyright of Meady's Musings Production 2006-2010

I have to tell you UCP is very sad to be saying goodbye to this Festival of Shiv and although we didn't blog for the last few days of the calendar it was only because we were too tired or busy to do so and not because we didn't wish to! But as promised yesterday we are sending off the Festival with a grand finale blog! I didn't post it up last night on the last day of February but have kept it instead for today as it is the Somvaar in Hindi and Monday in English...a very much celebrated day for Shiv Bhakts or devotees who see him as related to the Soma...although I feel more affinity for the Guruvaar...Thursday as I see him as the Supreme Guru...Super Shiv! :)

Now here is the surprise and what for me and hopefully for you makes this a grand finale blog to close the Festival of Shiv! You know how I'm always saying how I often visualise Shiv sitting at its banks perhaps under a tree or doing yogic stretches along its rim? And I've even shared some pics of it on my Kartik pilgrimage blog last year here. But I've always wanted to go on a full pilgrimage to there and spend sometime in relaxation, meditation, reflection and most of all photography so that I could share the experience with you here! :)

So yesterday was my day to go! Thing is I came to the realization that the creek is on the west coast of the island...in fact the creek is this sheltered body of water that separates Trinidad and Venezuela. But the realization wasn't about Venezuela but about the fact that the creek's location in proximity to Venezuela and Trinidad makes it calm...and it being in the West means the the setting sun kisses it! So I decided not to go first thing in the morning as originally planned although my natural prayer instinct was to do so! I decided to go at sunset or close to it...and there my dilemma began...like Van Helsing trying to catch the last moments of sunlight to drive the stake through Dracula's heart before he gained power...there was I racing against Mr. Sun as my nephew calls him! :)

The whole race reminded me of my MahaShivratri blog early during the Festival of Shiv where I spoke of Mr Sun or that Surya guy not having any power over Baba Shiv! I mean after all Shiv dances throughout the cosmos so what was our sun i.e. planet Earth's sun...Mr. Surya Bhagwan's business telling Baba Shiv what to do! LOL!

So I had this date with Shiv at my favourite place to visualise and almost see and feel Shiv- Mosquito Creek! And of course I could meet Baba Shiv there any time and any space but I wanted to take the photos you see so I was hoping Mr Surya would have waited for me! In the end I did catch a glimpse of Mr Surya while I was on my date with Shiv but he played a trick on us and hid behind a cloud! Needless to say these are just some of the beautiful shots we got of Shiv and I on the date sneakily chaperoned by Mr Sun! :) I'd have to say it was a great date indeed and long overdue! :) And I will definitely go on a second date!






At the end of the date I was even able to catch up with people at the end of their Phagwa celebs that day...



And driving home after the date I couldn't believe my eyes but Chanda Mama had been watching upon us all the time in his fullest glory! Yes folks it was a glorious full moon! :) And some say Shiv is also the moon or the moon part of Shiv...but one thing for sure indeed he wears the crescent moon in his head! :)






And of course all you UCPers must by now well know that I'm just kidding or metaphorically speaking when I said I went on a date with Baba Shiv. However yep in the folk stories he does indeed wear a crescent moon in his head and weds Parvati and as we say goodbye to the Festival of Shiv I leave you with this memory of the Festival where Shiv and Parvati are on their Honeymoon in the TV serial Om Namah Shivay!