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Thread: Self made mala?

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    Self made mala?

    Wow, today is just a big day for me posting questions!

    I was wondering if anyone has ever thought of making their own mala? I want to make one to dedicate to Kala but I am unsure if it's all right to do so?

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    Re: Self made mala?

    Quote Originally Posted by Divine Kala View Post
    Wow, today is just a big day for me posting questions!

    I was wondering if anyone has ever thought of making their own mala? I want to make one to dedicate to Kala but I am unsure if it's all right to do so?
    Vannakkam: In my opinion it would be fine, perhaps even better. Think of a garland ... buying one at an Indian flower shop or in India, at the temple stall, ... or making one yourself. So much of your own energy would go into it.

    Aum Namasivaya

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    Re: Self made mala?

    Yes, that's what I was thinking. And that way, no one else's energy will have gone into the beads...

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    Re: Self made mala?

    Quote Originally Posted by Divine Kala View Post
    Yes, that's what I was thinking. And that way, no one else's energy will have gone into the beads...
    Vannakkam: That's an excellent point on how subtle things are. Many ethical consumers try to buy stuff that wasn't made in sweat shops and the like. I don't make huge efforts to buy that way. An example is the vegetables we eat here are mostly from California, where the exploitation of cheap Mexican labour is a fact of life.

    A mala is far more personal. I know of one very reliable source (Himalayan Academy) , as I've seen them being made, and actually know the people who do it. But the various ones from India ... well, probably okay, but who really knows.

    Aum Namasivaya

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    Re: Self made mala?

    Hari Om Divine Kala!

    Quite simply, go for it! Your devotion speaks for itself!

    Om Namah Sivaya!

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    Re: Self made mala?

    namaste Divine Kala.

    It is certainly good and devotionally conducive to make one's own puShpa-mAlA--garland of flowers, to adorn the deity in the puja room at home. It would even be better to chant a mantra when stringing the flowers. You can even carry one such mAlA and offer it to the deity at the temple, and the priest would happily pile it over existing collection on the deity.

    Some points to ponder (not necessarily applicable to your query):

    • It would be great if family members are involved in the worship at home and the efforts that precede/follow it. While japam--litany, and dhyAnam--meditation, are personal, ArAdhanam--worship, is largely congregational.

    • Whether performed at home or in public, ArAdhanam is by the joint efforts of the people involved. Thus, the making of the puShpa-mAlA--garland of flowers, involves the efforts of many people: one who grows the plants of the flowers, one who plucks and collects them, one who strings them into a mAlA, the one who buys it and offers in worship and the one who actually performs the task, chanting a mantra.

    • Traditionally, only the nAr (Tamizh), tantu in SaMskRtam--fibre, from the stem of the banana tree is used to string the flowers involved in a puShpa-mAlAs. The dried layer of outer stem is peeled off, soaked in water, and then cut into fine threads of fibre.

    • It used to be common to see flower-vending men and women sitting at temple entrances and making garlands using wet banana fibre, their deft fingers picking up a flower, twisting the thread into little a loop, inserting the flower into the hole and then knotting the loop--all at an amazing pace.

    • The banana plant is a symbol of tyAga--sacrifice, and ahiMsA--non-injury. Its large leaves are used in Hindu dining sessions, and in packing and distributing cooked food items, flowers, garlands, sandal paste, and so on. Its raw fruit is a standard feature of the Hindu meal, besides being used for making banana chips. Its ripe fruit is known as the poor man's apple. Its inner stem is an excellent source of fibre and is used regularly in Hindu meals (for making curries). its dried outer stem gives the fibre used in making puShpa-mAlAs. In addition, the entire tree cut at the bottom, is used in the pandals--thatched pavilions, of marriages, temple festivities and other auspicious occasions.

    • These days people are too lazy to prepare and use the banana fibre, so they simply use cotton threads for making puShpa-mAlAs, and many temples accept them. There is no harm in using cotton threads, but the banana plant is verily associated with Hindu worship rituals.

    • As for the personal energy and vibrations involved in making things for deities, any negative aspects of them are offset by the devotion and sincerity shown in devotional work.

    Worship in a temple assembles people of varying physical and mental purity, but then bhakti--devotion, is an ocean that absorbs and offsets all negative energies and lets peace and bliss percolate and prevail.
    Last edited by saidevo; 31 May 2011 at 07:43 AM.
    रत्नाकरधौतपदां हिमालयकिरीटिनीम् ।
    ब्रह्मराजर्षिररत्नाढ्यां वन्दे भारतमातरम् ॥

    To her whose feet are washed by the ocean, who wears the Himalayas as her crown, and is adorned with the gems of rishis and kings, to Mother India, do I bow down in respect.

    --viShNu purANam

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    Re: Self made mala?

    Vannakkam Saidevo: Very interesting post! I never knew what that grass stuff was they made those garlands of until this morning reading here. I was always curious but because of language barriers I could never stop and ask. Certainly at the larger temples like Madurai and Tiruchendur it goes on. In fact I stood and watched a young man in Tiruchendur for about an hour as he tried to teach me. He went really slowly too, but without much practise, I don't think I could have learned. Some other day, perhaps. But the speed they do it at is absurd. Practice makes perfect. Think concert pianist.

    Of course the real problem is the lack of banana trees here! I thought that I might be able to use bulrush reeds that our native people's used to make baskets as a substitute. Flower costs are also absurd here, in winter. We get maybe two months of growing season for growing them. In a Maryland Murugan temple, I offered a lime garland instead. Limes were cheaper than flowers, get that.

    Divine Kala, I'm sorry to go off track, but sometimes such things just pique such an interest.

    Aum Namasivaya

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    Re: Self made mala?

    vaNakkam EM.

    Divine Kala, please excuse me for this digression.

    You are right, EM. Many rural arts such as the stringing of a garland are performed by those who seem ordinary to us, with deftness and alacrity.

    • Here is an image of temple garlands strung using the vAzhai nAr--banana fibre:
    http://images.travelpod.com/users/ju...the-temple.jpg

    • An image gallery of 'Indian flower shops':
    http://www.google.com/search?um=1&hl...qi=g1&aql=&oq=

    • Flowers of Chennai:
    http://umaathreya.blogsome.com/2006/...rs-of-chennai/

    and here is a link to the 'Flowers of India':
    http://www.flowersofindia.net/

    • In our small home garden, we have a pair of trees of rose araLi--oliander, flowers (one of which is fragrant and the other is not), and creepers of nitya-malli, a kind of jasmine that is divinely fragrant, which is not seasonal (hence the nitya--eternal, in its name), although it does not blossom on some days. We used to have rose plants, but it is difficult to maintain them because of the hot climate here. There is also a plant of pavazha malli, pArijAtam--coral flowers, which blossoms seasonally.

    ‣ With large numbers and flowers on them, the fragrance of the creepers of the seedless nitya-malli could be so intense as to invite a snake! The same is said about the screw pine flower plants, whose petals used to be woven into the plaits of young girls during festive times such as the navarAtri.

    ‣ We have a bunch of banana trees too but then as wasps and toads seasonally make a home of their stem layers, we don't peel of the dried fibre and use it for our home flower strings; instead, we use the cotton thread, although we do use the banana fibre occasionally.

    ‣ Gladly, hotels in Chennai today use the banana leaves for serving and packing food, although during the 1960-70, there was acute shortage of them, and food was packed and served in what was called thaiyal-ilai--dried leaves of the portia tree stitched together. Used banana leaves become fodder for the cattle, so nothing of the banana tree is a waste.
    रत्नाकरधौतपदां हिमालयकिरीटिनीम् ।
    ब्रह्मराजर्षिररत्नाढ्यां वन्दे भारतमातरम् ॥

    To her whose feet are washed by the ocean, who wears the Himalayas as her crown, and is adorned with the gems of rishis and kings, to Mother India, do I bow down in respect.

    --viShNu purANam

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    Re: Self made mala?

    Aaargh... never do this, seriously. It is time consuming and infuriating. You will sit there cursing the day you ever had the desire to make your own mala. Threading the beads is the easy part it's the knots BETWEEN the beads that make you want to kill yourself. I'm not even half way through!

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    Re: Self made mala?

    Quote Originally Posted by Divine Kala View Post
    Aaargh... never do this, seriously. It is time consuming and infuriating. You will sit there cursing the day you ever had the desire to make your own mala. Threading the beads is the easy part it's the knots BETWEEN the beads that make you want to kill yourself. I'm not even half way through!
    You made me laugh! Oh the price we pay for the fulfillment of our desires.
    Sounds like a great idea to delegate to someone else (how naughty)

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