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| Dear BG:
One may wear Rudraksha while performing a Yogasana, but it does not have any special significance, except when one wears it during a meditation pose, which is generally sitting one. Also, one may wear it at other times. During exercise, one must be careful not to get injured.
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
  
Location: A Blue State |
Thanks, Neel.
I can see that they might get in the way for Adho Mukha Vrkshasana and other
poses. So I'll wear them now -- just finished my asana practice.
...bg |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 5098
Location: Somewhere in the Mountains of Western NC | BG, about the Tika....... In Satyam's culture, Kum Kum is used for Durga pooja and is a bright red. When I asked him if it was Tumeric he said he had never heard of that. So, I don't know about the Red Tumeric you are referring to and that preparation. The other tika is called Simrik and used for Parvathi pooja. Simrik is for married women and is given by her husband for long life. It is a darker burgundy color. The communties of Nepal use Simrik as a medicine. It cures infections and bone injuries in animals and humans too. It is used in veterinary hospitals and people that cannot get to a vet use it to join the fractured bone. Oh well, I thought you might be interested in that little tid bit. I never paid much attention until this weekend during the pooja and thought about it in color. Also, during some pooja's like Mahalaxmi, they have mixed the red and tumeric together and then during the Durga festival before Diwali, they've added Sandalwood to the tika. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State |
Hi Cyndi,
I'm not sure how all this fits together. The powders probably have
different names regionally.
As I understand Kumkum, it is always red. I have a bit left from one of the
temples I visited. It seems much deeper red than what I can make with
kitchen turmeric, but I haven't spent enough time on the chemical engineering
to be sure. Only so many hours in day.
Vibhuti is grey, said to be ash.
Sindhoor is also deep red, sounds like the Simrik you mention, except that
the medicinal qualities of the latter tag it as an herb...which would suggest red turmeric.
Turmeric apparently goes red when the ph passes 8.6. I mixed some with
bleach this afternoon, and that gave a stronger response, but still rather uneven.
Turmeric is also used ceremonially in its natural orange state.
And there's another reddish-orange powder, Ashthagandha powder which is
a mixture of things, mainly herbs/spices.
I'd still like to pin all this down. It can't be hard to make any of these, as people
have been doing it for thousands of years. I suspect that the cosmetics industry has
contributed some technology in recent years that give stronger colors without natural
ingredients, but that is only a guess.
And sandalwood paste, which is another thing entirely.
So, I don't know what to thing just now. |
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| Perhaps! I was quite mathematical about it when i very first started thinking about angles and counter balance. A few months later though, this never entered my mind again. My brain is noisy and logical, process oriented, its a relief to be able to shut it off and just practice. Mind you I'm a pretty spiritual person as well, which quite a lot of my collegues are not. That makes a difference most likely.
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State | Yes, I know I'm being a bit analytical about the whole thing, but that's
just how I understand things. It's not enough that it's red powder, it's
more like what is in the powder, how to I make it, and what, precisely,
is the significance of the powder.
I guess it really got my attention.
Shakti!
... bg
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| i know that this may be considered 'sacrilige' by some, but when we did the diwali puja at the yoga studio--lead by two of our indian (hindu) ladies, they used tumeric and dark paprika. i asked, and they said usually, you use 'red tumeric' (as they called it), but as it was relatively hard for them to come by in the supply that their personal, home festivities demanded, many in the community had converted to using paprika (much easier to come by).
so, every ganesh, laksmi, and everyone else on the altar got a tumeric/paprika mix. |
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| I'm sure they didn't mind!
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State | zoebird - 2006-03-02 12:09 PM
i know that this may be considered 'sacrilige' by some, but when we did the diwali puja at the yoga studio--lead by two of our indian (hindu) ladies, they used tumeric and dark paprika. i asked, and they said usually, you use 'red tumeric' (as they called it), but as it was relatively hard for them to come by in the supply that their personal, home festivities demanded, many in the community had converted to using paprika (much easier to come by).
so, every ganesh, laksmi, and everyone else on the altar got a tumeric/paprika mix.
Thanks, Zoe. I pulled the paprika off the shelf tonight, and it is remarkable close
in color to the red turmeric I made with a baking soda solution. It's not nearly the
pleasant fragance of turmeric, however.
I'm going to pick up a small bag of [garden] lime eventually to see whether I can
recreate the traditional preparation of red turmeric. Turmeric seems to be quite
soluble in isopropanol (rubbing alcohol), whereas lime and baking soda are rather
water soluble, so I'll have to experiment with both the concentration and the solvent.
If only I had more time....
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