RAJ1106 Prompt Number 3. The temple is a fundamental part of my life.

I am fond of visiting it each and every weekend for enrichment and other magnificent things it provides. There are numerous religious events that I love participating in on every possible occurrence. Even in my diminutive lifespan of eleven years I have participated in numerous enlightening religious proceedings. The following are just a small amount. When I was not even born, I attended a religious event. When my mother was seven months pregnant I attended her Seemantham. My mother and I invoked in the ancient vedic tradition whose function is to format the brain in an optimal condition. The priests recited relics and verses known as Udhagasanthi or Uthakashanthi Japam in a soft but powerful mantra recital that lasted for about an hour and a half. On the completion of this japam, my mother was bathed in cold holy water, without the addition of any warm or hot water. This took place late in the evening whereupon the child in the womb (me) shook and jerked from the shock of the freezing water. After about 14 months I attended another sacred festival. This one was to be my homam for my first birthday also known as Ayush Homam. It was obviously performed on my first birthday - not as per birth date, but the day of constellation that falls on the same Indian Calender month in the following year of birth. After the sanitization of the place where the Ayush Homam was held, i.e. Balaji Temple, the priests were invited to call upon the Lord Brahma, through their prayers. The narrations were done by three such priests, intoning the Ayush Sooktham in accord. Then, the Lords of birth Nakshatra and Kula Devatha were summoned. The performer sat facing east, where the Agni Kundam

was set in front of him in the center. The performer said many slokhas. After the Homam, I was given the remaining cooked rice as a Prasadam, added wtih sugar. Then, my head was disinfected in order to liberate it of the grime and filth that was obtained in my mother's womb. After this my ears were pierced to conclude this homam. At approximately age 3, I partook in yet another religious occurrence. It is acknowledged as Aksharabhyasam. During this pooja the priest spoke an array of different prayers and then made me write on a platter covered with rice. I wrote OM and the basic calligraphy of Tamil, English, and Hindi.

These were the main religious events that I participated in one time of my life but there are many other religious events that I went to Balaji Temple every year for. The religious events that I have talked about so far only happen once in your life but the following happen annually.

On August 2nd, 2012 I changed my poonal for the first time at the temple during the religious event Upakarma or Avani Avittam. The first step was a 'Prayashchita', a prayer to atone the sins. I intoned an assortment of different Sanskrit prayers. At the conclusion of the pooja I wore the new Yajnopaveetam after saying I put on the sacred thread which is highly pure, is inseparable from God, is capable of prolonging life and is the foremost in the accomplishment of a Brahmana. May such pure Yajnopaveetam bring strength and dignity."

Every Diwali I ignite small clay lamps filled with oil to signify the triumph of good over evil. I keep these lamps on during the night. I come to the temple to pray and watch all the firecrackers that are burst to drive away all malevolent spirits. During last years Ganesh Chaturthi I was one of the many kids who performed the pooja at Balaji Temple. I followed along with the priest as he recited the mantras with his thunderous and sonorous voice. I was provided with a Panchapaatram and Uddarini and reproduced what the holy priest said and did. Afterwards, I along with the other kids took my terracotta Ganesha and immersed the divine statue into the pond outside of the temple. Another important religious event that I avidly participated in was Gokulashtami. During this function, I looped around the temple singing bajans and chanting mantras. I had learnt many bajans throughout the Summer Camp and also during the weekend singing lessons at the temple. I practiced each and every day until Gokulashtami. We danced using kolatttams while circling around the temple. When we reached the starting point of our journey we used a bat to break open a clay pot of butter as Krishna would have during the days of his youth. In conclusion, I adore visiting the temple for its assortment and multiplicity of different religious and cultural events. During the last eleven years of my short life, the religious functions that I have attended at the temple have enlightened me beyond belief. Through the years the temple has become more and more entwined with my current life giving me a deep sense of peace and sancticity. While other things in my life might change, coming to the temple for religious functions will not.