Well being based on India's holiest river we thought it appropriate to have a blessing and naming ceremony. Conducted by a local Swamy (Holy Man), it took about an hour, we were taken to the Ganges through a forested path that was absolutely filled with yellow butterflies. Then based ourselves in the shade next to the river, while the Swanee brought out sticks, herbs, powered colours and oils and proceeded to build a fire. Thru a translator we were asked to join and while he read Hindi text from the book, every so often we added a mixture of oiled sawdust to the fire and chant a rehearsed word. Red strings were tied around our wrists with a dot applied to our foreheads.
Then we proceeded down to the river side and they girls were dipped in the chilly Ganges, and blessed.
This was such a wonderful thing to do!!!!!!!!!
here are the pics.
Aren't you afraid of diseases putting these babies in that dirty river and parading them around at such a young vulnerable age? I say this with no malice only as a concerned person worried about those new babies welfare.
ReplyDeleteThe river contains untreated sewage, cremated remains, chemicals and disease-causing microbes, the researchers said. Cows wade in the river.
ReplyDeleteUhm. I can appreciate the spiritualism of the moment, but my brother lives in Mobile, AL, USA, and a number of people last year contracted really bad skin diseases in the Mobile Bay Area because hospitals were/are illegally dumping live bio trash into the area. My brother´s friend swam into a pool of this muck and ended up in the hospital with a nasty skin infection that evidently could have ¨eaten him alive¨!. Soooo .... babies in the Ganges.... I know you guys are into adventure which is great, but ...!
ReplyDeleteUnderstand the concern, that is why we did this in the Himalayas before the river get contaminated in the India plains through the populated areas. Another factor was the 2 month monsoon season thus the 'white river' you see in the picture, which is in fact all the minerals from the surrounding mountainous areas. The girls had some drips of water from the ceremony and at the river side just their feet dipped in the river.
ReplyDeleteI too am aware of the polluted state of this river system and raised this concern with our doctor In Delhi, and this is the area he suggested best for the ceremony.
I think the girls have had enough adventure for a few weeks they are now safely at home, feeding, pooping, snuggling and loving life.
Very beautiful and symbolic. The girls are adorable. Congrats again guys!
ReplyDeleteA life lived in fear is a life half lived! Congratulations!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful thing to do! That last pic is def a mantlpiece picture!! I would love to do the same one day!
ReplyDeleteSam and Phil are wonderful, intelligent parents who are very protective of their girls. Trust me I just spent every day with them in Delhi!!! xxx
This is a fantastic experience for you as a new family that will be with you always, anyone knowing what you would go through to reach this time would appreciate the meaning to all you are doing. What a beautiful place to be at this time. Congratulations to you both for what is inspiring and restores some faith that maybe this world of ours can change and embrace all.
ReplyDeleteTo Sam and Philip, Hi!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the beautiful girls, they girls are blessed by the Mother Goddess herself with a prosperous life ahead!! The ceremony is beautiful and the girls are blessed by The Gods who are part of their heritage
To Anonymous,
This is the purest water on earth where the Ganges originates from in the Gangotri in the North. There is an equivalent of this pure origin of the Ganges higher north and in the East of India. This is the purest of water and it is bottled and worshipped in many homes in India including my own home. Unfortunately the only filth here is in your mind anonymous and I hope that you are as lucky as these girls to visit Rishikesh and Gangotri and purify your mind. India gave you your children so why say nasty things about its Gods and Goddesses. No one would say such things about your Gods. Yes there is impurity in the water down below and steps are being taken to counteract this. But this is not true of where Sam and Phil have been. Maybe its your ignorance but your hatred is just overwhelming and hope your Gods can give you some peace.
Mrs Rupa
How beautiful! It looks amazing, what a fantastic thing to do for your daughters. I would love to do this for my kids.
ReplyDeleteBravo! Totally cool ceremony and pictures that your girls will match with a story to cherish for a lifetime. Looks like a beautiful area of India...we'll have to put that on our list for our next visit!
ReplyDeleteLovley! Guys, are you home? How is it going? All the best from Germany!
ReplyDeleteLove it. Are you home?
ReplyDeleteWhy are the babies inside the bag? Isn't that a baby cruelty?
ReplyDeleteIt’s very nice to find articles like yours. I am glad I had the opportunity to read your article. I think it’s interesting, intelligent and very original. I hope you are going to write more.
ReplyDeleteMy Page : surrogacy in australia