From Darkness to Light

  ॐ असतो मा सद्गमय । तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय । मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय । ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

Om Asato Maa Sad-Gamaya | Tamaso Maa Jyotir-Gamaya |
Mrityor-Maa Amritam Gamaya | Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||

Om, Lead us from Unreality (of Transitory Existence) to the Reality (of the Eternal Self),
Lead us from the Darkness (of Ignorance) to the Light (of Spiritual Knowledge),
Lead us from the Fear of Death to the Knowledge of Immortality.
Om Peace, Peace, Peace.

Navatatri started on Friday.  Navaratri is a nine day festival honoring Goddesses Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati.  Durga destroys our negative tendencies; Lakshmi brings prosperity; and Saraswati is the embodiment of knowledge.  On Friday, I went to a friend’s house for an event and she had a Navaratri altar set up.  The altar was so stunning that I gasped when I walked into the room.  I heard the same reaction from other people.

Later that night, I discovered that the Weekly Photo Challenge was to take a nighttime picture.  I decided that when I returned to my friend’s house the next day, I would take this series of pictures.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

The only light in this first one is from two oil lamps:

Next, we turned on the back lighting:

And then full light!  This picture below is of the main altar, but there were smaller ones set up against the whole wall.

Every object on the altar has meaning.  Some of the statues are traditional, others are handmade.  Below are close up pictures of some of them.  If you click on one, the gallery will turn into a slide show.