Maha Shivaratri | Sheri Vandermolen

Like an infinitely curling fractal swirl,
the Shiv Mandir queue
coils from frenetic main road
to priapic vibhutied-lingam entryway,
snaking underground,
emerging at the shoe-drop,
and weaving past
the Möbius crowd-control railings,
where worshipers place one coin
in each of 108 brass bowls
while rhythmically chanting
the Om Namah Shivaya mantra,
before winding upward,
to the towering Ganesha, then down,
to tie a red-yellow string on the wishing tree
and shuffle, reverentially, through
the dark man-made caves housing other linga —
stone, wood, and plastic
animatronic pop-up phalluses
Walt Disney never imagined.

The visitors’ celebration of Maha Shivaratri
(held the fourteenth night of the waning moon,
in the lunar month of Phalguna —
February/March)
will culminate with pouring milk on a lingam,
lighting a ghee candle to be circled in the air,
during an every-two-hour aarti fire ceremony,
and making puja offerings
(bilva and betel leaves, food, incense)
to the sixty-five-foot-high Shiva statue,
which calmly sits in lotus position
and spouts holy Ganga water,
while overseeing the devotees,
who seek endless blessings, meditative peace,
in the chaos of this sacred day.

Indian Review | Literature and Poetry | Author | Sheri Vandermolen is editor in chief of Time Being Books. From 2008 to 2014, she resided in India, exploring the subcontinent via camera and pen until her repatriation to California. Her verse pieces and photographs have appeared in various international journals, as well as in the anthology Veils, Halos and Shackles: International Poetry on the Oppression and Empowerment of Women.

Sheri Vandermolen is editor in chief of Time Being Books. From 2008 to 2014, she resided in India, exploring the subcontinent via camera and pen until her repatriation to California. Her verse pieces and photographs have appeared in various international journals, as well as in the anthology Veils, Halos and Shackles: International Poetry on the Oppression and Empowerment of Women.