Hare Krishna!All Glories to the Lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada! All Gloriest to Guru Dev! All glories to the assembled devotees!I had a question concerning a few pictures I have seen, and something I had heard about in the temple while attending the program one day. In a few pictures I have noticed that on the Deities of Lord Krishna and sometimes Lord Narashima Their Bodies look to be covered in something. At times it appears to look somewhat like sandalwood. On at least one occasion I remember seeing a picture of a Deity of Lord Krishna which is normally Black in color appear to be covered in a blue material. One devotee at the temple I attend was speaking on special days of The Lord and very briefly mentioned this. She said that sometimes the Body of The Lord will be covered in Bhoga, usually some type of sweet something, then later be taken off and distributed as Mahaprasadam. I was just wondering if anyone could elaborate on this topic a little bit for me. When does this celebration normally occur? Which Deities is it appropriate to do it to? Is it ok to do it to ones home Deities? What is the substance normally made from? Is there any specific pastime of why this is done?Thank you in advance!Jai Nimai-Nitai!
You need to be a member of ISKCON Desire Tree | IDT to add comments!
I am not aware of deities being covered in bhoga. I am aware that during chandan yatra - summer months for 21 days beginnning Akshay Tritiya, the lord is covered with sandalwood paste. This is a pastime of the lord with the pure devotee Madhavendra Puri. At the time of covering the lord with chandan, its possible that they color the chandan for decoration purposes. That is what I have seen. It is possible to do this for home deities also. I do not color the chandan, but simply apply a coat of chandan during that time of the year to soothe them from the heat.
Replies
Hare Krsna,
PAMHO.
I am not aware of deities being covered in bhoga. I am aware that during chandan yatra - summer months for 21 days beginnning Akshay Tritiya, the lord is covered with sandalwood paste. This is a pastime of the lord with the pure devotee Madhavendra Puri. At the time of covering the lord with chandan, its possible that they color the chandan for decoration purposes. That is what I have seen. It is possible to do this for home deities also. I do not color the chandan, but simply apply a coat of chandan during that time of the year to soothe them from the heat.
Haribol,
Your servant,
Rashmi