Thursday, December 24th, 2015

Thursday, December 24^th, 2015
Toronto, Ontario

At Christmas Eve

What do a bunch of Krishna monks and followers do on Christmas Eve?

They chant!

A group of us were invited to the city’s oldest Hindu community centre, the Hindu Prarthana Samaj near High Park. We were invited to a program to let loose the holy name in their large meeting room with their many murtis (deities). Hanuman, the powerful body-built demigod that so many people adore, was set in his shrine. He seemed to be loving the chanting. The Divine couples, Radha Krishna and Lakshmi Narayan, were also smiling in the presence of the sacred sound. There was also the quadruple deities of the Ramayan, centrepieced by Sita-Ram. They seemed delighted.

Prominent, also, was the Siva Lingam, the deity of creative potency. It was difficult for me to discern whether Siva’s manifestation of prowess was joyful at the sound, but judging by the current company, the lingam must have also been elated.

When I entered the room at 6:40 PM I could hear my Bengali friend, Ajamil, singing. As usual, he excites people with his special kind of 'spunk.' Then, Pradyumna from Montreal wooed with a mystical melody when he lead. I took the role of the dance motivator. Yes, for Christmas, it’s probably better to dance to the music than to walk, unless, someone is singing Silent Night while trekking somewhere, and allowing its soft projection to move in the fresh evening air. It was unmistakably a good celebration.

May the Source be with you!

5 km