On Sunday I lost my 'D' crochet hook at the temple, it was my own fault really, I should have never carried my work with me in a frazzled and overwhelmed condition. I almost lost my cell phone as well... recovered it quickly though. Since then, I've sparsely worked on the multi-personality scarf and Elise is taking a little vacation.
On other news, I started a new project for the Deities. Chandaneswar prabhu purchased a couple yards of creamy silky-soft brocade fabric and a dazzling sheer stretch lace for new Janmastami/Balaram Purnima outfits. Which brings me to some good/bad news. Bad for me, great mercy for someone else. I will be sending off my choto Jagannath Baladev Subhadra deities with a close friend of mine. She will be adopting Them and taking Them home on Balaram Purnima. I want to finish the new outfits for Them before tomorrow as a "house-warming/don't be pissed off at me for giving you away, I still love you more than my very life; this is more heart-breaking than you'll ever know" gift. So far, I'm very pleased with the materials and it's working up to be a great outfit. I will post pictures of the outfit, later today hopefully, when they are completed. I'll also post photos of my darling JBS deities; as much as I love Them, I can not take care of so many Deities, not reasonably, anyhow.
While I was in Sri Mayapur, I acquired two sets of JBS deities at an extraordinary price; the problem was that I only needed one set for a friend. We ended up purchasing the both, 6" and 4" JBS as we couldn't get a reasonable price elsewhere and decided to keep the 4" set for ourselves. Our choto-Jagannath deities came to us over five years ago and it was all due to the famous Hurricane Katrina. When Katrina hit, New Orleans took shelter in different towns and cities, fleeing the scene was not possible for the temple deities and many sevaks, pujaris and cooks stayed behind to care for Radha Radha-Kanta, Gaura Nitai and Jagannath Baladev Subhadra. After a couple weeks the devotees called for help; Dallas devotees sent out a rescue crew and subsequently, New Orleans temple and devotees took refuge in Radha Kalachandji Dham. The New Orleans deities stayed in Dallas for about five months and returned home in January 21, 2006-- I still remember the date and occurrences to this day. There was a huge festival welcoming the Deities, many devotees shed tears of love, some trembled and others, unable to control their emotions shouted in joy. They embraced us and one another, crying and sobbing, as if reunited with a long-lost relative or dear friend. There was a feast, fire yajña and celebrations with an award ceremony, plaques and gifts for the heroism, hospitality and bravery of Dallas devotees. While everyone was delighted upon the return of Their Lordships, I felt excruciating pain; having been enamoured by the charm and beauty of Sri Sri Radha Radha-Kanta, I found it unbearable to be separated from Them. During the award ceremony, we were given a small 2.5" set of JBS deities, we were thanked and blessed many times over by grateful Vaisnavs the entire weekend. When I returned home, I accepted this small souvenir and token of love from the devotees wholeheartedly and began worship of Their Lordships immediately. JBS had no clothes, ornaments or crowns and none were available in our gift-shop, that is when I first started sewing Deity outfits and jewelry-making.
Now, They will be accepting the services of a wonderfully sweet Vaisnavi; hopefully, I'll still get to visit them and render service frequently. I'll have to have a little chat with Their Lordships before They set off to Their new home... I hope they don't give my friend a hard time since They have a history of naughty behavior. More importantly, I hope I don't freak out and cry when the time comes to send Them away. They will be sorely missed but I also want to capture this pain of separation and engage it fully into my smarana bhajan.
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| Ladhu Gopal, Choto JBS and larger JBS |
On other news, I started a new project for the Deities. Chandaneswar prabhu purchased a couple yards of creamy silky-soft brocade fabric and a dazzling sheer stretch lace for new Janmastami/Balaram Purnima outfits. Which brings me to some good/bad news. Bad for me, great mercy for someone else. I will be sending off my choto Jagannath Baladev Subhadra deities with a close friend of mine. She will be adopting Them and taking Them home on Balaram Purnima. I want to finish the new outfits for Them before tomorrow as a "house-warming/don't be pissed off at me for giving you away, I still love you more than my very life; this is more heart-breaking than you'll ever know" gift. So far, I'm very pleased with the materials and it's working up to be a great outfit. I will post pictures of the outfit, later today hopefully, when they are completed. I'll also post photos of my darling JBS deities; as much as I love Them, I can not take care of so many Deities, not reasonably, anyhow.
While I was in Sri Mayapur, I acquired two sets of JBS deities at an extraordinary price; the problem was that I only needed one set for a friend. We ended up purchasing the both, 6" and 4" JBS as we couldn't get a reasonable price elsewhere and decided to keep the 4" set for ourselves. Our choto-Jagannath deities came to us over five years ago and it was all due to the famous Hurricane Katrina. When Katrina hit, New Orleans took shelter in different towns and cities, fleeing the scene was not possible for the temple deities and many sevaks, pujaris and cooks stayed behind to care for Radha Radha-Kanta, Gaura Nitai and Jagannath Baladev Subhadra. After a couple weeks the devotees called for help; Dallas devotees sent out a rescue crew and subsequently, New Orleans temple and devotees took refuge in Radha Kalachandji Dham. The New Orleans deities stayed in Dallas for about five months and returned home in January 21, 2006-- I still remember the date and occurrences to this day. There was a huge festival welcoming the Deities, many devotees shed tears of love, some trembled and others, unable to control their emotions shouted in joy. They embraced us and one another, crying and sobbing, as if reunited with a long-lost relative or dear friend. There was a feast, fire yajña and celebrations with an award ceremony, plaques and gifts for the heroism, hospitality and bravery of Dallas devotees. While everyone was delighted upon the return of Their Lordships, I felt excruciating pain; having been enamoured by the charm and beauty of Sri Sri Radha Radha-Kanta, I found it unbearable to be separated from Them. During the award ceremony, we were given a small 2.5" set of JBS deities, we were thanked and blessed many times over by grateful Vaisnavs the entire weekend. When I returned home, I accepted this small souvenir and token of love from the devotees wholeheartedly and began worship of Their Lordships immediately. JBS had no clothes, ornaments or crowns and none were available in our gift-shop, that is when I first started sewing Deity outfits and jewelry-making.
Now, They will be accepting the services of a wonderfully sweet Vaisnavi; hopefully, I'll still get to visit them and render service frequently. I'll have to have a little chat with Their Lordships before They set off to Their new home... I hope they don't give my friend a hard time since They have a history of naughty behavior. More importantly, I hope I don't freak out and cry when the time comes to send Them away. They will be sorely missed but I also want to capture this pain of separation and engage it fully into my smarana bhajan.
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