Flowers of India

 It is so amazing to see piles and piles of garlands. The thing I absolutely love about India is that flowers are just as important as food, water, and fire. These things are offered back to the God’s everyday as a way of devotion

 I had a chance to help make garlands with the ladies in Mayapur, they have at least a dozen large 6 ft  golden deities (statues of various gods) and each one gets a fresh garland to wear everyday. One day I saw them made entirely of Dahlias.

Many nights in Vrindaban we went temple hopping, running around to these tiny ancient temples to get a final glimpse of a favorite deity  By the end of the night we would be piled high with garlands around our own necks. There is really nothing like it, a flower hug, of slight weight and smell, it made me deliriously happy.

 And then the festivals….  flower petals to throw, garlands adorning everything, patterns, colors, intricacies. It is unreal.