I visited Kashi way back in 2010. That visit was inspired because I had been listening to this Kala Bhairava Ashtakam bhajan on loop. And slowly I wanted to see this Kashi Kala Bhairava whom the bhajan praises deeply. One of the major festivals associated with this Kala Bhairava is the Ashtami that comes once every year in the lunar month of Kartigai, typically November. The waning moon 8th phase. Kartik vad ashtami.

I had thought of visiting Kashi for this festival once, but to be honest, thinking about the crowds was really daunting. In fact, my lone visit to the Kala Bhairava temple there in 2010, was fraught with long lines, lots of Indian men and heckling.

Now that I have shifted to Coimbatore, very happily, I got a chance to visit the Kala Bhairava Ashtami event at the Isha Crematorium in Nanjundapuram. I had visited this crematorium earlier, because I had heard so much about it from other Isha meditators. Apparently, it was like a garden. And a lot of folks, even non-Isha folks, have been telling me that crematoriums like a garden is a big deal for India, as a lot of them are dilapidated and dirty places.

Here’s the video from my earlier visit here,

The Kala Bhairava Ashtami pooja itself is a short one, but the entire event is fairly interesting. Here are some photos,

It started off with a bunch of volunteers arriving from Isha Yoga Center. They sat in a circle to ask this Swami a ton of questions around death and rituals. Which Swami answered well.
Later when I met Swami he called it “gossiping” 😀 I found that really interesting.

They wanted the place to be really festive. Already a few rangolis were made, but many of us joined in a made more rangolis after the QnA session.

At this time they were playing Nirvana Shatkam on loop, also a beautiful bhajan.

My rangoli 🙂

The shrine also being adorned with flowers, lamps and other offerings.

The Kala Bhairava Pooja conducted by a bhramachary. Interesting to note that the bhramacharies are to the left of the shrine, on the right you see the crematorium staff workers who are also participating in the entire process including blowing the conch, offering the deity, lighting lamps and such.
Traditionally crematorium workers are ostracized in society, here they are brought into normal staff worker fold.

The pooja itself was a short chanting of the Kala Bhairava Ashtakam and some offerings. After that everyone went to bow down individually, so that took quite a while. And the kala bhairava ashtakam was playing on loop during this time so very meditative and enjoyable pooja.

The Isha volunteers had some packed food with them which they offered to the shrine. However, food is not generally eaten at a crematorium so they set up the distribution near the gate. I also got to partake in it 🙂

Later I went and sat at this shrine for a while. The Isha folks had left in their buses so it was much emptier and quiet. Two dead bodies arrived soon after, I was interested to see the process that they would follow. The Nirvana Shatkam was played in loop for them, making the environment much more holistic.

It was interesting to note that there were many women folk who accompanied the two bodies. Not sure if it is common in this region.

I meditated for a while and took in the ambiance.

That was my kala bhairava ashtami experience. Looking forward to more 🙂