What’s🆙with🇮🇳Indo🆚Pak🇵🇰encounters🏏&🙃mahā-laya🚀amā-vasyā🌚⁉️

After🔞➕2️⃣years, 👣mahālaya🛕pakṣā🌔winds🏁🆙within💠11.5° vicinity of our🧙own🧙🏿‍♂️latent🧙🏿‍♀️ultra-spiritual🐍nature i.e., kētu⚕️for the🥈second time since 2005, though having been even closer@4️⃣° in 2023, of course causing eclipses in both cases, by definition‼️

But this year (2025) is even more special as our📲own🟢mercurial🧑‍🎤intellect🧠also🤔con-joins🤖in🤩the🎉party🥳@≈7️⃣° proximity for a super-rare wisdom outburst, aspected by our own🫸 persevering😣patience🫷on its own day & with our emotional🥹mind in 1️⃣ of our patience’s own 3️⃣ constellations🌌/🧭nakṣa-trās🛡️(↗️⬆️↖️uttara👼🏽bhādra😇padā🦶🏿) too⚠️ Are you ready for this weekend’s rave: the jñānā-vi-jñānā💃🏾Saturday🕺🏿night🪩fever⁉️

Coming🆙tomorrow is a sequel to the 2023 extravaganza, which befitted the world’s🗺️largest🏏cricket🏟️stadium: ofcoz THE🇮🇳vs🇵🇰🏏🌏🏆@the magnificent narēndra mōdi🏟️stadium on the🏞️banks of sābar-mati in āśā-pal̥l̥i, literally “an aspiring village,” which degenerated into karnā-vati, following the exploits of the dark hero of mahā-bhārat, & further into amdāvād, christened after a darker villain, Ahmed Khan, before being resurrected by the living legend of a global statesman after whom the stadium is now named & an enduring diamond💎, whose diamond💍jubilee (universally recognized as the 75th birthday originally, before UK🇬🇧Queen👸🏻Victoria confused it with her 60th in 1897) was commemorated by leaders all over the world, with their felicitous outpourings towards the unprecedented legacy being re-ushered in, by a💎diamond, out of a depleted♦️diamond, for every little💍diamond, crystallizing, maturing & shining in the near future❣️ 

Indeed, only a sharp diamond tool can cut another raw diamond… admittedly, “India🇮🇳Shining” was a premature campaign (for the potent seeds & bountiful tubers cautiously sown by pūjya aṭal̥jī) by svargīya🪦dīrgha-darṣī🪬śrī pramōdbhai mahājanjī, but “bhārat🪷blooming” ain’t much ahead of its Self-realization of mukti, mōkṣā or nir-vāṇā, via Self-sufficiency: atma-nir-bhar-tā‼️

As I continued to compose & edit this article, Saturday has quietly slipped into Sunday. So, pardon my anachronistic usages of “day before, y’day, today, tomorrow & day after⚠️” But that ACC Super 4️⃣ encounter is only in the🥈2nd half of the day‼️ In the🥇first half, we’ll be fully occupied with the☠️mahā-laya🌚amāvasyā⚱️celebrations, as part of anextended weekend of logical spiritual evolution: Yes, it was bhādra-pada māsa śiva-rātri last night (Friday) & ghāta catur-daśi tonight (apt for tarpanam̐ dedicated to those who’ve passed away unnaturally such as the many martyrs amongst our🛕mandir & mūrti🧿saviours, freedom fighters, Op🩸sindūr‘s bhāratīya armed forces, NDRF & homicide/suicide/accident or natural calamity fatalties too).

🙀Believe😱it😳or🙊not‼️ I’m celebrating ghāta catur-daśi 2025 in🇮🇩bāl̥ī🏝️as śanaiś-cara🪐\śani-vāra💫tumpék-laṇḍép#️⃣#️⃣@pura🛕taman🥻kémūḍā🪕saras-vati🏞️. Thanks🙏to being graciously hosted by the👑Royal🤴🏻Family👸🏻of⚕️Ubud🧎🏻‍♂️Water💦Palace🏯this🌅morning🌄 (Saturday, September 20, 2025), I was privileged & honoured as the only “foreigner” to witness holy seers at pura🛕taman🥻kémūḍā🪕saras-vati🏞️ to perform the ceremonies for💫tumpék-laṇḍép#️⃣. 💫tumpék-laṇḍép#️⃣ is a ceremony performed by the sanātana dharmā community throughout🇮🇩bāl̥ī🏝️, with blessings typically conducted by local village priests (known as pemangku) & by individuals within their own family compounds, rather than a major public event featuring prominent holy men. 

It is important to note that💫tumpék-laṇḍép#️⃣ was celebrated earlier this year on February 22, 2025, according to the🇮🇩bāl̥ī🏝️nese pāvukōṇ calendar. The tumpék ceremonies, including💫tumpék-laṇḍép#️⃣, occur every 210 days. Our residence for 3️⃣ weeks now, the pura🛕taman🥻kémūḍā🪕saras-vati🏞️, 1️⃣ of the most prominent temples in ubūd, conducts its major temple✌️biannual🎊celebration, or pioḍāl̥aṇ, on💫tumpék-laṇḍép#️⃣ when it occurs on a Saturday (śani🪐vārā), & though this already happened in Feb 2025, it happened again today, right at the beginning of our trip, & that too totally unplanned from our intellectual🧐point🎯of👀view. 

Here is a detailed description of the 💫tumpék-laṇḍép#️⃣ ceremonies as they were, are & will be traditionally performed in🇮🇩bāl̥ī🏝️at temples like our pura🛕taman🥻kémūḍā🪕saras-vati🏞️. 

Significance of💫tumpék-laṇḍép#️⃣

The word tumpék means "to arrive," & laṇḍép means "sharp⚠️" Philosophically, 💫tumpék-laṇḍép#️⃣is a day to focus on sharpening the mind (laṇḍépiṅg iḍép) & sharpening one's wisdom, & is dedicated to🐂🐄paśu-pati🧜‍♂️, a manifestation of our own suprem Self, “iḍā saṅgh hyaṅg vidhi vāsā,” of course transliterated & pronounced quite differently by today’s bāl̥inese, as is the case with most ancient, intercontinentally-raging & colloquialised languages. As witnessed by us, the ceremony also involves blessing all metal objects, from heirloom kērīs (traditional daggers) to modern vehicles & appliances, as a sign of gratitude for their role in human life. 

The ceremony at pura🛕taman🥻kémūḍā🪕saras-vati🏞️

While ceremonies are occurring throughout the day today & till almost midnight tonight, here’s a general sequence of events that’ve taken place@the temple on this thankful day of💫tumpék-laṇḍép#️⃣:

• Morning prayers@the temple: The community of ubūd gathered for special invocations & offerings@the village temple in the morning hours.
• Special offerings: Elaborate offerings, including sesayut (a type of offering representing victory over worldly problems) & other arrangements of rice, fruit, & flowers, was prepared & presented.
• Purification by purōhits: Local priests (pèlngku) conducted rituals such as sam̐kal̥pā, karanyāsā, aṅganyāsā & arcaṇā, almost identical to the ones back in bhārat, to bless the assembled items. This includes chanting mantrās, ringing a small🔔bell, & sprinkling💦sacred💧water (toya ning).
• Individual blessings: After the communal prayers, families performed blessings on their own metal possessions. Vehicles were adorned with decorations made from woven palm leaves called tāmiaṅg & sam̐piān. 

👐Blessings🙌withIN💠private compounds

Following (& also in conjunction with) the temple ceremony, families performed rites@their homes:

• Ceremonial decorations: Family members hung woven palm-leaf ornaments on their cars, motorcycles, & other metal items.
• Holy water: The items were sprinkled with holy water & flowers to purify them & invite divine blessings of who else but our Self for the temporarily-endowed BMI🧰’s safety & prosperity.
• Specific invocations: Invocations are offered to saṅgh hyaṅg🐂🐄paśu-pati🧜‍♂️to ensure the tools & vehicles are used for constructive purposes. 

The philosophical meaning

The ceremony is not about worshipping the metal objects themselves, but rather giving thanks to the divine force that animates & enables human intellect to create these useful tools. By sharpening the mind (laṇḍépiṅg iḍép), the🇮🇩bāl̥ī🏝️nese majority of sanātana dharmā seekers seek intelligence to overcome inner enemies like ignorance & poverty & to make wise decisions. 

This same event event in bāl̥ī, known as caturdaś śrāddh back home🏡in bhārat, broke into mahālaya amāvasyā today i.e., 🌞Sun☀️day@12:16AM itself & will then flow seamlessly into the sacred śarad nava-rātri@1:23AM tomorrow (Monday) in namma bengalūrū, with only slight change in timings at other places, even as we in bāl̥ī will enjoy an extended mahāl̥ayā for☝️one more day. While all🆕moons🌚are confluences of our🌑emotional🥹mind with🌞ourSelf🕉️, the annual mahālaya amāvasyās are extra special as they happen in our♍️virgin🧜🏼‍♀️intellectual treasure trove. 2023 Oct 14th night’s once-in-18-year opportunity was far more potent than the 2005 one too, with the ongoing 2025 Sep 21–22 not left much behind. Redeem it.

Wish y’all a deeply meditative 🧘🏻 & 🪘 rhythmic 🥁 dissolution into the absolute nothingness 🕳 <mahā-laya amāvasyā> 🌚 of inexplicable dark matter & energy field. Immerse yourself in this video all throughout the ongoing weekend to re-cognize that🧘🏽‍♂️meditation🧘‍♀️isn’t merely an activity/inactivity for which a few minutes is allotted everyday. It isn’t an effort of concentration either. Instead, it’s effortless de-concentration in witnessing life as it is. Irrespective of our age, status, gender, denomination etc. & irrespective of what we’re doing or not doing, we ought to be (& can effortlessly be) in a meditative state 24x7 throughout life.