Hanuman's birthday

On the day that Jakhu temple celebrated Hanuman Jayanti, we headed up to the mandir in the morning to participate in the festivities. We first went into the temple itself, which was decorated with shiny metallic tinsel hanging from the ceiling and a strand of marigolds draped over every image of Hanuman – and there are a lot of them. We got our tiliks, rose water, and a heaping handful of prasad (the typical hazelnuts and white candy, plus golden raisins). On our way out, we were given a generous helping of halwa in a bowl made of dried leaves (a typical way to serve chaat, as the bowl is biodegradable), along with a couple of large, sweet, cracker-like things to eat them with. The halwa was also popular with the monkeys, while the crackers were enjoyed thoroughly by the Sheru, the temple dog.

We were then invited to sit in the large hall that had just been built (it had been under construction since I was last here in December) to have a celebratory meal. We sat on the floor on a long jute mat and were given tin thali plates. Men with large buckets came around, spooning food onto the plates: first rice, then dal makhani, curry, and channa paneer. We ate with our hands, as no utensils were provided, and I managed to eat without making too much of a mess. (Watching my mom eat rice with her hands all these years helped with my technique a little bit.) It was a fantastic meal, especially the paneer dish, which was delicious. It had paneer and chick peas, with cashews and golden raisins, all in a coconut milk-based sauce. This was followed by a spoonful of kheer, which is better than any rice pudding you can get in the States. (We discovered that monkeys like kheer, too – we found one outside where the dishes were being washed, stealing leftovers off of unguarded plates.)

 

Afterwards, we went out to give the monkeys some birthday treats: apples, oranges, and stale rice and rotis.

When we were done celebrating, we went to sit on the steps that lead up to the temple grounds, while Danny did some observations and asked questions of people that were headed to and from the mandir. There are some fairly aggressive monkeys that hang out in that area, and it wasn’t too long before one of the females decided to try to take a swipe at my glasses. I felt a paw on my back, then a tug at my glasses. Because I wear one of those elastic bands that people wear to keep their glasses on during sports, my glasses more or less stayed where they were – leaving the confused monkey wondering why she hadn’t been successful.

As we were leaving, though, another monkey – perhaps the same one from before – made another attempt to snatch my glasses. Maybe I hadn’t adjusted the elastic band properly, or maybe the monkey was lucky in the angle at which she pulled the glasses. Either way, she made off with my glasses and ran into a tree with them. The prasad-wallah went after her with a packet of nuts and made the trade. My glasses were returned to me with the end of the right ear piece covered in monkey teeth marks – and the prasad guy was nice enough to not charge for the packet. The monkey, meanwhile, sat in the tree and enjoyed her nuts.

Is it auspicious if a monkey steals your glasses on Hanuman’s birthday?