ABHISHEKAM

All religions teach that rituals are very important to get devotion to God. The religions or lands may vary but this belief of importance of rituals is stressed in all faiths. Our ancestors have given us the gift of the rules of community worship in a Temple for the welfare of the people of the community as a whole and the prosperity of the world. These rituals not only connect with our spiritual souls, but they do affect us in a scientific way as well.
The basic and essential principle behind any ritual is the total surrender to God who fills the universe by His glory and is present everywhere. And one such ritualistic practice in Hinduism is- Abhishekam.Abhishekam is the process of bathing the deity. It is a ceremony that is conducted to a deity normally in the form of statue (murti). The deity is invocated by meditating upon and chanting Sanskrit mantras. The deity once present in the murti is then given a foot bath and their hands washed before being worshiped. Various substances are then poured over the deity. Five of these substances – milk, yoghurt, ghee, honey and sugar represent the five elements respectively – water, earth, fire, air and ether. A mixture containing all of these five called (Panchamrit) is also poured over the deity after the initially five have been offered. Whilst each of these substances are being offered, various Sanskrit mantras are chanted asking the deity to accept these items. By offering to the deity these five substances, we are also asking the deity to purify these five elements- water, air, fire, earth and ether, not just in the space where the ceremony is taking place but also within ourselves. The five elements also correspond to the five senses accordingly water-vision, earth- taste, fire-hearing, ether-smell and air- touch. Thereby when we offer these five elements, we also are asking for the purification of the five senses.The process of abhishekam has scientific benefits as well, during this process the offerings are gently poured over the Murti, divine blessings radiate out towards all those present, providing protection, purification and spiritual elevation. These sacred ceremonies purify the Earth’s atmosphere, uplift the community, and contribute to the health and prosperity of the individual.The panchamrit also helps in health care delivery for the health and welfare of mother and child. The idol of Lord is bathed with panchamrit and then, this panchamrit is later distributed as Prasad to the devotees. Panchamrit is a religious symbol of the Hindus. A mixture of these five (panch) things is necessarily present in our religious pujas. There is one conception, or faith behind all this. It is only our own development, which takes place at the conclusion of puja. The five symbols of Panchamrit become the guide or beacons of the evolution of our soul.
Milk in the panchamrit is the symbol of purity. Our lives, characters and actions should be pure. Yoghurt is the symbol of love. It is Yoghurt (Dahi's) quality that it makes others like itself. The intention behind giving Dahi to one's loved one who is travelling overseas is the same, i.e., do not forget your family's love for you; make others like yourself in foreign lands; let others take a leaf from your life which should be an example of Indian culture, so that the whole world can be blessed. Ghee is prepared from milk; our bodies are nourished from ghee in our food. Its greasiness cannot be easily cleansed. The meaning of this is that your life should be such that it should (give nourishment) develop the community so that it prospers and it should not be diseased or defeated by any outside attacks. The deep meaning of being your culture's protector or defender is also evident in this symbol. Now comes the Honey. Of course, we know that it is sweet. But at the same time we know that many honeybees have collected this honey from many flowers and so from a medical point of view it is one which gives strength. So this symbol tells us to adopt these qualities in our lives. We can only face the evil forces of this Kaliyug if our society is strong.
In the end comes the Sugar-candy. This sugar-candy which is prepared from sugar cane is no doubt sweet. It is the symbol of sweetness or love. One may have everything in life but if love or sweetness is lacking then there is no pleasure in life. Man is a social animal and he should not forget that if he wants to live with others in the society then he should be kind in speech and only then the sweetness of life permeates in him. There is a deep meaning hidden in this symbol. Our ego should evaporate as we perform prayers to God. This is to say that we become just like sugar candy which merges with milk and makes it sweet.Hence,we do not reap any benefits simply by performing pujas with panchamrit but we have to understand the deep meanings behind all these symbols and practice them in our lives for the welfare of an individual, community, country and the whole world.