960. T A M I L ` B H O G I ` A N D ` B H A K T H I ` B O N F I R E! Poem by Raman Savithiri

Comes once in a year, festival Bhogi;
Homes sweet are scanned thoroughly;
Amassed out are ugly and useless outfits;
Consumed they are in bonfire flames!

Dwellings then are decked with
Fresh fragrant flowers from forest;
Golden grains gush out giant granaries;
People put on new dresses on Pongal!

Amma,

Let your lotus feet step into my heart once a year at least,
To purge away all unwanted names and forms utter waste;
Let your pure love make a blazing bonfire and burn away,
All these useless thoughts which make my mind sway!

Let your lotus hand pour ever green Bhakthi sweet;
Let pure devotion fill all nook and corner in my heart;
Help me to undress petty ‘I’ off my little soul tiresome;
Help me to put cosmic ‘I’ on and make it handsome!

19-08-07 submitted on 15-01-08

(Mata Amritananda Mayi Devi visits Madurai to give dharsan to devotees on every 14th or 15th Jan. People would go and take her divine hug to remove their samskaras and to receive blessings.)