58. worship
figure 5
Radha looking at the bhramara bee, with other cowherd women in
attendance. Painting on cloth by Bihari Lal Chaturvedi, Brindavan.
Photo by Robyn Beeche.
platform was prepared from the sand of the Yamuna River and decorated with small
statues of Radha’s companions, as well as flowers, banana-wood carvings, and aus-
picious patterns drawn with colored powders. In the center was an eight-petaled
lotus made of banana wood. To dedicate a shrine to a deity, an image is needed, so
a photograph of the bhramara taken at its first appearance was placed in a silver
frame and kept to one side until needed by the priest. During the first part of the rit-
ual, all went as planned. But then, just at the moment when the priest asked for the
photograph of the bhramara to be placed on the platform, the bhramara itself was
sighted. It flew in again from the north and landed on the ground next to the oc-
tagonal platform, opposite the priests. A devotee picked it up carefully on a leaf and
placed it on the platform, where it walked directly to the central lotus and installed
itself underneath the flower. There it stayed quietly throughout the rest of the cer-
emony.