Holidays & Observances: Rama Ekadasi
First posted on WordPress here.
For all the posts in this Holidays & Observances series, go here.
For prologue on Ekadasi, go to the very first post here.
Prologue: I have been meaning to write a series about Holidays and Observances that we (my family and friends) follow in both India (my birth country) and USA (my adopted country). This series is dedicated to those. On a side note, perhaps I might witness some of the celebrations from other countries as well that may get their way into this series. :)
The first Ekadasi for the month of November is Rama Ekadasi which was on Nov 8th 24th this year (2023). On this day Lord Vishnu is worshipped in his avatar of Rama. Devotees fast on this day and pray for their sufferings to ease.
As I mentioned in the very first Ekadasi post, if you put the religion aside, allowing your body to fast twice a month is an excellent way of cleansing and detoxifying to aid in repair and rejuvenation. I spent the evening of the day in a very interesting poetry reading - Ekphrastic Poetry reading - Poetry inspired by artwork. The poets read their poems based on the artwork of another artist given to them. Not necessarily the poet and the artist saw the same thing. Pictured is a poem by Bessy Rena inspired by the artwork behind.
