Cannabis or ganja is associated with worship of the Hindu deity Shiva, who is popularly believed to like the hemp plant. Cannabis is offered to Shiva images, especially on Shivratri festival. This practice is particularly witnessed at the temples of Benares, Baidynath, & Tarakeswar.
Cannabis is not only offered to Shiva, but also consumed by Shaivite yogis. Ganja is smoked by some Shaivite devotees & cannabis itself is seen as a gift (prasad or offering) to Shiva to aid in sadhana (spiritual exercise). In India, the Aghora sect of Tantra & a significant section of Shaivite Tantrics ritually partake of marijuana as part of their sadhana. Some of the wandering ascetics in India known as sadhus smoke ganja out of a clay chillum.
& what does he feel when he is on such a high? Madhusudan closes his eyes in bliss as he recalls:
"We all know that God resides everywhere. But we see Him in bits & pieces. Cannabis makes me see God in His entirety. It is a sight of such unalloyed joy that tears well up in my eyes."
Ganga – Les Musiques du Gange 3xCD, Virgin Classics, 1998.
decryption codes in comments
decryption codes in comments
Tracklist –
Mantras (The Magical Formulas of Wandering Monks
The Bells of Gangotri
The Legend of the Ganges
Pungi (The Snake-charmer’s Tune)
Upanishad (Vedic Chants)
Dhol (Divali Percussion at Haridwar)
Nautanki (Popular Theater at Kanpur)
Triveni (at Allahabad)
Ode (to Ganja)
The Bride’s Farewell
Kajari (at Mirzapur)
Nirgun Pad (at Varanasi)
Hori (Raga Kafi)
Tracklist –
Hanuman Arati (Nocturnal Rite for the Monkey God)
Birha (Portrait of Shiva)
Pachra (Dedicated to Ganja)
Khari Birba (Washerman’s Song)
Kevat Ka Sohar (Boatman’s Song)
Kilona (Song for Children)
Banni Mata Ka Geet (Ceremony of Possession)
Karikha Lal (Tantric Rite)
Sohar (Propitiatory Rite)
Kohbar (Fertility Rite)
Ropni Geet (Seedtime Song)
Kajri Dhun (Shahnai Tune for Dawn)
Tracklist –
Domui (Wedding Song)
Jatsar (Milling Song)
Viva Geet (Song for the Young Married Couple)
Lori (Cradle Song)
Hori Jogira ( Song for the Festival of Colors)
Ma Melinir Gaan (Maidens’ Song)
Patar Banshi (Karamsha Leaf Solo)
O Doyal (Wandering Bard’s Song)
Manush (Baul Song)
Bhatiyali (Boatman’s Song)
Murshidi (Mystic Minstrel)
Bhashan (excerpt from The Behula Legend)
Kali Kirtana (Devotional Music for the Goddess of Destruction)
Bam Bam Bholanath!
NØ
Vol 1
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Vol 2
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Vol 3
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Groovy.
ReplyDeleteHaven't had much listenin' time in a while, but still grabbing all this gold for when more free time presents itself. Thanks as always.
-Xtm
Many thanks. Superb blog.
ReplyDeleteThose Hindu dudes don't clean the seeds out of their weed. Gross! I guess they like seeing skyrockets?
ReplyDelete"Ganja – Les Musiques du Gange 3xCD, Virgin Classics, 1998."
ReplyDeleteThere's one mistake here in the title : it's not ganja, but Ganga (Ganges river) written in hindi (devnagari scripture) on the cover. Please be precise. Enough with India = dope.
Bhowani.
Don't even know where to start with this stoopid komment.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you need to smoke some ganja (ja,oui,si,yes) yourself & mellow out.
Ganja - Les Musiques...was simply a typo on my part. As you might garner from the post title as well as song title listings, I understand the difference. Never said India = dope, obviously, as the body of the post explains the connection between cannabis & Shiva. In a nation as densely populated as India, all the people are not even Hindu, let alone worshippers of Shiva. Everyone knows India = call centers, duh!
Fuck you! Was that precise enough for you?
Your turn.
You put out really cool stuff here. There are just too many blogs that rehash stuff previously posted elsewhere and genuine finds are increasingly rare. Yours is one of those rare places. So, with great thanks, here's a small challenge - a couple of classic US titles from the last years of the previous century. Would you have access to any of these?
ReplyDeleteStutter: “Daddies and Dinosaurs“, (1981)
Points of Friction: “Points of Friction“, (1982, apparently reissued in 2004?)
Larry Mondello’s Band: “Fun with Static” (1981) or “Live at Mather Hall” (1981)
Problemist: “What Is to Be Gun“, (1983), “After Sanity“, (1985) or “NEEDY“, (1986)
Tinklers: “Casserole” (1990) or “Saplings” (1991)
Random Rooms: “Random Rooms”, (1991)
Charming Hostess: “Nub City“, (1994), (EP)
Skeleton Crew: “Etymology“, (1997)
Thanks,
S.
SonicA,
DeleteWelcome aboard & thanks for the too kind words. I don't believe I have any of the items you requested. Several are on my own want list. Others I have seen you requesting on some other blogs (dieordiy & wet dreams were the two I watched for some time to see if anyone came up with your requests).
Here's what I have by some of the artists, don't know if you're looking for any of them or not, so I'll just list them, then wish you luck in your search. Let me know if you want anything I do have or if you find any of these hard-to-track-down treasures.
I have:
Skeleton Crew - Learn to Talk/The Country of Blinds, Grind the Enamel, & Graveyard Shift
Charming Hostess - Eat
Problemists - 9 Times Sanity & Pop Religion is Love
Larry Mondello Band - Foreign Matters Exist/Six is Ten, Mayfield Mornings, & The Warbler
Sorry I couldn't be of help. Thanks again for the swell comment & don't give up the search.
Thanks for the kind reply. Yes, these other blogs have been very generous and are a pleasure to follow.
ReplyDeleteI do not know Mondello's "The Warbler" - would be curious to hear this.
As for Skeleton Crew (Frith & Cora), which I remember seeing live back in 1984, I suppose the last two titles you are listing are by another band, but I may be wrong. There was an explosion of bands under this name, for some reason, back in the 80s and 90s.
There are always nice surprises on your blog. Thanks for running this for so long.
My bad about the Skeleton Crew releases. The last two are in my archives under Skeleton Crew (& so they are called) but are obviously some poprock/metaltoy band. Sorry.
DeleteAs for the Larry Mondello release, according to Steve Defoe, shortly before Steve Dromgoole went completely mad, he no longer wished to be known as "Steve" (the soft-spoken vegetarian hippy), but rather wanted to be called "Scooch", a shifty, gun-toting barfly & mailman. He resurrected the old cassette recorder & LMB created its last cassette release, 1994s The Warbler. The jittery pitch effect was produced by wiggling the drive belt while recording. Proper technique for using the recorder is shown in included insert.
Larry Mondello Band – The Warbler
https://mega.nz/#!2ssDwQSL!2HQ3wDZG108HYVPGdpOvbgIYr2gG7chvfJ9SGzEAfdI
Enjoy
Funny. How do you dig out these stories?
ReplyDeleteThanks for this rarity.