The International Day of Yoga is pretty significant for me. Every year, I do something to commemorate this day. The earlier years, I took up ambitious challenges like 108 Surya Namaskars and in recent years, I find myself quite caught up around this day so I take up smaller challenges like a cycle ride in the neighbourhood. This year, for IDY 2020, I have taken up the challenge of setting up an Akhand Diya i.e. a perpetual oil/ghee lamp for the house.

Akhand Diya: every household in India used to have one

Sadhguru has said this in a few of his videos but I never thought much about it. The elders in the family light lamps in the house as a daily ritual (even that is reducing now a days). These are small lamps which last a few hours.

I have a hard time with discipline, so I light one every now and then.

Tryst with Two Akhand Diyas

Somnath Temple Jyotirlinga

This thing about “Akhand Lamp” didn’t resonate much with me until I visited Somnath temple of Gujarat. The amazing Somnath temple, destroyed so many times by invaders and yet, reinstated again and again by the faith of the people.

I happened to visit this temple right at Aarti time. Thus, I was able to spend quite some time in the Garbhagriha thrumming to the aarti beats amidst a throng of devotees. The caretakers kept requesting, nudging people to keep moving on. I headed out very slowly, and found a little alcove to stand near the exit gate. And lo behold, there was a shrine of the Akhand Diya.

There was a lamp burning behind a glass shutter. A little slit on top allowed devotees to put their hands in and get a bit of the lamp warmth and smoke on their palms. Which they would then stroke on their heads and eyes. A typical way of taking in warmth and goodness of a temple lamp.

Akhand Diya. A-khand Diya.

खंड khand – fragment, broken, piece, stop….

अखंड a-khand – unbroken, unfragmented, unceasing….

A lamp that has been ON perpetually. Unceasing.

This matter remained with me for a while. An innocuous lamp, that’s just been burning for a very long time. Perpetually, without break.

Aghori Jhuggi, Girnar

A few days later, I visited Girnar on this same family trip and there I landed up at the Aghori Jhuggi. Here too there was an Akhand Diya which had been burning for a very long time. It was behind a dark shutter.

So another tryst with an Akhand Lamp.

And later I saw this video by a friend of mine, which propound the benefits of the lamp and how dear it is in the Indian culture.

So, slowly something clicked. And I figured – why not!

If I have a bigger lamp, then I would have to take care of it maybe only once a day and it would be ON perpetually.

So, this International Yoga Day, I figured this can be attempted.

Will share my experiences with a perpetual lamp in the house in another blog post because there are many technicalities to figure with regards an Akhand Lamp. And as it happens, there is no one who I can ask my queries to… because no one I know has experience with an Akhand Lamp.

A lamp burning perpetually, for decades. Wow!