Why I worship the god of LOVE and want to restore the Hindu version of Valentine's Day

"True Love Conquers All!"

In Hinduism, most people have what is called an "Ishta Deva", a god which they feel closest to and to whom they worship or communicate with more than others. This of course does not exclude any other god from their hearts since all of the gods are really a manifestation of the highest powers (Brahman), each god is simply a different aspect of the same being, a concentration of a particular thought, action or energy, or simply a figurative representation of these.  We as humans tend to be drawn to the gods whom represent actions or ideas which we resonate most closely with, we can relate to the particular god's personality and function in the universe.  For me, my Ishta Deva is Kama, the god of passion, love, sex and war.  

While Kama Deva was at one time more widely worshiped and respected, today, due to cultural factors such as Abrahamic shaming and a general misunderstanding of sex, Kama has become a persona non grata, a god which many Hindus wish simply did not exist and refuse to talk about.  You can imagine that under these circumstances, making Kama Deva my Ishta Deva has brought some misunderstanding and even anger from my fellow Hindus, I have even been accused of trying to seduce Hindu youth into a cult of lust by some of the more rigid Krishnavites (Krishna focused worshipers) of today.  "Kama is a gateway to hell!" they proclaim; but then why does he appear in the Vedas and scriptures as one of the world's greatest saviors and heroes? 

More than this, some of my closer friends and acquaintances know of my quest to restore the Western holiday of Valentine's Day to its proper Hindu place, as a time to worship Kama Deva, appreciate his very unique personality and contributions, and prepare ourselves for the love finding period traditionally associated with spring. I've learn the hard way that some of truths about my god Kama, Valentine's Day and the festival of Vasant Panchami are misunderstood by many and even met with hostility and suspicion, and so I want to explain myself thoroughly on these matters so that others can understand my perspective and why I think it is so important to restore Kama's worship, especially in this day and age when so many are seeking to buck Judeo-Christian encroachment into Hindu society. 

Before I discuss my personal love and devotion to Kama Deva, let me first explain his personality and the special role he plays in the universe. Kama Deva to my knowledge first appears in the Atharava Veda, the fourth Veda which focuses on hymns requesting aid in practical and earthly matters such as home, family, business, good health and yes, love! In these earlier times, Kama is actually associated with his more basic trait, desire and passion.  While there are a few hymns which propitiate Kama to bring the singer a lover, Kama's most profound song, which is dedicated solely to him, poses him as a manly and terrifying warrior who thrashes the enemies of the Arya with a darkness unusual for the sunny and jocular Vedic hymns. While acknowledged as "love", Kama here is personified as love as the "primordial power", love when it has become supreme, superseding and containing all other attributes within itself, love manifesting in its purest and most potent form.  Here Kama is not called to provide love but something else which is passionately desired, to utterly destroy and burn away the enemies, sending them adrift and burning up their houses.  Kama takes on all the powers of the other gods, he becomes a king, warrior and priest, he allies the singer with all the other gods to form an army and gives him a commanding power of speech. After Kama has destroyed the enemies with his lighting and has infected them with evil thoughts, he is proclaimed to be above all the other gods, greater than the heavens and the earth, superior to all the animals and people. Here Kama is a passionate and fierce protector, not a deity of love or sex.  

Prayer to Kama (Love), personified as a Primordial Power 

1. To the bull that slays the enemy, to Kâma, do I render tribute with ghee, oblation, and (sacrificial) melted butter. Do thou, since thou hast been extolled, hurl down my enemies by thy great might! 2. The evil dream which is offensive to my mind and eye, which harasses and does not please me, that (dream) do I let loose upon my enemy. Having praised Kâma may I prevail! 3,. Evil dreams, O Kâma, and misfortune, O Kâma, childlessness, ill-health, and trouble, do thou, a strong lord, let loose upon him that designs evil against us! 4. Drive them away, O Kâma, thrust them away, O Kâma; may they that are my enemies fall into trouble! When they have been driven into the nethermost darkness, do thou, O Agni, burn up their d welling- places! 5. That milch-cow, O Kâma, whom the sages call Vâk Virâg (ruling, or resplendent speech), is said to be thy daughter; by her drive away my enemies; breath, cattle, and life shall give them a wide birth! 6. With the strength of Kâma, Indra, king Varuna, and Vishnu, with the impelling force (savena) of Savitar, with the priestly power of Agni, do I drive forth the enemies, as a skilled steersman a boat. 7. My sturdy guardian, strong Kâma, shall procure for me full freedom from enmity! May the gods collectively be my refuge, may all the gods respond to this, my invocation! 8. Taking pleasure in this (sacrificial) melted butter, and ghee do ye, (O gods), of whom Kâma is the highest, be joyful in this place, procuring for me full freedom from enmity! 9. O Indra and Agni, and Kâma, having formed an alliance, do ye hurl down my enemies; when they have fallen into the nethermost darkness, do thou, O Agni, burn up after them their dwelling places! 10. Slay thou, O Kâma, those that are my enemies, hurl them down into blind darkness. Devoid of vigour, Without sap let them all be; they shall not live a single day! 11. Kâma has slain those that are my enemies, a broad space has he furnished me to thrive in. May the four directions of space bow down to me, and the six broad (regions) carry ghee to me! 12. They (the enemies) shall float down like a boat cut loose from its moorings! There is no returning again for those who have been struck by our missiles. 13. Agni is a defence, Indra a defence, Soma a defence. May the gods, who by their defence ward off (the enemy), ward him off! 14. With his men reduced, driven out, the hated (enemy) shall go, shunned by his own friends! And down upon the earth do the lightnings alight; may the strong god crush your enemies! 15. This mighty lightning supports both moveable and immoveable things, as well as all thunders. May the rising sun by his resources and his majesty hurl down my enemies, lie the mighty one! 16. With that triple-armoured powerful covering of thine, O Kâma, with the charm that has been made into an Invulnerate armour spread (over thee), with that do thou drive away those who are my enemies; may breath, cattle, and life give them a wide berth! 17. With the weapon with which the god drove forth the Asuras, with which Indra led the Dasyus to the nethermost darkness, with that do thou, O Kâma, drive forth far away from this world those who are my enemies! 18. As the gods drove forth the Asuras, as Indra. forced the demons into the nethermost darkness, thus do thou, O Kâma, drive forth far away from this world those who are my enemies! 19. Kâma was born at first; him neither the gods, nor the Fathers, nor men have equalled. To these art thou superior, and ever great; to thee, O Kâma, do I verily offer reverence. 20. O Love (Kama), You are greater than all. You are higher than Heaven and wider than the Earth. You are farther than the waters have swept and hotter than fire. O Love, You are greater than all. 21. Great as are the directions (of space) and the intermediate direction on either side, great as are the regions and the vistas of the sky; to these art thou superior, &c. 22. As many bees, bats, kurûru-worms, as many vaghas and tree-serpents as there are; to these art thou superior, &c. 23. Superior art thou to all that winks (lives), superior to all that stands still (is not alive), superior to the ocean art thou, O Kâma, Manyu! To these art thou superior, &c. 24. O Love (Kama), You are greater than all. You are faster than the wind, hotter than the Sun and greater than the Moon. You are farther than the waters have swept and hotter than fire. O Love, You are greater than all. 25. With those auspicious and gracious forms of thine, O Kâma, through which what thou wilst becometh reaL with these do thou enter into us, and elsewhere send the evil thoughts!

The role of protector follows Kama Deva after the Vedic age, however it is due to some of his more famous and scandalous exploits that Kama Deva today has a bad name, undeserved.  The Puranas tell us of how Kama Deva was born.  He is the son the Brahma, the god of creation, and is described as a beautiful winked youth gifted with a set of bow and arrows laced with a love toxin.  Kama's job as Brahma's son was to aid in the process of procreation by inflaming the humans and animals during mating seasons with lust and passion so as to make them mate and fill the earth. As the story goes, upon his birth, Kama innocently tests out his love arrow on his first target, his father Brahma. So potent is Kama's passion poison that Brahma loses all semblance of decorum and becomes obviously lustful for his own daughter.  It just so happens that the god of destruction, Shiva, witnesses this outrageous scenario and begins mocking Brahma for his impropriety!  After regaining his senses, Brahma is so enraged that he curses his son Kama to be killed as the hands of Shiva as revenge. However, Brahma eventually realizes that Kama did not mean to harm anyone and was simply testing out his powers, and so Brahma fixes the curse by stating that Kama will be reincarnated after his death... a death which will turn out to save the world. Kama eventually gets himself into some other questionable situations.  He seems to be particularly devoted to Indra, the king god of war, and is known to use his powers of lust to distract men from devotion and penance whom Indra fears or is jealous over, and so Kama becomes known as a god who can destroy your path toward enlightenment, which is true, but everyone is forgetting to see the flip side of Kama's coin. 

As Kama grows, he fulfills his duty as the ignitor of procreation, and even though his function and purpose is recognized by the other god, he seems to live outside the hierarchy, a god whom everyone knows and even likes, but none would admit it.  Well it so turns out that Kama Deva is about to show his great worth, the very god necessary to save the world during a very dire time.  Remember, Kama's father Brahma had cursed him to be killed by lord Shiva, however this turns out to not be as bad as it sounds.  Shiva eventually marries a beautiful and religious woman named Sandhya.  Sandhya's father king Dhaksha doesn't approve of the marriage since Shiva is more of an ascetic yogi and cannot offer the wealth and prestige of some of the other gods.  However Sandhya and Shiva are in love and marry regardless.  King Dhaksha eventually invites everyone to a grand party he will be having at his dwelling, but does not invite his daughter or Shiva.  Sandhya refuses to believe that her father has intentionally left her and Shiva off the guest list and assumes this must be an oversight.  Shiva however knows that Dhaksha is trying to insult them and begs his wife not to attend the party, but Sandhya doesn't listen and goes to the partly alone.  Upon her arrival, Sandhya realizes that her father had indeed intended to humiliate the couple in public before the entire kingdom.  Embarrassed and full of rage for her father, Sandhya throws herself into a fire, burning herself alive before all of the guests! 

Upon hearing the news of how his beloved wife has died, Shiva retreats from the world in sorrow, going deep into meditation and forgetting life and all the affairs of the universe, sworn never to return. Shiva is the lord of necessary destruction, he is the one who clears out all of the negative and evil energy and beings from the world, thus maintaining the balance of power between good and evil.  However, with Shiva absent, demonic forces grow innumerably and begin destroying and devouring the earth, including all of the humans and the gods.  The gods know they cannot approach lord Shiva as he will kill them in his sorrow and wrath.  Shiva's wife, Sandhya, has since realized her awful mistake and has reincarnated as the pious goddess Parvati, but Shiva will not be aroused by her and so destruction continues.  Now the gods need to find someone who can wake Shiva from his slumber, someone who can relieve his sorrow long enough to make him see and love Parvati, meanwhile be willing to sacrifice his own life in the process, knowing that Shiva will kill him with fire as soon as he opens his eyes.  Now what kind of socially acceptable god would do that!  None!!!  None accept Kama Deva of course, that kinda outcast whom everyone pretends doesn't exist.

When the god's approach Kama Deva, being the ultimate protector that he is, he readily accepts the dangerous task and designs a plan to awaken Shiva.  Kama has Parvati approach Shiva, but makes sure she will not be his target when he is rudely awaken by Kama's arrow.  When Kama pierces Shiva with his lust inducing arrows, Shiva wakes up with a strong anger and passion, instantly burning Kama Deva alive.  Yet with his eyes open, and his veins coursing with Kama's love potion, he sees beautiful Parvati before him and once again falls in love.  Shiva returns to the world and consumes the powers of destruction, thus restoring balance and harmony. However this is not the end of Kama Deva.  As his father Brahma had promised, Kama is reincarnated as the baby Pradyumna, a descendant of Lord Krishna and Rukmini, who then grows up to kill the demon king Shambarasur, thus saving the world once again. It is because of his warrior abilities that Kama as Pradyumna is considered a "Vyuha", a version of the preserver who is responsible for arranging the troops into a battle array. Isn't it a little ironic that Kama reincarnates into the family of Krishna, the god of the sectarians who tend to most condemn the heroic and sacrificing god Kama? 

While Kama's more salacious intrigues tend to be the reason how and why he is remembered, few Hindus today take the time to see Kama's bravery and love for humanity as exampled above. Yet this is not the only time when Kama appears to help humanity in remarkable ways.  During the Hindu festival of Navaratri, we celebrate the victory of the righteous king Sudarsana who recaptures the kingdom of Ayhodya from his unfortunate brother Satrujit and restores Durga worship on earth.  Sudarsana had been the less handsome and less favorable son of the previous king and was driven out along with his mother into the forest while his less godly brother Satrujit was installed as king.  So here is Sudarsana, a not so handsome but still religiously devoted dethroned prince, living in the forest, hoping to recapture the kingdom form his handsome and powerful brother.  Now which god would take up the cause of this pious yet plainly boy?  It just so happened that Sudarsana gets to live in an Ashram in the forest, learning the Vedas.  Now the Rishis teach Sudarsana mantras to call upon some of the more socially acceptable gods for help, but scripture teaches us that by accident (Sudarsana is not the brightest), Sudarsana mispronounces the mantra and calls upon the god Kama Deva instead.  But this is no mistake, Sudarsana is destined to become the king of Ayhodya and to reinstitute Durga worship, and who better to help out an outcasted, not so handsome, not so bright, but still devoted prince than Kama Deva?  Later, after Sudarsana recaptures the kingdom and defeats his brother, he attributes his success to Kama Deva who brought him unwittingly to the goddess and her divine power. This story can be found in the Devi Purana for those who are interested. 

34. One day the minister Vidalla came there and the sons of the Munis seeing him began, in the presence of Sudars’ana, to address him “Klib,” “Klib.” 35. Sudars’ana, too, hearing them pronounce “Klib,” “Klib” took up the one letter, “Kli” and uttered this only repeatedly, which is, in fact the prince of the root mantras of Kâma, with anusvâra omitted. 36. Then the son of the king took that mantram and silently repeated this in his mind. 37. O King! Thus that boy Sudars’ana was initiated in this root mantra of Kâma (desire) spontaneously, out of his original Samskâra (innate tendency) owing to the unavoidable destiny of Fate...
...40-41. The kings said :– “O king! You got afraid and went in your very early age to the forest; how is it, then, that you have been able to know the excellent Goddess Mahâmâyâ. How did you worship and pray to Her? That She, becoming so glad, has favoured you and so helped you?” 42-43. Sudars’an said :– “O kings! Early in my childhood, I got the excellent root-mantra of desires, Kâmavîja; daily I meditated and silently uttered that mantram. After that I came to realise through the Risis That Eternal Auspicious Mother; and since that time, day and night, I always used to remember that Highest Deity; with the greatest devotion.” 44. Vyâsa said :– Hearing the words of Sudars’ana, the kings came to know that the Goddess which they saw was the Highest Force and filled with the greatest devotion towards Her, returned to their own homes.

Yet Kama's aid to the misfortunate heroes does not end hear.  One of my favorite stories in Hinduism comes from the Mahabarata.  A hero Pandava prince named Bhima is journeying with is companions through a forest on their quest to recapture the Kuru kingdom from the ignoble Kaurava family. Without knowing it, the party falls asleep in the territory of a horrible band of Rakshasas (demonized humans with evil powers) who are cannibals.  The leader of the tribe sends out his sister Hidimva, who is capable of taking on a beautiful form, to seduce Bhima and distract him so the band  of cannibals can slaughter the party and devour them.  Yet Kama Deva not only has a plan to save Bhima, but can see a long term benefit to be created from the situation.  Kama pierces Hidimva with is arrow and she immediately becomes lustful for the handsome prince, wishing to have him sexually.  Under her infatuation and lust, she betrays her tribe and tells Bhima of the plan to kill them. Bhima then leads his men to destroy the cannibals.  But what becomes of Hidimva?  Should she really be spared?  After all, she is just another demon who happened to fall under Kama's spell, why should she be spared?  But Kama Deva is an unusual god with unusual vision and so he makes it that Hidimva becomes truly devoted to Bhima and his quest.  Even though she is a demon, and all the members of Bhima's band mock and deride Hidimva the whole way, Bhima allows Hidimva to follow him and even feels some affection for her.  Eventually the unthinkable happens; Kama's lust leads to his procreative power, and the prince and the demon woman have a child together named Ghatotkacha. Ghatotkacha is goodhearted like his father, but because of his mother's sins he looks like a beast and is unusually strong and fierce.  Now what purpose could such a person as Ghatotkacha have in the world?  Who could have ever imagined such an unnatural creation?  Later on, in the war between Bhima's family and their cousins the Kaurava family, Ghatotkacha fights so fiercely he forces and enemy to use a magical dart on him that was originally intended for a more central character, Ghatotkacha's uncle Arjun.  Yet it is obvious that Ghatotkacha's birth was really the product of lust, as his parents soon part ways after his birth.  However, his mother Hidimva is saved from damnation as a cannibal and I believe you can visit holy sites today in India where she supposedly retreated to live the rest of her life returning to god.  What other god in heaven besides Kama Deva would think to pair these opposites, a prince and a cannibal, create a hero-monster, and redeem a demon?  Only Kama Deva would go to such unconventional lengths and have such foresight and compassion to protect humanity (even cannibals). 

Now before I get to the issue of Valentine's Day, there is one last aspect to Kama Deva which I would like to present here and that is how it is that Kama is the ultimate protector; he is the ultimate protector because he is free from all jealousy. The Devi Purana states that in a region of the earth called “Ketumâla” the people worship Kamadeva as the supreme godhead (Bhagavân Nârâyana).  So revered in Ketumâla is Kama that even the presiding goddess of the locality, Indira Devi who is daughter of the ocean, worships Kama as higher than even herself.  The 9th chapter of the 8th book of the Devi Purana is dedicated to the goddess Indira’s songs to Kamadeva. In her song to Lord Kama the goddess professes that Kama is the lord of nature and of the senses (particularly the five sense). She sings that Kama's soul is the highest and the receptacle of all that is good. 

The goddess acclaims that it is through Kama that mastery of knowledge (Jnana), destiny (karma), effort, resolution and happiness are attained. He is the substance of purity, energy and strength. He is the rites and ceremonies of the Vedas incarnate.  The feminine goddess proclaims that it is Kama who is the true husband of all women, not the men they worship with their bodies, because it is only Kama who can protect them and shower them with wealth and progeny. The goddess teaches us that women, men, gods and even demons (Asuras) may manifest their desire by engaging in penances (austerities of worship), but only those who obtain their desire through worship of Kamadeva maintain their happiness, because only through the Lord of Desire does attainment of desire become everlasting; those who do not worship Kamadeva to attain their passion eventually fall ruined as the attainment of their yearning ultimately fades away.  Only worship of Kama Deva keeps our desire with us and protects us from its loss, thus it is affirmed that even the highly intelligent lawgiver Manu sings praises to Kamadeva to have lasting attainment of his desires.

The secret to Kama Deva’s great power is alluded to at the end of the song, it is stated that the other gods (Lokapālas, guardians of the directions) become weakened with the fever of jealously and thus are unable to protect the animals and plants and humans of the earth.  What makes Kama so confident, how is he able to keep his so cool with all that godly competition?  Is it the fact that he is praised by others as the lord of knowledge, purity and strength?  No, the Vedas tells us over and over again, "Kāma is the Giver and Receiver". It is Kama's ability to grant lasting desire, his unique ability to give us what we wish and keep it with us that makes Kama so self-assured. This satisfaction protects Kama from the jealousy which often plagues the other deities. Free from this debility, Kama can focus on being the the ultimate protector of the universe, the man!  

"The Lokapâlas (gods of the directions), being overcome by the fever of jealousy and pride, become quite unable, either individually or collectively, to quit their jealousies and to protect the tripeds, quadrupeds, reptiles and snakes; so Thou art the God." - Devi Purana, Book 8, Chapter 9, Versus 19-23

Now that I have presented my case for why I worship Kama Deva, because he is the ultimate protector, the one who is willing to sacrifice himself for the world, the one who is free from all jealousy and so is not distracted by petty quarrels, the one who empowers the weak and forgotten, the one who thinks outside of the box and comes up with the crazy ideas that just work, the one whose gifts are everlasting, the Vyuha who assembles the troops ... now that you understand my love for Kama Deva, let me turn my attention to why I wish to restore the Hindu version of Valentine's Day.

Valentine’s day is viewed by many Hindus as being a negative cultural encroachment into Hindu society, and for good reason. This holiday has become a product of baseless, valueless, commercialized modernity with no redeeming message.  Further, the name of the holiday, “St. Valentine’s Day” reveals its Catholocized origins. The sometimes violent reaction by Hindus against Valentine's Day often results in a PR disaster for our religion, with outsiders pointing fingers at us as being intolerant and reactionary. However, there is a silver lining in this cultural trojan horse, Hindus can use this date to revive the remembrance of the Hindu god Kamadeva whose ancient festival coincides with the same time as Valentine's Day. 

The full name of Valentine’s day is St. Valentine’s day.  The Holiday commemorates the death of a Catholic priest named Valentine who was executed by Claudius II, rather than renounce his faith.  He was supposedly executed on February 14th, 270AD.  His martyr date was later used to replace a pagan holiday which was celebrated on the same day, one in which pagan boys would write the names of girls, in honor of their goddess Februata Juno.  While the original meaning of the holiday seems to have been transmitted to the present (writing love letters), the Catholic name of the holiday stuck. The original festival which included the worship of the goddess Februata Juno was called Lupercalia, which tool place annually between February 13th – 15th. The festival had several connotations, one of them being a festival to induce fertility.  This is why modern “St. Valentine’s Day” is associated with love and love making. Ironically, Valentine’s Day’s most iconic figure, Cupid, seems to have his basis in Catholic origins and was not part of the original festival. It would appear that Cupid made his entrance into the festival because the martyred priest St. Valentine wore a ring which imaged Cupid. How strange it is that Cupid didn’t appear in the original pagan scene of Valentine’s Day, but was only imported by Catholic tradition, since it is this very Cupid who will make it easy for Hindus to co-opt this holiday and make it a force for Dharma. Just like Cupid, Kama  is a winged youthful man who uses arrows to infect the hearts of both gods and humans with love. Cupid is obviously Kama's cognate. But there is something more magical than this, and that is the fact that Kama Deva was once worshiped in Hindu society during the very same time as Valentine's Day!

While modern day Hindus have grown accustom to associating the first spring holiday of Vasant Panchami with the goddess Saraswati, this holiday and the forty days between it and the spring holiday of Holi were delegated for the worship and veneration of Kamadeva in ancient times. Vasant Panchami is celebrated every year on the fifth day of the bright half of the Indian month of Magh (spring season, January to February), around the same time as St. Valentine’s Day. During the ancient period when Vasant Panchami was more oriented toward Kamadeva, dancing girls, dhol players, and other celebrants would come to the royal Bakshi’s palace to create an informal durbar with the royals. Specially made Vasanti clothes would be worn by the dancing girls and younger royal ladies, consisting of a skirt, blouse, and pink or saffron sari with tiny red square or circular dots. This clothing would be further embellished with gold and silver borders and brocade work. On the celebration day the dancing girls would collect flowers and mango leaves (a reference to one of the love-arrows of Kama Dev) from the garden of the Bakshi’s palace. The flowers and mangoes were arranged in brass vessels and the informal durbar would be set up. The occasion was marked by the singing of various ragas usually on the theme of love (especially songs involving Krishna and Radha or the gopies of Brij Bhoomi). At the conclusion of the celebration, the flowers would be sprinkled with red gulal and the dancing girls would apply it to their cheeks. They were then gifted a sum of money by the royal ladies. [1] The 40-day period between Vasant Panchami and Holi corresponds with the 40 days of Rati’s penance after her husband, Kamadeva was reduced to ashes for shooting the eye of Shiva with his love arrows. [2]

So what do we have here?  Valentine's Day features Cupid, the winged, arrow wielding god of love, obviously the European version of Kama.  This Cupid and the Roman love festival of Lupercalia were hijacked by the Catholic Church and turned into a holiday to memorialize one of their "martyred saints". Because of the perceived Western-Christian overtone of the holidays, it has become the center of heated debate and even violence in India, creating a situation which is easily exploited by our enemies. Like Kama Deva, I want to protect Hinduism, and at the same time transmit it to every nation on the globe.  It is my ardent belief that Valentine's Day and its Cupid/love image did not happen to fall upon the ancient Kama festival of Vasant Panchami by accident, no I believe that this is Lila sent by Kama Deva himself. He is here once again to "PROTECT" Hinduism!  I hope my logic here is clear, my proposition is that we restore Kama's festival, on February 14th, "Kama Puja", to compete with Valentine's Day.  Besides associating it with love and romance, which was its original meaning anyway, we must also restore Kama Deva to his rightful place in Hindu society, as the unjealous, unorthodox and unconventional protector, the one who is willing to go outside of convention and sacrifice himself to save us, the one who sees the worth of the lonely, the unpopular and even the damned, the one who saves us again and again without any praise, even when he is shunned.  Yes, this is why I want to create "Kama Puja", the Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day, to restore Kama worship and to give him the status in Hinduism that he ultimately deserves, the ultimate protector.

The all-devouring God whom men call Kāma, he whom they call the Giver and Receiver, Invincible, pervading, wise, and mighty—to all these Fires be this oblation offered. – Atharava Veda 3.21.4

[1] Dilipsinh, K. S. “Ch.8 – The Festival of Spring” from Kutch: In Festival And Custom. Har-Anand Publications. Pg.98. 2004. ISBN 9788124109984

[2] Roy, Christian. Traditional Festivals: A Multicultural Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. Vol.2. Pp.192-193. 2005. ISBN 9781576070895