Obon Shelf (Bondana)
Obon Shelf (Bondana)Where will the ancestors who have come for the offerings be greeted? A special shelf called an Obon-dana or Tama-dana is made where the family memorial tablet is place along with various offerings. At those houses where this kind of shelf is not set up, the ancestral spirits are greeted at the Buddha-altar. This is where the temple priest chants the tana-gyo, a sutra read for the ancestors. This Obon-shelf is usually erected on the morning of the 13th. In a home where a family member has died within the past year, this shelf is set up between the 1st and the 7th and should be done in an especially mindful way. On these shelves, dumplings are often offered. They are placed on the altar shelf immediately after the family has greeted the spirits at the grave.
On the 14th, it is the custom to make an offering of noodles and on the 15th, rice dumplings covered with bean jam are offered. Also, uncooked rice, mixed with finely chopped raw eggplants and other vegetables, is placed in small piles on lotus or paulownia leaves and used as an offering.
On the 16th, it is said that the ancestral spirits return home riding on cows and carrying luggage on horses. Eggplants and cucumbers, in the shapes of cows and horses, are offered. These are similar to the straw horses which are used as decorations during the Tanabata Festival. In some areas, there is the custom of fixing green cedar or green bamboo to the four corners of the shelf in the same way that pine decorations are used to honor the gods at New Year’s.
At any rate, let’s make respectful offerings of those things that the ancestral spirits like, offerings that have been traditionally cultivated, or items that are familiar to the ancestors, in order to have them come back.
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... (just kidding) ...
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Originally Posted by nalber3
