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Raja Gopuram |
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On the way to the sanctum sanctorum |
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Perumal Sannidhi |
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Way to Andal Sanctum |
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Entrance to Nandavanam where Andal made her first appearance |
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Andal Sannidhi |
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Raja Gopuram |
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On the way to the sanctum sanctorum |
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Perumal Sannidhi |
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Way to Andal Sanctum |
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Entrance to Nandavanam where Andal made her first appearance |
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Andal Sannidhi |
I am sharing an excerpt from my book 'Kerala the Divine Destination' on this auspicious occasion.
Would you be interested in knowing about Kaikeyi, the gorgeous queen who turned a prince into God? What was the actual reason behind her actions?
Did you know that a celestial nymph was cursed to turn into a monkey and went on to become the mother of Hanuman, the most worshipped devotee of Lord Ram?
How did Lakshman manage to evade sleep for 14 years?
Have you heard the story of Shanta, Lord Ram's elder sister?
A new book on the anvil,co-authored by Jai Shukla and Lalitha Balasubramanian, published by Om Books International, will excite readers with stories about these and other
#ramayana #women
The colourful festival of Holi falls on 6th and 7th March this year. And it signifies the victory of good over evil, as do most of our Hindu festivals, advent of spring, love and joy. The celebrations will begin on 6th evening on Purnima (full Moon day), with everyone gathering around the bonfire for Holika Dahan, also called Chhoti Holi.
The celebration will extend on 7th morning with people sprinkling colour on each other in absolute merriment, without any distinction between caste, creed or gender. This is called Rangwali Holi, Dhuleti, Dhulandi or Phagwan.
Holi festival finds mention is ancient scriptures as well as the seventh century play Ratnavali and draws on two legends from Hindu Mythology. The bonfire is lit during Chhota Holi to symbolise the vanquishing of the demoness Holika by Lord Vishnu. Hiranyakashipu wanted to become immortal and all powerful. He performed severe penance to invoke Lord Brahma. It is said that Lord Brahma granted him five boons in lieu of the boon of immortality which he wanted, that he would not be killed by man or animal, during day or night, inside the house or outside the house, on the ground or in the air, by any weapon. These boons made him almost invincible and he became a tyrant. His hatred for Lord Vishnu was due to Vishnu being the cause of his brother’s death. He even went to the extent of banning the worship of Lord Vishnu in his realm. But as fate would have it, his son Prahlad was a sincere devotee of Lord Vishnu. Hiranyakashipu tried to make Prahlad give up his devotion to Vishnu. Angered by his failure, he wanted to kill his own son and tried various means to do so, but each time, Lord Vishnu saved his devotee. Hiranyakashipu then called on his sister, Holika to help him. Holika had a boon in the form of a shawl that would protect her from being burnt in a fire. According to the plan, Holika would sit covered with her magical shawl on a pyre of wood and the child, Prahlad, on her lap. The pyre would be lit and Prahlad would be burnt to death while Holika would be saved because of her divine shawl. But when the pyre was lit, Lord Vishnu caused a sharp breeze to remove the shawl from Holika’s shoulders and cover Prahlad instead. Prahlad was thus left untouched while the demonness, Holika, was burnt to death. Even today, it is a common practise in some places to offer cereals to the bonfire and sacred hymns are chanted to destroy the evil in our minds. The ash from the bonfire is collected and smeared on the forehead to ward off evil forces.
The morning of the next day is celebrated as Rangwali Holi. This celebration with smearing of colours and splashing coloured water on each other draws its origin apparently from the tales of Krishna and Radha. It is believed that the dark skinned Krishna was worried that the fair Radha and other girls like her would not like him and mentioned this to his mother Yashoda. Yashoda maiyya at once asked him to colour Radha’s face with whatever colour he wanted to, and thus began the tradition of Holi and the splash of colours. Holi celebrations in Braj, Mathura, Gokul, Nandgaon and Vrindavan, places where Krishna spent his childhood, are wonderful to experience. They start a week earlier itself and last for some more days after Holi. Another place where Holi is played with abandon is Barsana, the birthplace of Radha Rani. Here, there is a difference in the way the festival is celebrated. The men of Nandgaon drench the women of Barsana with colours and want to enter the temple of Radhikaji, but the women resist by beating them with sticks, all played with fun and in the right spirit. This is called Latmaar Holi. It is said that Krishna too faced the same fate in the hands of Radha and the other Gopis.
Colours are the essence of holi celebrations. Traditionally natural colours were sourced from plants, herbs, leaves and flowers like yellow from turmeric, green from mehendi and other leaves, violet and blue from indigo and berries, red from flowers like hibiscus and flame of the forest and brown from tea leaves. But in recent times, these have given way to chemical induced synthetic colours which sometimes harm the skin and eyes of people. It is high time we go back to our natural colours and play a safe and wonderful Holi.
We are once again in the midst of our favorite festival Navaratri. But children, do you know the story behind this festival and why we celebrate it with so much fervor?
Once upon a time there was a demon or Asura called Mahishasur. He had the face of a buffalo with two pointed and sharp horns and a human body. Mahishasur prayed to Lord Brahma for many, many years, doing strict penance.
Lord Brahma appeared before him and said, “Hey Mahishasur! I am pleased with your devotion and prayers. I will grant you any boon that you want.”
The Asura was pleased. He said, “I want to be immortal. Grant me the boon that I will never die.”
Brahma shook his head. “I am sorry, Mahishasur. I can’t grant you immortality. It is against the law of nature. Ask for something else.”
Mahishasur thought for a moment. Then he said, “My Lord, grant me a boon that I cannot be killed by any God, Man or animal.”
“Thathastu!” exclaimed Brahma with a smile. The Asura, in his arrogance, had not considered a woman as being strong enough to confront him.
Mahishasur became proud of his prowess and his invincibility. He started harassing the Sages, Maharishis, and conquered the whole world. He then moved on to heaven and the Devas had to concede defeat because of Lord Brahma’s boon.
The Devas rushed to Lord Brahma for a solution. Brahma said that only a woman would be able to kill Mahishasur. It was then that Lord Brahma, Mahavishnu and Mahadev created a beautiful, divine woman Shakthi called Durga Devi, with ten arms and a lion as a mount. Each of the Devas presented her with their weapon. She had a weapon in each of her ten arms including Mahadev’s Trishul and Mahavishnu’s Chakra, Brahma’s kamandala and Indra’s thunderbolt and presented a magnificent sight sitting majestically on her mount, the lion.
Attracted by her magnificent beauty, Mahishasur expressed a wish to marry her. Durgadevi was angered by this and started a war with the buffalo faced Asura. The fierce battle lasted for nine days and nine nights. On the tenth day, Durga Mata vanquished Mahishasur by piercing him with her trident. Durga Mata is also called Mahishasuramardini and Simhavahini.
Thus the festival of Navaratri, meaning nine nights, celebrates the victory of Shri Durga Mata over the wicked Mahishasur.
To know about how different States celebrate Navaratri in different ways read https://lalithabalasubramanian.blogspot.com/2019/09/5-states-in-india-celebrate-navaratri_14.html
#Navaratri #Story_for_children #DurgaMata #Mahishasur #Mahishasuramardini #Trident #Festival
Happy ONAM! The magnificent festival of Onam celebrates the annual visit of Kerala's beloved King Mahabali Chakravarthy also lovingly called Maveli. Everywhere, we can find Onam Sadhyas being served on banana leaves in a traditional way and colourful pookalams decorating the entrances of houses. No wonder then that it is the favorite festival of Keralites.
Here is an excerpt from my book Kerala the Divine Destination on this festival.