We often refer to couples who stay steady for a long time, stating that they were together in seven lifetimes. we also refer to fourteen planes or worlds of existence. these are the different classifications of life forms and our going to these planes of existence depending on our thoughts , words and actions in this lifetime.
the seven chakras, or wheels of energy in our body are as follows.
MULADHARA- this is the root and the abode of memory and human knowledge. our basic instincts of survival rise from here.
SWADHISHTANA- this in the sacral region, is also the home of intellect.
MANIPURA- this is in the naval, is the place where our will resides.
ANAHATA- this is in the heart, is the region of direct cognition and empathy for other life.
VISHUDDHI- this is in the throat , is the region where divine love is experienced.
AAGNYA- this is in the forehead, is the region of divine vision and clairvoyance.
SAHASRARA- this is in the crown of the head. , is the seat of illumination and godliness.
below these seven are seven other regions, referred to as region of hell. that is what we refer to when we say."i fell down so deep in the ATALA PATHALAM". Atala is in the region of the the knees and the seat of fear and lust , emerges from the WORLD IS CALLED PUT. our knees wobble when we are afraid , right. VITALA is raging anger THE WORLD IS CALLED AVICHI , just beneath the knees .SUTALA in the region of the SHIN closer to the knees and that 's where retaliatory jealousy springs from.THE WORLD IS CALLED SANHATA. TALATALA is the mid-shin region in the legs and is the seat of prolonged confusion,THE REGION OF HELL IS CALLED TAMISRA . RASATALA is the shin closer to the ankles ; it is the region of selfishness and THE WORLD IS CALLED RIJISHA.
when a person thinks less before he works or has skewed thinking , we say he thinks from his feet. there is mahatala or consciouslessness or THE WORLD IS CALLED KUDMALA. and the lowest region of the hell which exists in the feet proper is PATALA which speaks of murderous malice. THE WORLD IS KAKOLA or the region of wickedness.
we have seven levels of rarefied state of consiousness above the sahasrara too. the highest is the cosmic sound. as all our nadis and subtle energy channels bunch up in the forehead and move into the cosmos through the sahasrara, our individual personality continues to experience these planes of experience relating to extra-sensory sounds, lights, subtle thoughts, revelations and realisations that ultimately cause a tranformation in our human consciousness.
THE NEW SUNDAY EXPRESS 18th dec 2011.
Monday, December 19, 2011
STORY OF WISDOM
A teacher and his disciple were walking through the forest. the disciple was disturbed by the realisation that his mind was in a constant state of unrest.
he asked ,"why are most people's mind restless and only a few possess a calm mind?what can one do to still the mind.?"
The teacher smiled and said,"i will tell you a story. An elephant was plucking leaves from the tree. small fly came,flying and buzzing near his ear. the elephant waved it with his long ear. then the fly came again, again the elephant waved it away.this was repeated several times. then the elephant asked the fly,"why are you so restless and noisy? why can't you stay in peace for a while in one place."
the fly answered:"i am attracted to whatever i see, hear or smell. my senses pull me constantly in all directions and i cannot resist them. but how do you stay so calm?".
the elephant answered ,"my five senses do not rule my attention. i can direct my attention wherever i want. this helps me to stay immersed in whatever i do, and therefore, my mind is focused and calm. now that i am eating i am immersed in eating. in this way, i can enjoy my food better."
the disciple saw the light," i understand. my mind will be in constant unrest if my five senses control it. if i am able to disregard sense impressions, my mind would become calm and i will be focused."
MORAL;
the mind is restless and goes wherever the attention is. control your attention and you control your mind.
18th dec 2011 THE NEW SUNDAY EXPRESS.
ADAPTED from inspiring stories by RemezSasson.
he asked ,"why are most people's mind restless and only a few possess a calm mind?what can one do to still the mind.?"
The teacher smiled and said,"i will tell you a story. An elephant was plucking leaves from the tree. small fly came,flying and buzzing near his ear. the elephant waved it with his long ear. then the fly came again, again the elephant waved it away.this was repeated several times. then the elephant asked the fly,"why are you so restless and noisy? why can't you stay in peace for a while in one place."
the fly answered:"i am attracted to whatever i see, hear or smell. my senses pull me constantly in all directions and i cannot resist them. but how do you stay so calm?".
the elephant answered ,"my five senses do not rule my attention. i can direct my attention wherever i want. this helps me to stay immersed in whatever i do, and therefore, my mind is focused and calm. now that i am eating i am immersed in eating. in this way, i can enjoy my food better."
the disciple saw the light," i understand. my mind will be in constant unrest if my five senses control it. if i am able to disregard sense impressions, my mind would become calm and i will be focused."
MORAL;
the mind is restless and goes wherever the attention is. control your attention and you control your mind.
18th dec 2011 THE NEW SUNDAY EXPRESS.
ADAPTED from inspiring stories by RemezSasson.
Friday, September 16, 2011
PANCHBHOOTHA STALAMS- 5 elementas of nature.
pancha means five- bhootha basic elements of nature- lord shiva is worhipped, in all the five elements of nature, in five different places in india in linga form.lord is omnipresent.in linga cosmic energy is concentrated.focusing attention on the linga will increase the concentration power.linga has three parts lower part brahma- middle part vishnu and upper most shiva or rudra.different kinds of linga are worshipped at temple and home, like quartz(spatika), black stone, maragadam(green stone) .
THIRUVANNAMALAI.-FIRE
this is situated in tamil nadu. here shiva is worhiped in fire form agni .siva is called arunachaleshwara.lord brahma and vishnu aruged on who is the greatest. shiva was asked to be the judge. shiva said one who can see the crown as well as his feet will be termed as greatest.so lord shiva emerged in front of them in the form of a jyoti colum of fire..brahma took swan and flew up in the sky to find the crown . and vishnu took the varaha(wild boar) avatara and went deep into the earth to the feet. he could not find the feet so he accepted the defeat. brahma saw a tazham poo falling from shiva's head. he asked the tazampoo about the distance. it said it had been falling for forty thousand years. brahma requested that flower to be the witness for having seen the head. the flower agreed. brahma told shiva he saw the crown and tazampoo agreed. shiva got angry and cursed brahma that he will not have temple anywhere. in shiva pooja tazam poo will not be used as a punishment for lying. where shiva stood as the `column of fire is thiruvannamalai. on full moon day of karthigai month huge lamp is lit on the top of the hill.on any full moon day thousands of devotees do circumumbulation of the arunachala hill bare footed
CHIDAMBARAM-AKASHA-ether
this is situated in tamil nadu. here shiva resembles akasha. only a curtain will be there behind nataraja idol with vilva garland.here lord shiva is worshipped in three forms . one as natraja-, second is in linga roopa-spatika linga and the third one is space.
once few munis after learning mantras and tantras became proud . shiva came as a beggar to teach them a lesson.their wife's threw snakes on the beggar . he took and wore it as an ornament. then they sent a devil apasmarapurusa, shiva killed him and did ananda thandava nrityam on him. that is one form of shiva - nataraja.here the dance indicates a continuous process of creation preservation and destruction. the damuru in the hands of nataraja indicates SHABDA, hence akasha.fire in one hand represents destruction . this place is called chitra sabha. there are five sabhas where he performed dance.
chidambaram-kanaka sabha.
thiruvalamgur -ratna sabha.
kutralam-chitra sabha.
madurai-rajatha sabha.
nallaiappar koil at thirunelveli-tamra sabha.
KALAHASTI:-AIR
this also considered as rahu ketu parihara kshetra.here shiva is in the form of air. we cannot see the linga. there is a lamp lit inside the main sanctum , which constantly flickers though there is no opening . air movement is there. out side linga ,is white in colour and is self existent..
STORY:sri-spider,kala-snake,hasti-elephant. =srikalahasti. elephant will bring water in its trunk and clean the place and worship. spider will make cob web around the linga to protect it. snake will place a precious gem (mani) on the linga. like this all the three were worshipping god sincerely. one day elephant brought water and cleaned the place , there were lot of cobwebs and manis,thinking that to be some miscreants work ,a war started between the three. snake entered elephants trunk and died. elephant hit his head on the shiva linga and died because of the snake's poison. on the process spider got killed .shiva appeared and gave moksha to all the three.and named this place as srikalahasti. shiva cursed parvathi of assuming human body so she penanced here to get rid of it. and siva glorified her body again and gave her panchakshari mantra.
KANCHIPURAM-PRITHVI
this is tamil nadu. this is called temple town. ekambareshwarar ,is the main deity .this is the prithivi stalam. parvathi worshipped a linga made of sand under a mango tree.tree is` still there..vegavati river flooded and parvathi protected the linga with both her hands. pleased shiva gave darshan and married her. she is worshipped along with shiva . the presiding god ekambareshwarar and kamakshi amman are worshipped separately. the mango tree bears fruits of four different tastes at different season. this is supposed to represent 4 vedas.
THIRUVANAIKAVAL-APPU water.
this is the place of pilgrimage in tamil nadu on the bank of the river kaveri. siva is called jambunatha.it is believed that this place was a forest of jambu tree.(nagapazam) there was a shiva lingam under one tree. since this place was always surrounded by water. this is popularly known as appu kshetram. goddess parvathi here is called akilandeshwari.
previously the lingam was under the jumbo tree. a spider and an elephant worshipped god. spider would make a cob web around the linga and elephant would clean it up and pour water and put flowers. one day both fought vigourously and died. pleased with their bakthi shiva appeared and blessed them. since it was worshipped by an elephant it is called aanaikaa.-thiruAANAIKAAval.
linga is the mark of lord siva ,as pancha bootha linga and the jyotirlingas. linga speaks in silence and raises us above the body conscious to spirituality.
.
THIRUVANNAMALAI.-FIRE
this is situated in tamil nadu. here shiva is worhiped in fire form agni .siva is called arunachaleshwara.lord brahma and vishnu aruged on who is the greatest. shiva was asked to be the judge. shiva said one who can see the crown as well as his feet will be termed as greatest.so lord shiva emerged in front of them in the form of a jyoti colum of fire..brahma took swan and flew up in the sky to find the crown . and vishnu took the varaha(wild boar) avatara and went deep into the earth to the feet. he could not find the feet so he accepted the defeat. brahma saw a tazham poo falling from shiva's head. he asked the tazampoo about the distance. it said it had been falling for forty thousand years. brahma requested that flower to be the witness for having seen the head. the flower agreed. brahma told shiva he saw the crown and tazampoo agreed. shiva got angry and cursed brahma that he will not have temple anywhere. in shiva pooja tazam poo will not be used as a punishment for lying. where shiva stood as the `column of fire is thiruvannamalai. on full moon day of karthigai month huge lamp is lit on the top of the hill.on any full moon day thousands of devotees do circumumbulation of the arunachala hill bare footed
CHIDAMBARAM-AKASHA-ether
this is situated in tamil nadu. here shiva resembles akasha. only a curtain will be there behind nataraja idol with vilva garland.here lord shiva is worshipped in three forms . one as natraja-, second is in linga roopa-spatika linga and the third one is space.
once few munis after learning mantras and tantras became proud . shiva came as a beggar to teach them a lesson.their wife's threw snakes on the beggar . he took and wore it as an ornament. then they sent a devil apasmarapurusa, shiva killed him and did ananda thandava nrityam on him. that is one form of shiva - nataraja.here the dance indicates a continuous process of creation preservation and destruction. the damuru in the hands of nataraja indicates SHABDA, hence akasha.fire in one hand represents destruction . this place is called chitra sabha. there are five sabhas where he performed dance.
chidambaram-kanaka sabha.
thiruvalamgur -ratna sabha.
kutralam-chitra sabha.
madurai-rajatha sabha.
nallaiappar koil at thirunelveli-tamra sabha.
KALAHASTI:-AIR
this also considered as rahu ketu parihara kshetra.here shiva is in the form of air. we cannot see the linga. there is a lamp lit inside the main sanctum , which constantly flickers though there is no opening . air movement is there. out side linga ,is white in colour and is self existent..
STORY:sri-spider,kala-snake,hasti-elephant. =srikalahasti. elephant will bring water in its trunk and clean the place and worship. spider will make cob web around the linga to protect it. snake will place a precious gem (mani) on the linga. like this all the three were worshipping god sincerely. one day elephant brought water and cleaned the place , there were lot of cobwebs and manis,thinking that to be some miscreants work ,a war started between the three. snake entered elephants trunk and died. elephant hit his head on the shiva linga and died because of the snake's poison. on the process spider got killed .shiva appeared and gave moksha to all the three.and named this place as srikalahasti. shiva cursed parvathi of assuming human body so she penanced here to get rid of it. and siva glorified her body again and gave her panchakshari mantra.
KANCHIPURAM-PRITHVI
this is tamil nadu. this is called temple town. ekambareshwarar ,is the main deity .this is the prithivi stalam. parvathi worshipped a linga made of sand under a mango tree.tree is` still there..vegavati river flooded and parvathi protected the linga with both her hands. pleased shiva gave darshan and married her. she is worshipped along with shiva . the presiding god ekambareshwarar and kamakshi amman are worshipped separately. the mango tree bears fruits of four different tastes at different season. this is supposed to represent 4 vedas.
THIRUVANAIKAVAL-APPU water.
this is the place of pilgrimage in tamil nadu on the bank of the river kaveri. siva is called jambunatha.it is believed that this place was a forest of jambu tree.(nagapazam) there was a shiva lingam under one tree. since this place was always surrounded by water. this is popularly known as appu kshetram. goddess parvathi here is called akilandeshwari.
previously the lingam was under the jumbo tree. a spider and an elephant worshipped god. spider would make a cob web around the linga and elephant would clean it up and pour water and put flowers. one day both fought vigourously and died. pleased with their bakthi shiva appeared and blessed them. since it was worshipped by an elephant it is called aanaikaa.-thiruAANAIKAAval.
linga is the mark of lord siva ,as pancha bootha linga and the jyotirlingas. linga speaks in silence and raises us above the body conscious to spirituality.
.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
TWELVE JYOTIRLINGAS OF LORD SHIVA-4
SHRI RAMESHWAR JYOTIRLINGA.
temple of rameshwaram is situated in the southern part of india .sri rama with his sena came here to cross the ocean and reach sri lanka to kill ravana. before this he wanted to worship lord shiva and get his blessings .so hanuman left for kailash to get a linga.as it was getting late rama made a linga of sand and worshipped and got the blessings. shiva said he will reside here as rameshwar jyotirlinga . hanuman came with the linga and was disappointed that the pooja is over.sri rama kept that linga with the earthern linga and named it as hanumatheeshwar.this is one of sacred pilgrimage place. there are 22 wells round the temple which is considered sacred. devotees take bath in these wells and worship god people bring ganga jal from haridwar or gangaotri and offer that to lord shiva here, which is considered very sacred.
SHRI GRUMESHWARA JYOTIRLINGA.
this is also known as grineshwar. it is situated in the tank bed called shivalaya ,in ellora -maharashtra. the water in that tank is considered very sacred .
in olden days there lived a brahman called sudharma and his wife sudeha,both a strong devotee of shiva. they were not blessed with a child. sudeha had a sister named gushma. she too was a rigorous shiva worshipper . she worshipped daily 108 earthern lingas and immerse them in the near by tank. sudeha got her sister married to her husband. gushma continued her pooja daily. soon she was blessed with a son. out of jealousy sudeha killed gushma's son and threw him in the same tank. gushma as usual did her pooja next day and immersed the lingas in the tank . when she was coming back, her son also came with her. pleased with her pooja shiva appeared and blessed her with a boon. gushma requested her sister's act of jelousy be pardoned and bless moksha after her death. and she requested shiva to stay there for good of the people. so shiva became popular as gushmeshwar jyotirlinga. that tank is called shivalay.
the twelve jyotirlingas of shiva are self existing and has been worshiped since ages. time and again temples were demolished and reconstructed by the faithful devotees.
temple of rameshwaram is situated in the southern part of india .sri rama with his sena came here to cross the ocean and reach sri lanka to kill ravana. before this he wanted to worship lord shiva and get his blessings .so hanuman left for kailash to get a linga.as it was getting late rama made a linga of sand and worshipped and got the blessings. shiva said he will reside here as rameshwar jyotirlinga . hanuman came with the linga and was disappointed that the pooja is over.sri rama kept that linga with the earthern linga and named it as hanumatheeshwar.this is one of sacred pilgrimage place. there are 22 wells round the temple which is considered sacred. devotees take bath in these wells and worship god people bring ganga jal from haridwar or gangaotri and offer that to lord shiva here, which is considered very sacred.
SHRI GRUMESHWARA JYOTIRLINGA.
this is also known as grineshwar. it is situated in the tank bed called shivalaya ,in ellora -maharashtra. the water in that tank is considered very sacred .
in olden days there lived a brahman called sudharma and his wife sudeha,both a strong devotee of shiva. they were not blessed with a child. sudeha had a sister named gushma. she too was a rigorous shiva worshipper . she worshipped daily 108 earthern lingas and immerse them in the near by tank. sudeha got her sister married to her husband. gushma continued her pooja daily. soon she was blessed with a son. out of jealousy sudeha killed gushma's son and threw him in the same tank. gushma as usual did her pooja next day and immersed the lingas in the tank . when she was coming back, her son also came with her. pleased with her pooja shiva appeared and blessed her with a boon. gushma requested her sister's act of jelousy be pardoned and bless moksha after her death. and she requested shiva to stay there for good of the people. so shiva became popular as gushmeshwar jyotirlinga. that tank is called shivalay.
the twelve jyotirlingas of shiva are self existing and has been worshiped since ages. time and again temples were demolished and reconstructed by the faithful devotees.
Monday, September 12, 2011
TWELVE JYOTIRLINGAS OF LORD SHIVA-3
SHRI TRAYAMBAKESHWAR JYOTIRLING.
this place is situated in nasik in maharastra. every twelve year, mahakumbha is celebrated on the bank of the river godavari. but kumba bath with out the darshan of god is incomplete.
it is believed that gowtham rishi with his wife ahilya, who was famous for charitable endowment lived here. gowtham rishi did tapasya . due to drought people suffered . Varun, pleased with the tapasya of rishi , asked him to make a hole and varun filled it with akshya water.again prosperity and happiness was there .other rishi's got jealous and started accusing gowtham rishi of go hatya (cow slaughtered ).gowtham rishi did tapasya again and worshipped one crore earthern shiva linga. pleased shiva declared him innocent. rishi's and devas requested shiva to reside there. so on that akshaya hole he existed as jyotirlinga. there are three small shiva lingas inside representing brahma, vishnu and shiva.godavari river water keeps flowing in that hole.
SHRI BHIDYANATHESWAR JYOTIRLINGA.vaidhyanatheswar.
this place is situated in devghar in bihar , became famous as baidhyanath dham. here linga is just 11finger tall.with a pressed impression on its head.
story of gokarna and this place is similar.ravana offered severe penanace to lord shiva.as he wanted shiva to stay in sri lanka. when Shiva did not appear, he started chopping off his head one by one. when only one was left and pleased by his determination shiva appeared and joined the head and body like a vaidya . so this place is called vaidyanath jyotirlinga.he requested shiva to come with him but shiva gave a jyotirlinga, to be taken with a condition that it should not be kept on the ground as it will get rooted. ravana felt uneasy and requested a young boy( lord visnu) to hold the linga in his hands and requested him not to keep it down.when ravna came back he got angry and tried to take the linga out. he could not.so he worshipped shiva and went back to lanka. in the process of pulling the linga out , he pressed his thump on the head of the linga ,still the impression is there. all the rishi's devathas came there to worship shiva . when they saw lord himself there they established it as jyotirlinga.
SHRI NAGESWAR JYOTIRLINGA
this is situated in dwaraka. this place was a jungle once and there lived a demon called daruk .he lived under the ocean with his men he stole the goods from the ship that passed by and took the passengers as prisoners. one of the prisoner was a merchant called supriye who was a shiva devotee. when daruk was troubling the passengers, he was worshiping god. so daruk ordered to kill him. scared supriye requested god to help him. immediately a hole was formed and lord shiva came and killed daruk and his men. on the request of supriye lord shiva stayed there as nageswar jyotirlinga.
this place is situated in nasik in maharastra. every twelve year, mahakumbha is celebrated on the bank of the river godavari. but kumba bath with out the darshan of god is incomplete.
it is believed that gowtham rishi with his wife ahilya, who was famous for charitable endowment lived here. gowtham rishi did tapasya . due to drought people suffered . Varun, pleased with the tapasya of rishi , asked him to make a hole and varun filled it with akshya water.again prosperity and happiness was there .other rishi's got jealous and started accusing gowtham rishi of go hatya (cow slaughtered ).gowtham rishi did tapasya again and worshipped one crore earthern shiva linga. pleased shiva declared him innocent. rishi's and devas requested shiva to reside there. so on that akshaya hole he existed as jyotirlinga. there are three small shiva lingas inside representing brahma, vishnu and shiva.godavari river water keeps flowing in that hole.
SHRI BHIDYANATHESWAR JYOTIRLINGA.vaidhyanatheswar.
this place is situated in devghar in bihar , became famous as baidhyanath dham. here linga is just 11finger tall.with a pressed impression on its head.
story of gokarna and this place is similar.ravana offered severe penanace to lord shiva.as he wanted shiva to stay in sri lanka. when Shiva did not appear, he started chopping off his head one by one. when only one was left and pleased by his determination shiva appeared and joined the head and body like a vaidya . so this place is called vaidyanath jyotirlinga.he requested shiva to come with him but shiva gave a jyotirlinga, to be taken with a condition that it should not be kept on the ground as it will get rooted. ravana felt uneasy and requested a young boy( lord visnu) to hold the linga in his hands and requested him not to keep it down.when ravna came back he got angry and tried to take the linga out. he could not.so he worshipped shiva and went back to lanka. in the process of pulling the linga out , he pressed his thump on the head of the linga ,still the impression is there. all the rishi's devathas came there to worship shiva . when they saw lord himself there they established it as jyotirlinga.
SHRI NAGESWAR JYOTIRLINGA
this is situated in dwaraka. this place was a jungle once and there lived a demon called daruk .he lived under the ocean with his men he stole the goods from the ship that passed by and took the passengers as prisoners. one of the prisoner was a merchant called supriye who was a shiva devotee. when daruk was troubling the passengers, he was worshiping god. so daruk ordered to kill him. scared supriye requested god to help him. immediately a hole was formed and lord shiva came and killed daruk and his men. on the request of supriye lord shiva stayed there as nageswar jyotirlinga.
TWELVE JYOTIRLINGAS OF LORD SHIVA-2
SHRI OMKARESHWAR AND AMALESHWAR JYOTIRLINGA.
this temple is situated in indore- madhya pradesh, in the bank of the river narmada, on the hill called manyata where both forms of shiva exists in one linga.
shiva puran says. once Rishis in vindhyachal hill made a earthern linga and worshipped and did tapasya to have vision of the phonic appearence of shiva.(pranav).pleased shiva gave a boon to the rishis. on the request of rishi's and devathas shiva's linga divided into two parts. in one linga he existed in the form of pranav so he is called omkareshwar which is surrounded by water always and earthy linga is known as amaleshwar or pareshwar linga. karthik poornima is celebrated here.
SHRI KEDARESWAR JYOTIRLINGA.
this is situated on top of the hill of uttarakhand .on the bright white snow covered mountains of the himalayas, siva is worshipped as kedareswar.kedarnath is famous for doing tapasya since ages. abhimanyu worshipped lord shiva here. this is one of the special place of pilgrimage for hindus.
the story for this relates to mahabharatha time.after the war yudhishtir asked vyas for a remedy to get rid of the sin of killing his own cousin brothers and guru's . vyas told them to visit kedarnath to worship shiva there. pandavas went there as a pilgrimage and seeing them coming shiva left that place in the form of a bull. pandavas for the vision of shiva did tapasya. pleased shiva's hump part appeared in the form of a jyotirlinga. here shiva's hump part is worshipped.
trekking here is very slippery but nature's abundance beauty and lord shiva's will make our journey memorable.
SHRI BHEEMSHANKAR JYOTIRLINGA.
this is situated in poona on the bank of the river bheema on the sahayadri hill temple.
water keeps flowing from linga.it is believed that after killing tripurasur, lord shiva came here to take rest. sweat drops of shiva is converted into bheema river.there a sooryavamshi raja bheemak was doing tapasya. pleased siva gave him darshan and accepted his request and stayed there as bheemshankar jyotirlinga.
There is another story for Bheemshankar jyotirlinga. this is situated in the brahmapur hill of gowhati in assam . according to the shivpuran, kamroop was ruled by a shivbakth called kamroopeshwar. he was devoted in worshiping lord shiva. a demon in the name of bheem was there . he did tapasya to lord brahma and got enormous power. where ever people worshipped god, he troubled them. he heard of the shiva bhakti of raja kamroopeshwar. he went to his palace and used bad vocabilaries but raja was absorbed in puja so he did not see him coming. bheem took his sword to cut the shiva linga , but before he could the sword was destroyed into pieces and lord shiva killed the demons. raja and the rishi's requested lord shiva to stay there for universal good, so he stayed as jyotirlinga.
SHRI VISVESWAR JYOTIRLINGA.
this is situated in kasi on bank of the river ganges., which is a holy spot for visits by hindus.it is the city of temples.it is the center for cultural and religious background. it is god's own residence.lord shiva esablished kasi. vishvanath temple was reconstructed by adi sankaracharya. then aurangazeb demolished it. ahilya bhai holkar constructed it again. linga is in a hole filled with water cannot be seen outside, so by touching only we can feel the linga.god vishwanath with goddess annapoorni blessess the devotees with boons. vishalakshi temple is also famous there.this is one of the shakti peet also, parvathi's left hand fell here.
this temple is situated in indore- madhya pradesh, in the bank of the river narmada, on the hill called manyata where both forms of shiva exists in one linga.
shiva puran says. once Rishis in vindhyachal hill made a earthern linga and worshipped and did tapasya to have vision of the phonic appearence of shiva.(pranav).pleased shiva gave a boon to the rishis. on the request of rishi's and devathas shiva's linga divided into two parts. in one linga he existed in the form of pranav so he is called omkareshwar which is surrounded by water always and earthy linga is known as amaleshwar or pareshwar linga. karthik poornima is celebrated here.
SHRI KEDARESWAR JYOTIRLINGA.
this is situated on top of the hill of uttarakhand .on the bright white snow covered mountains of the himalayas, siva is worshipped as kedareswar.kedarnath is famous for doing tapasya since ages. abhimanyu worshipped lord shiva here. this is one of the special place of pilgrimage for hindus.
the story for this relates to mahabharatha time.after the war yudhishtir asked vyas for a remedy to get rid of the sin of killing his own cousin brothers and guru's . vyas told them to visit kedarnath to worship shiva there. pandavas went there as a pilgrimage and seeing them coming shiva left that place in the form of a bull. pandavas for the vision of shiva did tapasya. pleased shiva's hump part appeared in the form of a jyotirlinga. here shiva's hump part is worshipped.
trekking here is very slippery but nature's abundance beauty and lord shiva's will make our journey memorable.
SHRI BHEEMSHANKAR JYOTIRLINGA.
this is situated in poona on the bank of the river bheema on the sahayadri hill temple.
water keeps flowing from linga.it is believed that after killing tripurasur, lord shiva came here to take rest. sweat drops of shiva is converted into bheema river.there a sooryavamshi raja bheemak was doing tapasya. pleased siva gave him darshan and accepted his request and stayed there as bheemshankar jyotirlinga.
There is another story for Bheemshankar jyotirlinga. this is situated in the brahmapur hill of gowhati in assam . according to the shivpuran, kamroop was ruled by a shivbakth called kamroopeshwar. he was devoted in worshiping lord shiva. a demon in the name of bheem was there . he did tapasya to lord brahma and got enormous power. where ever people worshipped god, he troubled them. he heard of the shiva bhakti of raja kamroopeshwar. he went to his palace and used bad vocabilaries but raja was absorbed in puja so he did not see him coming. bheem took his sword to cut the shiva linga , but before he could the sword was destroyed into pieces and lord shiva killed the demons. raja and the rishi's requested lord shiva to stay there for universal good, so he stayed as jyotirlinga.
SHRI VISVESWAR JYOTIRLINGA.
this is situated in kasi on bank of the river ganges., which is a holy spot for visits by hindus.it is the city of temples.it is the center for cultural and religious background. it is god's own residence.lord shiva esablished kasi. vishvanath temple was reconstructed by adi sankaracharya. then aurangazeb demolished it. ahilya bhai holkar constructed it again. linga is in a hole filled with water cannot be seen outside, so by touching only we can feel the linga.god vishwanath with goddess annapoorni blessess the devotees with boons. vishalakshi temple is also famous there.this is one of the shakti peet also, parvathi's left hand fell here.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
TWELVE JYOTIRLINGAS OF LORD SHIVA.-1
lord shiva is worshiped as supreme spirit throughout india in the form of LINGA .jyoti means light- linga- emerged from the light. there are twelve places in india where shiva is worshipped as( self existent) swayambhoo linga
.
SHRI SOMNATH JYOTIRLINGA.
this is sitauted in gujarat ,in a sacred place called -prabhas at rajkot .here shri krishna sacrificed his body. chandrama did shiva pooja to get rid of his curse of leprosy by his father in law,daksha.
story goes like this:
daksha prajapathi married all his 27 daughter's to chandra devan(moon) . he was very fond of rohini and loved her the most.on the complaint of other daughter's he warned moon. but moon did not listen. he cursed him with leprosy. when he became sick there was disturbance everywhere. the whole world went complete dark at night. chandra requested his father in law to take back the curse. he did not agree. so he went to lord shiva . when shiva saw that chandra was almost vanishing, to save him he took the remaining 3rd days moon(moondram perai chandran) and placed it on his head . chandra did penance to lord shiva in prabhas, and did mahamrityunjai mantra jap. shiva gave the boon that he will grow (shukla paksham) for fifteen days and fade (krishna paksham) for next fifteen days. moon requested lord shiva to stay in this place in his(chandra, som) name .since then it is popularly known as somnath jyothirling. this is the story of waxing and waning of the moon.
the temple constructed by moon was ruined by time. then ravana and shri krishna rebuilt it , that also was ruined by time. raja bheemdev solanki reconstructed a massive temple in11th century.gajani's attack ruined this temple again. still people visited this place. in 18th century it was again reconstructed by ahilya bhai holkar , who saw this linga in her dream. she built a temple and worshipped shiva. she is a very faithful devotee of lord shiva .the present day temple is constructed by sardar vallabhai patel .
SHRI MALLIKARJUN JYOTIRLINGA.
this is situated in andhra pradesh, kurnool,on the bank of the river krishna on top of the hill shrishila .
the story for this can be seen in shiva puran, padma puran .
once lord ganesha and karthikeya were fighting regarding their marriage in front of lord siva and parvathi. so they decided that one who goes round the earth and comes back first will get married first. karthikeya went on peacock back. lord ganesha did seven parikramas of his parents and got married to two daughters of prajapathi ridhi and sidhi. when karthikeya came back he got angry . he went on top of the hill of shri shila. his parents went there to pacify him but before shiva and parvathi arrived there , he left that place. but shiva stayed in the shri shila hill . since then he is popularly known as mallikarjun jyotirlinga.
SHRI MAHAKALESHWAR JYOTIRLINGA.
this is situated in madhya pradesh near shipra river in the city called UJJAIN . visiting this temple will give longivity of life .
kalidasa also talks about this temple in meghadoot. he talks to the clouds and suggest they visit this temple and stay there. Their thunder and lightning will creat music and will be blessed by shiva.
here is the story of hill range of ratna mala where a demon called dhoshan lived.with the blessings of lord bhrahma he became powerful and defeated devas .demon came to ujjain to kill the brahmins doing shiva pooja.. to protect the Brahmins everybody worshipped god. when they were going to be attacked a huge sound came ,earth cracked and a big hole was formed and from that came a deformed faced shiva came with a groaning sound and killed the demon. so everybody requested shiva to stay in this hole for the universal good.siva agreed.he is popularly known as mahakaleshwar jyotirlinga.
.
SHRI SOMNATH JYOTIRLINGA.
this is sitauted in gujarat ,in a sacred place called -prabhas at rajkot .here shri krishna sacrificed his body. chandrama did shiva pooja to get rid of his curse of leprosy by his father in law,daksha.
story goes like this:
daksha prajapathi married all his 27 daughter's to chandra devan(moon) . he was very fond of rohini and loved her the most.on the complaint of other daughter's he warned moon. but moon did not listen. he cursed him with leprosy. when he became sick there was disturbance everywhere. the whole world went complete dark at night. chandra requested his father in law to take back the curse. he did not agree. so he went to lord shiva . when shiva saw that chandra was almost vanishing, to save him he took the remaining 3rd days moon(moondram perai chandran) and placed it on his head . chandra did penance to lord shiva in prabhas, and did mahamrityunjai mantra jap. shiva gave the boon that he will grow (shukla paksham) for fifteen days and fade (krishna paksham) for next fifteen days. moon requested lord shiva to stay in this place in his(chandra, som) name .since then it is popularly known as somnath jyothirling. this is the story of waxing and waning of the moon.
the temple constructed by moon was ruined by time. then ravana and shri krishna rebuilt it , that also was ruined by time. raja bheemdev solanki reconstructed a massive temple in11th century.gajani's attack ruined this temple again. still people visited this place. in 18th century it was again reconstructed by ahilya bhai holkar , who saw this linga in her dream. she built a temple and worshipped shiva. she is a very faithful devotee of lord shiva .the present day temple is constructed by sardar vallabhai patel .
SHRI MALLIKARJUN JYOTIRLINGA.
this is situated in andhra pradesh, kurnool,on the bank of the river krishna on top of the hill shrishila .
the story for this can be seen in shiva puran, padma puran .
once lord ganesha and karthikeya were fighting regarding their marriage in front of lord siva and parvathi. so they decided that one who goes round the earth and comes back first will get married first. karthikeya went on peacock back. lord ganesha did seven parikramas of his parents and got married to two daughters of prajapathi ridhi and sidhi. when karthikeya came back he got angry . he went on top of the hill of shri shila. his parents went there to pacify him but before shiva and parvathi arrived there , he left that place. but shiva stayed in the shri shila hill . since then he is popularly known as mallikarjun jyotirlinga.
SHRI MAHAKALESHWAR JYOTIRLINGA.
this is situated in madhya pradesh near shipra river in the city called UJJAIN . visiting this temple will give longivity of life .
kalidasa also talks about this temple in meghadoot. he talks to the clouds and suggest they visit this temple and stay there. Their thunder and lightning will creat music and will be blessed by shiva.
here is the story of hill range of ratna mala where a demon called dhoshan lived.with the blessings of lord bhrahma he became powerful and defeated devas .demon came to ujjain to kill the brahmins doing shiva pooja.. to protect the Brahmins everybody worshipped god. when they were going to be attacked a huge sound came ,earth cracked and a big hole was formed and from that came a deformed faced shiva came with a groaning sound and killed the demon. so everybody requested shiva to stay in this hole for the universal good.siva agreed.he is popularly known as mahakaleshwar jyotirlinga.
Friday, September 2, 2011
POPULAR PLACES TO VISIT
there are otherholy places of pilgrimes on the bank of the sacred rivers and temples. where people would like to visit , reside for attaining moksha.
KASI .
it is situated between river varun and asi so it is also called varanasi. It is a popular belief that by residing in Kasi after renouncing the body the soul attains moksha. people come here for ganges bath and this is pitru kshetra. it is established on the trishool of lord shiva so this place cannot be destroyed even when universe comes to an end .
in madikarnika ghat, sati's ear ring fell. dashaashwamegh ghat brahma did yagya.harishchandra ghat, satyavadi raja harishchandra worked here in the grave yard.kavi tulsidas wrote ramcharitmanas here. this place is famous for studying about shastras. ved pathashala is also there.vishvanath and matha annapoorneswari temples are there.visalakshi temple is very famous.
PUSHKAR.
situated at rajasthan this is considered the best theerth of all. brahma 's temple is considered very important . story of pushkar tank goes like this.
in the beginning of the creation vajranab demon lived here. he was troubling the children. brahma decided to perform yagya .he threw a lotus and killed vajranab.the place where the lotus fell is called pushkar.brahma created a big homakund.three pushkar theerthas were made. rishis , devathas came for the yagya and made ashram near by. shivji also came. brahma's wife saraswathi could not come on time to the place so brahma married savitri , a gopekumari , made her sit with him and started the yagya. saraswathi came saw this and cursed that all the devathas will be childless.to brahma she said he will have only one or two temples. she left for hill.
since pushkar has the water from the sacred rivers, after going to char dham people come here to take bath and do tarpan for the ancesters.
HARIDWAR
brahmanda puran and varah puran speaks about haridwar. ganga after coming from the hill touches the earth here.when amrit kalash came from churning of the ocean (samundra mandhan)garuda took and flew away. where ever the drops fell , every 12 years kumbha mela is held there. haridwar is one such place. in har ki powdi we can see half immersed temple . people do parikrama there.this is also one of the places where people do tarpan for their ancesters. manasa devi temple is on the hill top of haridwar.
GAYA:
it is situated in the south of bihar. it is a pitru kshetra.
the story goes like this
dharma stayed here and did tapasya .so this is also known as dharmaranya kshetra. maharishi marichi(brahma's manas son), also lived here. dharma got her daughter dharmavathi married to him.she was helping her husband when brahma came there. she came did athithi satkar to brahma . her husband got angry for leaving him in between and cursed her to become a statue. with dharmavathi's firm tapasya, lord vishnu blessed that all the devathas will have their place in that statue.
a demon called gaye lived here. he did vigorous tapasya. brahma was pleased and gave him the boon that his body is the most purified than all theerthas.he continued to do tapasya. all the devas were worried . brahma went to him and asked for his body to finish the yagya. he agreed and yagya got over. but he got up again. so they kept the statue of dharmavathi on him and all the devathas abode in that statue. since then this place is called gaya.
MATHURA/ VRINDAVAN.
in tretha yug madhu demon did atrocities.to save the people shri ram sent shatrugna to kill him. he killed the demon, since then this place is called mathura.dwapur yug vishnu took shri krishna avatar here. shri krishna 's birth place is mathura and lila's he did in vrindavan. so both are famous.
when sati went into the agnikund, shiva took her body he was under a spell of intoxication. so vishnu with his chakra cut the body of sati into pieces. pieces fell all over the places. it is said here the hair of sati fell . so there is a shakti peeta here which is called chamunda or mouli.
wishing each other they say jai shree krishna. govardhan hill is there which is considered as shri krishna himself.
SRIRANGAM:
in tamil nadu at the bank of the river kavei is sri rangam. for viashnavas this is one of the important place of worship. lord vishnu with sri laxmi, bhoodevi, shridevi, and vebheeshan is on the bed of 5 headed shesh nag facing south.
lord narayana gave an idol of himself to brahma. raja ikshwahu did vigorous tapasya and got it from brahma,. since then ayodya and its kingdom is called ikshwahu generation and idol is worhipped in their family..
ram after winning lanka war ,came to ayodya with hanuman, sugreev, vibheshan
who came to witness the crowning ceremony of lord rama. vibheshan visited srirangam and liked the idol. after the function he asked rama for that family idol.sri ram gave him the idol with the vimana .
one his way back home, he felt tired and wanted to rest. so he kept the idol of narayana with the vimana on the bank of the river kaveri . after wards when he tried to lift it ,it did not come. so vibheeshan thought may be god is not willing to travel with him. so he did pooja and went back to lanka. since then lord is facing lanka (south ) .
SHRINGERI:
shringeri is located in chikmagalur in karnataka on the bank of the river tunga.this is the first mutt establised by shri adi sankaracharya .this is called as shringeri sharada peetham.rishyashrengar stayed and did tapas here. rishyashringa giri is there. so this is known as shringeri.
once when sankaracharya was passing near tunga he saw a cobra providing shelter from the hot sun ,to a frog when she was undergoing labour. he saw two natural enemies against their nature, helping each other.so he decided to establish the mutt here as there is compassion.
he installed shri. sharada's idol made in sandlewood who is the goddess for knowledge, learning and wisdom. vidyashankar temple is there where there are 12 pillars for 12 zodiac symbols..the first ray of the sun falls on the rasi in which sun is travelling. thorana ganapathi is worshipped to remove the obstacles and fulfill our wishes.
across tunga river is the mutt of jagatguru .puja performed by swamiji is a treat to eyes. sharath navratri is celebrated in a grand scale here. television coverage of all the events is quite appreciable. anna dhanam is done for all. serene atmosphere compels one to visit this place again and again and seek the blessings of jagatguru.
in and around shringeri there are places like kalasa viswanatha and horanadu annapoorni- considered as dhakshina kasi. kuduramukh factory, mookambika temple, udupi shri krishna temple, kuki subramanya, dharmasthala, and so many other places which one would like to visit.
KASI .
it is situated between river varun and asi so it is also called varanasi. It is a popular belief that by residing in Kasi after renouncing the body the soul attains moksha. people come here for ganges bath and this is pitru kshetra. it is established on the trishool of lord shiva so this place cannot be destroyed even when universe comes to an end .
in madikarnika ghat, sati's ear ring fell. dashaashwamegh ghat brahma did yagya.harishchandra ghat, satyavadi raja harishchandra worked here in the grave yard.kavi tulsidas wrote ramcharitmanas here. this place is famous for studying about shastras. ved pathashala is also there.vishvanath and matha annapoorneswari temples are there.visalakshi temple is very famous.
PUSHKAR.
situated at rajasthan this is considered the best theerth of all. brahma 's temple is considered very important . story of pushkar tank goes like this.
in the beginning of the creation vajranab demon lived here. he was troubling the children. brahma decided to perform yagya .he threw a lotus and killed vajranab.the place where the lotus fell is called pushkar.brahma created a big homakund.three pushkar theerthas were made. rishis , devathas came for the yagya and made ashram near by. shivji also came. brahma's wife saraswathi could not come on time to the place so brahma married savitri , a gopekumari , made her sit with him and started the yagya. saraswathi came saw this and cursed that all the devathas will be childless.to brahma she said he will have only one or two temples. she left for hill.
since pushkar has the water from the sacred rivers, after going to char dham people come here to take bath and do tarpan for the ancesters.
HARIDWAR
brahmanda puran and varah puran speaks about haridwar. ganga after coming from the hill touches the earth here.when amrit kalash came from churning of the ocean (samundra mandhan)garuda took and flew away. where ever the drops fell , every 12 years kumbha mela is held there. haridwar is one such place. in har ki powdi we can see half immersed temple . people do parikrama there.this is also one of the places where people do tarpan for their ancesters. manasa devi temple is on the hill top of haridwar.
GAYA:
it is situated in the south of bihar. it is a pitru kshetra.
the story goes like this
dharma stayed here and did tapasya .so this is also known as dharmaranya kshetra. maharishi marichi(brahma's manas son), also lived here. dharma got her daughter dharmavathi married to him.she was helping her husband when brahma came there. she came did athithi satkar to brahma . her husband got angry for leaving him in between and cursed her to become a statue. with dharmavathi's firm tapasya, lord vishnu blessed that all the devathas will have their place in that statue.
a demon called gaye lived here. he did vigorous tapasya. brahma was pleased and gave him the boon that his body is the most purified than all theerthas.he continued to do tapasya. all the devas were worried . brahma went to him and asked for his body to finish the yagya. he agreed and yagya got over. but he got up again. so they kept the statue of dharmavathi on him and all the devathas abode in that statue. since then this place is called gaya.
MATHURA/ VRINDAVAN.
in tretha yug madhu demon did atrocities.to save the people shri ram sent shatrugna to kill him. he killed the demon, since then this place is called mathura.dwapur yug vishnu took shri krishna avatar here. shri krishna 's birth place is mathura and lila's he did in vrindavan. so both are famous.
when sati went into the agnikund, shiva took her body he was under a spell of intoxication. so vishnu with his chakra cut the body of sati into pieces. pieces fell all over the places. it is said here the hair of sati fell . so there is a shakti peeta here which is called chamunda or mouli.
wishing each other they say jai shree krishna. govardhan hill is there which is considered as shri krishna himself.
SRIRANGAM:
in tamil nadu at the bank of the river kavei is sri rangam. for viashnavas this is one of the important place of worship. lord vishnu with sri laxmi, bhoodevi, shridevi, and vebheeshan is on the bed of 5 headed shesh nag facing south.
lord narayana gave an idol of himself to brahma. raja ikshwahu did vigorous tapasya and got it from brahma,. since then ayodya and its kingdom is called ikshwahu generation and idol is worhipped in their family..
ram after winning lanka war ,came to ayodya with hanuman, sugreev, vibheshan
who came to witness the crowning ceremony of lord rama. vibheshan visited srirangam and liked the idol. after the function he asked rama for that family idol.sri ram gave him the idol with the vimana .
one his way back home, he felt tired and wanted to rest. so he kept the idol of narayana with the vimana on the bank of the river kaveri . after wards when he tried to lift it ,it did not come. so vibheeshan thought may be god is not willing to travel with him. so he did pooja and went back to lanka. since then lord is facing lanka (south ) .
SHRINGERI:
shringeri is located in chikmagalur in karnataka on the bank of the river tunga.this is the first mutt establised by shri adi sankaracharya .this is called as shringeri sharada peetham.rishyashrengar stayed and did tapas here. rishyashringa giri is there. so this is known as shringeri.
once when sankaracharya was passing near tunga he saw a cobra providing shelter from the hot sun ,to a frog when she was undergoing labour. he saw two natural enemies against their nature, helping each other.so he decided to establish the mutt here as there is compassion.
he installed shri. sharada's idol made in sandlewood who is the goddess for knowledge, learning and wisdom. vidyashankar temple is there where there are 12 pillars for 12 zodiac symbols..the first ray of the sun falls on the rasi in which sun is travelling. thorana ganapathi is worshipped to remove the obstacles and fulfill our wishes.
across tunga river is the mutt of jagatguru .puja performed by swamiji is a treat to eyes. sharath navratri is celebrated in a grand scale here. television coverage of all the events is quite appreciable. anna dhanam is done for all. serene atmosphere compels one to visit this place again and again and seek the blessings of jagatguru.
in and around shringeri there are places like kalasa viswanatha and horanadu annapoorni- considered as dhakshina kasi. kuduramukh factory, mookambika temple, udupi shri krishna temple, kuki subramanya, dharmasthala, and so many other places which one would like to visit.
CHAR DHAM
India is the karma bhoomi. doing rituals here helps in getting rid of their karma and attaining moksha. they go on pilgrimage trip and visit important temples .
CHAR DHAM(temples)
The dhams are BADRINATH , SHRI JAGANNATH PURI, SHRI RAMESHWARAM AND SHRI DWARKA JI.
all Indians would love to visit these places , in their life span. in olden days because of the lack of the transport and other facilities it was difficult but now a days well planned tour will give the pleasure and satisfaction .
BADRINATH in NORTH:
it is situated on the himalayas. this place is known for endless spiritual attainment. for the well being of this universe LORD NARAYANA himself stays here and is worshipped as badrinath on the bank of the river alaknanda .adi shankaracharya installed the moorthi ( statue) here. moorthi is called NAR - NARAYAN. during the snow fall the temple is closed and opened in the month of may for visitors.visiting this place gives mukti. one of the very important place for viashnavas..
SHRI JAGANNATH PURI in EAST.
this occupies the eastern side of india in the state of ORISSA called puri.adi shankaracharya established a mutt here so this became a pilgrimage place.lord krishna balram and subhadra 's moorthi is worshiped here.there is a story for this.
in dwapar yug, in dwarka shri krishna's queens requested mata rohini to tell them about the ras lila, braja lila, of sri krishna. rohini told subhadra to stand out side to stop people from entering the room. rohini did not want subhadra to listen. when mata was narrating the story kishna and balram came there. subadra came in between the two brothers and stopped them from entering the room with her hands. they were listening to the story from out side. At that time narad muni came and said "you three stand like this only."shri krishna said in kaliyug all three of us will stand like this as a wooden moorthi. that is why still all the three moorthi's are half done.and worshipped.
ashad month rath yatra is very popular here.
SHRI RAMESHWARAM-SOUTH
this place is situated in an island in the southern part of india , is not only important religiously, mythologically but also socially and historically. the temple is so tall that the gopuram is visible from any corner of the city.
mythologically, shri ram came here before he left for lanka , with his army of monkey . to win the battle , he worshiped lord shiva here and requested him to stay here for the good of the people. since then shiva is worshipped there as one of the twelve jyothirlinga.
besides there is a place called dhanushkoti from where shri ram built bridge to reach lanka( sethu bandhanam). on the request of rishi's , on his way back from lanka with sita, laxman and hanuman sri ram stayed there. since ravan was a brahman by birth. sri ram installed shiva linga and did yagya to get rid of the brahmahathi dosha, and shiva's curse.on top of the hill there is still yagyagund and shivalinga .
SHRI DWARKA JI.-WEST
this is situated in the west of india , gujarat. shri krishna to get rid of the atrocities of his uncle kamsa left mathura and established dwarka along with the yadavas near the ocean. mythologically when shri krishna renonced his body, the dwarka establised by him also was washed away. which is proved by the archeologist. the present day dwarka is situated in the same place. it is believed that shri krishana's grand son constructed dwarakadeesh temple in sixteenth century. this is also called viswamandir. day and night people sing and do bhajans on lord krishna.
char (four) dhams are situated in all the four sides of india. it is said one who visits all the four places in their life time has done full theerth yatra.
CHAR DHAM(temples)
The dhams are BADRINATH , SHRI JAGANNATH PURI, SHRI RAMESHWARAM AND SHRI DWARKA JI.
all Indians would love to visit these places , in their life span. in olden days because of the lack of the transport and other facilities it was difficult but now a days well planned tour will give the pleasure and satisfaction .
BADRINATH in NORTH:
it is situated on the himalayas. this place is known for endless spiritual attainment. for the well being of this universe LORD NARAYANA himself stays here and is worshipped as badrinath on the bank of the river alaknanda .adi shankaracharya installed the moorthi ( statue) here. moorthi is called NAR - NARAYAN. during the snow fall the temple is closed and opened in the month of may for visitors.visiting this place gives mukti. one of the very important place for viashnavas..
SHRI JAGANNATH PURI in EAST.
this occupies the eastern side of india in the state of ORISSA called puri.adi shankaracharya established a mutt here so this became a pilgrimage place.lord krishna balram and subhadra 's moorthi is worshiped here.there is a story for this.
in dwapar yug, in dwarka shri krishna's queens requested mata rohini to tell them about the ras lila, braja lila, of sri krishna. rohini told subhadra to stand out side to stop people from entering the room. rohini did not want subhadra to listen. when mata was narrating the story kishna and balram came there. subadra came in between the two brothers and stopped them from entering the room with her hands. they were listening to the story from out side. At that time narad muni came and said "you three stand like this only."shri krishna said in kaliyug all three of us will stand like this as a wooden moorthi. that is why still all the three moorthi's are half done.and worshipped.
ashad month rath yatra is very popular here.
SHRI RAMESHWARAM-SOUTH
this place is situated in an island in the southern part of india , is not only important religiously, mythologically but also socially and historically. the temple is so tall that the gopuram is visible from any corner of the city.
mythologically, shri ram came here before he left for lanka , with his army of monkey . to win the battle , he worshiped lord shiva here and requested him to stay here for the good of the people. since then shiva is worshipped there as one of the twelve jyothirlinga.
besides there is a place called dhanushkoti from where shri ram built bridge to reach lanka( sethu bandhanam). on the request of rishi's , on his way back from lanka with sita, laxman and hanuman sri ram stayed there. since ravan was a brahman by birth. sri ram installed shiva linga and did yagya to get rid of the brahmahathi dosha, and shiva's curse.on top of the hill there is still yagyagund and shivalinga .
SHRI DWARKA JI.-WEST
this is situated in the west of india , gujarat. shri krishna to get rid of the atrocities of his uncle kamsa left mathura and established dwarka along with the yadavas near the ocean. mythologically when shri krishna renonced his body, the dwarka establised by him also was washed away. which is proved by the archeologist. the present day dwarka is situated in the same place. it is believed that shri krishana's grand son constructed dwarakadeesh temple in sixteenth century. this is also called viswamandir. day and night people sing and do bhajans on lord krishna.
char (four) dhams are situated in all the four sides of india. it is said one who visits all the four places in their life time has done full theerth yatra.
TEERTH YATRA.PILGRIMAGE
India is a holy land of sacred pilgrimages . Indians gain knowledge about these places and develops a religious bend of mind since childhood. where ever god's incarnation took place and they did their duties rishi's did tapasya and realised god, or wherever sacred river flows these are places of pilgrimage. people visit these places with their family with devotion.
TARAETHUM SAMARTH ETHI THEERTH.
means - place where our inner self is cleansed is teerth.
to enjoy the fruit of the pilgrimage one should be pure within also.the first step is to purify our inner self then only we can be pure by going on a pilgrimage. our puranas -shiva, skand, padma, mahabharat and ramanyan talks about the importance of theerth yatra.
one such story is in mahabharatha:
after the kurukshetra war, yudhishtira decided to go on pilgrimage with his brothers and wife.shri krishna gave a kamandal. and told them to dip this kamandal also where ever they took bath. on returning yudhishtira gave back the kamandal. shri krishna broke it into pieces and distributed it to all. it was bitter in taste. shri krishna said just by taking bath in theerths one is not purified. he has to keep his inner self pure that is the real teerth yatra.
in skanda puran also rishi agastya talks about manas theerth meaning pure heart .he explained to his wife lobha mudra that -satya, kshama, control of the indriyas, kindness towards the fellow living beings, control of the mind , braveness, discipline, soft spoken , knowledge of all these are teertha . by observing this we can attain mukthi. meaning - if one has a pure heart then only he can have all these qualities, which is equivalent to teertha yatra..
teerth yatra develops national unity also. visiting from north himalayas to south kanyakumari and east ganges to west dwarka one can know about the different religion, language, life style, food practice and climatic changes.
TARAETHUM SAMARTH ETHI THEERTH.
means - place where our inner self is cleansed is teerth.
to enjoy the fruit of the pilgrimage one should be pure within also.the first step is to purify our inner self then only we can be pure by going on a pilgrimage. our puranas -shiva, skand, padma, mahabharat and ramanyan talks about the importance of theerth yatra.
one such story is in mahabharatha:
after the kurukshetra war, yudhishtira decided to go on pilgrimage with his brothers and wife.shri krishna gave a kamandal. and told them to dip this kamandal also where ever they took bath. on returning yudhishtira gave back the kamandal. shri krishna broke it into pieces and distributed it to all. it was bitter in taste. shri krishna said just by taking bath in theerths one is not purified. he has to keep his inner self pure that is the real teerth yatra.
in skanda puran also rishi agastya talks about manas theerth meaning pure heart .he explained to his wife lobha mudra that -satya, kshama, control of the indriyas, kindness towards the fellow living beings, control of the mind , braveness, discipline, soft spoken , knowledge of all these are teertha . by observing this we can attain mukthi. meaning - if one has a pure heart then only he can have all these qualities, which is equivalent to teertha yatra..
teerth yatra develops national unity also. visiting from north himalayas to south kanyakumari and east ganges to west dwarka one can know about the different religion, language, life style, food practice and climatic changes.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
vruth of the days of the week- sunday. RAHU AND KETU
SUNDAY - ravivar.
SUN is the most powerful planet of the solar system. all the planets goes round soorya. as the name goes this day is ruled by soorya devatha.by worshipping sun we can become healthy , longevity of life , peace of mind, in short we become very strong. especially for skin problem this is considered very good. it is believed that by observing this vruth blessings of RIDHI (prosperity) AND SIDHI ( spiritual power) will always be at home.
in south india the month of avani aug-sept is considered auspicious . Soorya namaskaram is done . chakkarai pongal is also offered to god as a special prasadam. there are many temples to lord sun. one of the oldest is konark temple .
For twelve months in an year there are twelve suns. so throughout the year vruth should be observed. to get rid of the disease or for the fulfillment of our wishes all the 52 sundays are also observed. the colour of the raising and setting sun is red. so red colour is used. red flower, red chandan are used in pooja. wheat, jaggery and red cloth is given as dhan .dhalia ,(porridge), of jaggery and sweet made of jaggery is offered to god and taken as prasad. it is better to eat before sun set. salt is not taken .by observing vruth on this day we can make our life as powerful as sun is.
the story read on this day goes like this.
story: one day lord soorya and his wife were watching the creation.suddenly she asked lord soorya ,''people give dhan in your name . you give light to the universe. what you do for yourself. all you do is for the people.'' soorya said " i do not know about this but i see to it that people get food properly. HATHI KO MAND CHETTI KO KAN." means elephants require more quantity of food, so that i give. small ant needs very small quantity i give that also. she accepted.one day she made a tiny box. made sure there is no food and placed an ant in it and closed. she told soorya devatha that in your kingdom, one ant died because of no food. he said have trust . open the box and see. when she opened it she saw that the ant was holding a grain of rice in his mouth. she was surprised asked for pardon.
RAHU AND KETU:
once there was a great war between the god's and demons on immortality and control of the universe. they needed the nectar to attain immortality. which was in the milky ocean. to take it out they needed to churn the ocean. vasuki the serpent (serpent means with knowledge and wisdom.not just snake) helped as the rope tied round the mountain meru as the rod and vishnu in kurma avatara entered the ocean and held the great mountain on his back and helped to churn the ocean. when amrita came,asura took it and ran. devas requested lord mahavishnu for help. vishnu took mohini awatara and took the amrita kalasa from demons. demons were wondering who this could be amazed by her beauty,they did not realise that she is serving the nector only to the devas. suddenly a serpent from demons realised it and took seat in between surya and chandra and secretly took one serve of nector of immortality. surya and chandra complained to mohini .immediately with serving spoon she cut him into two. so he could not be killed . they are RAHU( upper part ) AND KETU(lower part). they are called CHAYA GRAHA reminding us of our past always.
their power can be realised by the total darkness because of the eclipse they cause to sun and moon, both are their enemies
rahu gives materialistic achievement , looks after our future and ketu gives spiritual attainment.
RAHU
rahu fulfills the material needs. thirunageswaram and kalahasti in south india tamil nadu, is rahu kshetram . thrunageswaram is where rahu himself worshipped shiva this is the parihara stalam of rahu. during rahukalam when milk is poured on the diety turns into blue.
worshipping siva and hanuman, can reduce the negative impact .blue colour cloth is given as dhanam.rahu is dark in colour.his element is air. donation of -seaseme, blanket ,coal , black gram is considered good.lord durga is the deity worshipped for rahu.
KETU
ketu is moksha karaka. he keeps the record of our past and present karmas. he indicates intellegence , wisdom, detachment, gives good health wealth and prosperity but will also create obstacles in achieving them.
worshipping lord ganesha daily, especially on sundays and tuesdays and shiva ,can please ketu.fasting on thrusday on a krishnapaksha, donation of cat's eye gem, mustard, multi coloured blanket and cloth on thursday is in practice.
parihara stala of ketu is thiruvenkadu near chitambaram . divine serpant vasuki and chitra gupta worshipped ketu here.kalahasti in andhra pradesh, kuki subramanaya in karnataka.
ketu deals with past karma while rahu the future.
to conclude we can say that , vruth observed on any day of the week requires determination . purpose of observing vruth is for good health and prosperity .it cleanses our body and mind. all the prime colours red, blue, green ,white, yellow and black are used in vruth . we worship and live with nature.
SUN is the most powerful planet of the solar system. all the planets goes round soorya. as the name goes this day is ruled by soorya devatha.by worshipping sun we can become healthy , longevity of life , peace of mind, in short we become very strong. especially for skin problem this is considered very good. it is believed that by observing this vruth blessings of RIDHI (prosperity) AND SIDHI ( spiritual power) will always be at home.
in south india the month of avani aug-sept is considered auspicious . Soorya namaskaram is done . chakkarai pongal is also offered to god as a special prasadam. there are many temples to lord sun. one of the oldest is konark temple .
For twelve months in an year there are twelve suns. so throughout the year vruth should be observed. to get rid of the disease or for the fulfillment of our wishes all the 52 sundays are also observed. the colour of the raising and setting sun is red. so red colour is used. red flower, red chandan are used in pooja. wheat, jaggery and red cloth is given as dhan .dhalia ,(porridge), of jaggery and sweet made of jaggery is offered to god and taken as prasad. it is better to eat before sun set. salt is not taken .by observing vruth on this day we can make our life as powerful as sun is.
the story read on this day goes like this.
story: one day lord soorya and his wife were watching the creation.suddenly she asked lord soorya ,''people give dhan in your name . you give light to the universe. what you do for yourself. all you do is for the people.'' soorya said " i do not know about this but i see to it that people get food properly. HATHI KO MAND CHETTI KO KAN." means elephants require more quantity of food, so that i give. small ant needs very small quantity i give that also. she accepted.one day she made a tiny box. made sure there is no food and placed an ant in it and closed. she told soorya devatha that in your kingdom, one ant died because of no food. he said have trust . open the box and see. when she opened it she saw that the ant was holding a grain of rice in his mouth. she was surprised asked for pardon.
RAHU AND KETU:
once there was a great war between the god's and demons on immortality and control of the universe. they needed the nectar to attain immortality. which was in the milky ocean. to take it out they needed to churn the ocean. vasuki the serpent (serpent means with knowledge and wisdom.not just snake) helped as the rope tied round the mountain meru as the rod and vishnu in kurma avatara entered the ocean and held the great mountain on his back and helped to churn the ocean. when amrita came,asura took it and ran. devas requested lord mahavishnu for help. vishnu took mohini awatara and took the amrita kalasa from demons. demons were wondering who this could be amazed by her beauty,they did not realise that she is serving the nector only to the devas. suddenly a serpent from demons realised it and took seat in between surya and chandra and secretly took one serve of nector of immortality. surya and chandra complained to mohini .immediately with serving spoon she cut him into two. so he could not be killed . they are RAHU( upper part ) AND KETU(lower part). they are called CHAYA GRAHA reminding us of our past always.
their power can be realised by the total darkness because of the eclipse they cause to sun and moon, both are their enemies
rahu gives materialistic achievement , looks after our future and ketu gives spiritual attainment.
RAHU
rahu fulfills the material needs. thirunageswaram and kalahasti in south india tamil nadu, is rahu kshetram . thrunageswaram is where rahu himself worshipped shiva this is the parihara stalam of rahu. during rahukalam when milk is poured on the diety turns into blue.
worshipping siva and hanuman, can reduce the negative impact .blue colour cloth is given as dhanam.rahu is dark in colour.his element is air. donation of -seaseme, blanket ,coal , black gram is considered good.lord durga is the deity worshipped for rahu.
KETU
ketu is moksha karaka. he keeps the record of our past and present karmas. he indicates intellegence , wisdom, detachment, gives good health wealth and prosperity but will also create obstacles in achieving them.
worshipping lord ganesha daily, especially on sundays and tuesdays and shiva ,can please ketu.fasting on thrusday on a krishnapaksha, donation of cat's eye gem, mustard, multi coloured blanket and cloth on thursday is in practice.
parihara stala of ketu is thiruvenkadu near chitambaram . divine serpant vasuki and chitra gupta worshipped ketu here.kalahasti in andhra pradesh, kuki subramanaya in karnataka.
ketu deals with past karma while rahu the future.
to conclude we can say that , vruth observed on any day of the week requires determination . purpose of observing vruth is for good health and prosperity .it cleanses our body and mind. all the prime colours red, blue, green ,white, yellow and black are used in vruth . we worship and live with nature.
Monday, August 29, 2011
vruth of the days of the week-saturday
SATURDAY-shanivar
shani is the son,of soorya and chaya devi (shadow goddess). he is the elder brother of yama. shani means slow moving because he is lame. saturn transits from one zodiac sign to another zodiac sign every two and half year. one will get good or bad effect as per their karma. he will observe our actions and punish or reward accordingly. To please him shani vruth , shanti , pooja is done.
as hanuman helped shani from ravana clutches, he promised hanuman that who so ever worships hanuman during shani dasa the effect of the shani will be reduced or removed.
lord shiva bestowed him with iswara title. once shani was waiting to catch shiva. lord knew this so he meditated in the middle of the pond. shani went there with a crocodile and caught shiva's legs. then lord shiva asked the reason for this. shani was scared as shiva's will open his third eye in case he gets angry. shani requested for the iswara title. shiva granted him .shani told him who so ever worships lord shiva during their shani dasa he will not come near him. since then he is called shaniswaran.
there are lot of temples for shani . in south india thirunallar is the place where people go during shani dasa take oil bath in the tank and worship. nala chakravarthy's one of south india king suffered the most in the hands of shani, he came to this place for pappa vimochana.
this vruth is observed in shukla paksha(after amavasya) first staurday of any month for 19 saturdays. black is the colour for shani. as shani was very dark in colour.. so seasmme laddoo is used on this day to please shani. with the shani photo, lord shiva, ganesh , rahu and kethu are also kept while worshipping. hanuman chalisa is chanted. black umbrella , blanket, iron vessles are given as dhan. dog is fed today. one time meals , with black urad dal or til is used taken.
story goes like this.
raja vikramaditya ruled over ujjain who was very religious, judicious, concerned about his people. there was happiness and prosperity in his kingdom. one day shani dev(saturn) came in his dream and warned him that two and a half years of shani dasa is coming , it is difficult days . but once it is over he will get back his good days. he woke up and worried as how to keep away his family and subjects from his bad time. ( raja 's bad time will affect everybody). early in the morning he got up , did shani pooja ,gave dhan to brahmans. he told his family and subjects that he is going out for some days. instructed the ministers to take good care of the people and his family.when enquired he did not reveal about his plan.
on horses back he left his kingdom. he travelled for quite some time suddenly horse got hurt and fell down and broke his leg. but raja was saved. he got up started to walk. he saw a village near by. so he went there. There was a merchant. he was also facing bad days. nobody returned the borrowed money . servants who went for collection came empty handed. he was not happy. raja vikramaditya came there. he was thirsty requested for water. he gave him water. immediately people started paying back the money . servants came with the collection. so he thought all this is because of this man. so he is lucky for him. he took that man home. he had a girl of marriageable age. he thought if he gets his daughter married to him and make them stay here then he can make more money..he did so and his business grew many folds. he became richer and richer.raja did shani vruth and pooja regularly .
one day there was a call from palace of the king of tamil nadu. queen's precious necklace got cut . so they called the merchant to weigh and fix the price .he brought it home .raja was sleeping in the room. merchant hung the nacklace on the wall and slept.that room was filled with different pictures. where this nacklace was hanging there the picture of a swan. raja woke up and saw that swan came out of the drawing and swallowed the nacklace. after some time merchant got up. he could not see the nacklace. he asked raja about it. he could not say anything. as what he saw no body will believe. but he had to give a reply so he told the truth. merchant got angry he did not believe him and took him to the king.
there he was questioned several times raja gave the same answer. he was put behind the bar. chained his leg and hands. little water and roti was given to him to eat. these were the bad days which he had to patiently undergo. he was worshiping shani dev and offered the food given to him afterwards he eat. he was happy in the jail like this. bad time got over.
his wife started doing all the seven days vruth. as the day went she became very week . Her father was worried about her health. one day when he was sitting in the room he saw that the swan from the picture came out and hung the necklace and went back. he was surprised . could not believe his own eyes. he rushed to the palace and told the king what he saw and gave back the necklace. king vikramaditya was called to the court. raja asked for pardon for wrong justice. he was released. raja vikramaditya gave his introduction and said no body is to be blamed it is the shani dasa of two and half year. he honoured king vikramadirtya . merchant was happy.
shani is the purifier. saturn will teach one to be more responsible and discipline.
when lord ganesha was born. all the devathas came to see him. everybody took the child and blessed him.lord shani was also there. he turned his face. pravathi gave ganesha to shani maharaj also for blessing. he said he is not a lucky person to look . she insisted and he saw the child, gahesha's face was chopped. immediately vishnu cut newly born elephants face and fixed it, since he is called gajamukha.
Singanapur has a temple for shani which is swayambu. There is no temple for the god. it is found on a raised platform. people do til oil abhishekam . it is very famous and visited by people of all religion. there is no door for the house . it is open. it is believed that no thief can harm these people of their belongings.
shani is the son,of soorya and chaya devi (shadow goddess). he is the elder brother of yama. shani means slow moving because he is lame. saturn transits from one zodiac sign to another zodiac sign every two and half year. one will get good or bad effect as per their karma. he will observe our actions and punish or reward accordingly. To please him shani vruth , shanti , pooja is done.
as hanuman helped shani from ravana clutches, he promised hanuman that who so ever worships hanuman during shani dasa the effect of the shani will be reduced or removed.
lord shiva bestowed him with iswara title. once shani was waiting to catch shiva. lord knew this so he meditated in the middle of the pond. shani went there with a crocodile and caught shiva's legs. then lord shiva asked the reason for this. shani was scared as shiva's will open his third eye in case he gets angry. shani requested for the iswara title. shiva granted him .shani told him who so ever worships lord shiva during their shani dasa he will not come near him. since then he is called shaniswaran.
there are lot of temples for shani . in south india thirunallar is the place where people go during shani dasa take oil bath in the tank and worship. nala chakravarthy's one of south india king suffered the most in the hands of shani, he came to this place for pappa vimochana.
this vruth is observed in shukla paksha(after amavasya) first staurday of any month for 19 saturdays. black is the colour for shani. as shani was very dark in colour.. so seasmme laddoo is used on this day to please shani. with the shani photo, lord shiva, ganesh , rahu and kethu are also kept while worshipping. hanuman chalisa is chanted. black umbrella , blanket, iron vessles are given as dhan. dog is fed today. one time meals , with black urad dal or til is used taken.
story goes like this.
raja vikramaditya ruled over ujjain who was very religious, judicious, concerned about his people. there was happiness and prosperity in his kingdom. one day shani dev(saturn) came in his dream and warned him that two and a half years of shani dasa is coming , it is difficult days . but once it is over he will get back his good days. he woke up and worried as how to keep away his family and subjects from his bad time. ( raja 's bad time will affect everybody). early in the morning he got up , did shani pooja ,gave dhan to brahmans. he told his family and subjects that he is going out for some days. instructed the ministers to take good care of the people and his family.when enquired he did not reveal about his plan.
on horses back he left his kingdom. he travelled for quite some time suddenly horse got hurt and fell down and broke his leg. but raja was saved. he got up started to walk. he saw a village near by. so he went there. There was a merchant. he was also facing bad days. nobody returned the borrowed money . servants who went for collection came empty handed. he was not happy. raja vikramaditya came there. he was thirsty requested for water. he gave him water. immediately people started paying back the money . servants came with the collection. so he thought all this is because of this man. so he is lucky for him. he took that man home. he had a girl of marriageable age. he thought if he gets his daughter married to him and make them stay here then he can make more money..he did so and his business grew many folds. he became richer and richer.raja did shani vruth and pooja regularly .
one day there was a call from palace of the king of tamil nadu. queen's precious necklace got cut . so they called the merchant to weigh and fix the price .he brought it home .raja was sleeping in the room. merchant hung the nacklace on the wall and slept.that room was filled with different pictures. where this nacklace was hanging there the picture of a swan. raja woke up and saw that swan came out of the drawing and swallowed the nacklace. after some time merchant got up. he could not see the nacklace. he asked raja about it. he could not say anything. as what he saw no body will believe. but he had to give a reply so he told the truth. merchant got angry he did not believe him and took him to the king.
there he was questioned several times raja gave the same answer. he was put behind the bar. chained his leg and hands. little water and roti was given to him to eat. these were the bad days which he had to patiently undergo. he was worshiping shani dev and offered the food given to him afterwards he eat. he was happy in the jail like this. bad time got over.
his wife started doing all the seven days vruth. as the day went she became very week . Her father was worried about her health. one day when he was sitting in the room he saw that the swan from the picture came out and hung the necklace and went back. he was surprised . could not believe his own eyes. he rushed to the palace and told the king what he saw and gave back the necklace. king vikramaditya was called to the court. raja asked for pardon for wrong justice. he was released. raja vikramaditya gave his introduction and said no body is to be blamed it is the shani dasa of two and half year. he honoured king vikramadirtya . merchant was happy.
shani is the purifier. saturn will teach one to be more responsible and discipline.
when lord ganesha was born. all the devathas came to see him. everybody took the child and blessed him.lord shani was also there. he turned his face. pravathi gave ganesha to shani maharaj also for blessing. he said he is not a lucky person to look . she insisted and he saw the child, gahesha's face was chopped. immediately vishnu cut newly born elephants face and fixed it, since he is called gajamukha.
Singanapur has a temple for shani which is swayambu. There is no temple for the god. it is found on a raised platform. people do til oil abhishekam . it is very famous and visited by people of all religion. there is no door for the house . it is open. it is believed that no thief can harm these people of their belongings.
vruth for the days of the week-friday
FRIDAY - shukravar.
this graha is very important for good luck. placed favorably in the chart this planet will bring wealth, good speaker(suvaktha) and intellegence. the blessing of shukra is needed in marriage and other good ceremonies. this day's vruth is observed to please goddess laxmi. now a days people do santoshi maa pooja also.
this vruth is started on shukla paksh first friday(after amavasya) for a minimum of 21 days. white colour is used on this day. like white flower, rice or kheer, sugar is offered to god. white cloth or silver is given as dhan. after the evening lamp is lit , food is taken.
the story recited on this days story goes like this.
there was a raja who ruled wisely and he was very kind hearted and god fearing also. but his wife was very proud of her wealth. she considered beggar and sadhu's same. she did not respect the learned sadhu's when they come to her for alms. her husband tried to make her understand but she was not prepared to listen.
one day when she was in the garden, shukra dev came like a sadhu to her palace and asked for alms. she did not listen. He requested for a hand full of wheat flour again, when she refused, the sadhu said may be in future when she asks for alms she may not get. sadhu went empty handed.she narrated the incidence of sadhu to her husband. he was worried for her and his subjects. so raja made a wooden box asked rani to lay down in it and closed and let it float in the river. after floating for some time it stopped near a tree.
a merchant was building a huge palace. so labourers were working there. when they saw the box. they thought money will be inside this, so they pulled it out of the water and opened . rani came out of it. immediately she asked for food. workers told her take job of a labourer. evening wages will be distributed.then she can buy things , cook and eat.. she started working there as a labourer. she was not use to this hard work. she was finding it very difficult. of and on she remembered that sadhu's words. one day the merchant came to see the palace. his wife asked rani to work in her house. there also she could not do house hold work. two and half month went by.
one day when she was doing work sadhu came and asked for hand full of wheat flour. she immediately went and gave it to him .told merchant's wife to cut it from her salary.sadhu blessed her and went.
Raja realised his mistake of floating rani. he came in search of her on the river shore. He saw the palace and stopped his boat. he went there and merchant welcomed him and gave him food .he was asked to spent the night there. rani was asked to go to his room as dasi. she cried there. raja asked the reason . he recognised her voice. they both recognised each other. rani told him the bad days she under went.
next day raja told merchant his story and took her back home. merchants wife asked for pardon and she helped rani in dressing up nicely and both raja and rani went back home. since then her attitude changed. she was very good to all. started respecting the sadhu's, did shukravar vruth . they both lived happily afterwards.
this graha is very important for good luck. placed favorably in the chart this planet will bring wealth, good speaker(suvaktha) and intellegence. the blessing of shukra is needed in marriage and other good ceremonies. this day's vruth is observed to please goddess laxmi. now a days people do santoshi maa pooja also.
this vruth is started on shukla paksh first friday(after amavasya) for a minimum of 21 days. white colour is used on this day. like white flower, rice or kheer, sugar is offered to god. white cloth or silver is given as dhan. after the evening lamp is lit , food is taken.
the story recited on this days story goes like this.
there was a raja who ruled wisely and he was very kind hearted and god fearing also. but his wife was very proud of her wealth. she considered beggar and sadhu's same. she did not respect the learned sadhu's when they come to her for alms. her husband tried to make her understand but she was not prepared to listen.
one day when she was in the garden, shukra dev came like a sadhu to her palace and asked for alms. she did not listen. He requested for a hand full of wheat flour again, when she refused, the sadhu said may be in future when she asks for alms she may not get. sadhu went empty handed.she narrated the incidence of sadhu to her husband. he was worried for her and his subjects. so raja made a wooden box asked rani to lay down in it and closed and let it float in the river. after floating for some time it stopped near a tree.
a merchant was building a huge palace. so labourers were working there. when they saw the box. they thought money will be inside this, so they pulled it out of the water and opened . rani came out of it. immediately she asked for food. workers told her take job of a labourer. evening wages will be distributed.then she can buy things , cook and eat.. she started working there as a labourer. she was not use to this hard work. she was finding it very difficult. of and on she remembered that sadhu's words. one day the merchant came to see the palace. his wife asked rani to work in her house. there also she could not do house hold work. two and half month went by.
one day when she was doing work sadhu came and asked for hand full of wheat flour. she immediately went and gave it to him .told merchant's wife to cut it from her salary.sadhu blessed her and went.
Raja realised his mistake of floating rani. he came in search of her on the river shore. He saw the palace and stopped his boat. he went there and merchant welcomed him and gave him food .he was asked to spent the night there. rani was asked to go to his room as dasi. she cried there. raja asked the reason . he recognised her voice. they both recognised each other. rani told him the bad days she under went.
next day raja told merchant his story and took her back home. merchants wife asked for pardon and she helped rani in dressing up nicely and both raja and rani went back home. since then her attitude changed. she was very good to all. started respecting the sadhu's, did shukravar vruth . they both lived happily afterwards.
vruth for the daya of the week-thursday
THURSDAY-guruwar
this day's vruth is observed to get the blessings of guru bruhaspathi graha. In the solar system this is considered very important. guru's abounding in blessings will help in touching the sky .with his blessings all the grahas will also be pleased. it is believed to get the work done fast or to remove obstacles this vruth is observed. He is the deity for good life.
this vruth can be started before any shukla paksh (after amavasya) thrusday for minimum16 thrusdays. yellow color is used on this day. Keeping a yellow colour handkerchief atleast will help. yellow things like flowers,haldi are used in the pooja.chana dal and gur is offered as naivedya. for dhan yellow cloth is given. one can sit near the banana tree and do this pooja as banana tree is also to be worshipped. In the evening lamp is lit near shiva. After pooja one time meals can be taken for this vruth. yellow colour is added in the food prepared. this day- cutting hair, cloth, nails washing hair, applying oil is not done.
In karnataka people observe this vruth for ragavendra swamy. after bath they visit the ragavendra swamy mutt and recite slokas. his jeeva samadhi is in mantralaya in karnataka.
the story which is read on this day says god will bless only if we are true .
raja tungadwaj went for hunting. he did not realise that he had come deep into the forest. there he saw four boys doing this pooja . he was very tired so he sat there for some time. after the pooja the boys gave him the prasad. he did not take the prasad nor did he salute the god. when he went back home he saw that his family was not there and he lost his wealth also. he tried to locate them but could not. he realised that all this is because he did a mistake by not taking the prasad. on following thursday he came to the forest and heard the story and took prasad. slowly he got back the lost wealth and his family. since then raja tungadwaj worshipped bruhaspathi dev and was very happy.
this day's vruth is observed to get the blessings of guru bruhaspathi graha. In the solar system this is considered very important. guru's abounding in blessings will help in touching the sky .with his blessings all the grahas will also be pleased. it is believed to get the work done fast or to remove obstacles this vruth is observed. He is the deity for good life.
this vruth can be started before any shukla paksh (after amavasya) thrusday for minimum16 thrusdays. yellow color is used on this day. Keeping a yellow colour handkerchief atleast will help. yellow things like flowers,haldi are used in the pooja.chana dal and gur is offered as naivedya. for dhan yellow cloth is given. one can sit near the banana tree and do this pooja as banana tree is also to be worshipped. In the evening lamp is lit near shiva. After pooja one time meals can be taken for this vruth. yellow colour is added in the food prepared. this day- cutting hair, cloth, nails washing hair, applying oil is not done.
In karnataka people observe this vruth for ragavendra swamy. after bath they visit the ragavendra swamy mutt and recite slokas. his jeeva samadhi is in mantralaya in karnataka.
the story which is read on this day says god will bless only if we are true .
raja tungadwaj went for hunting. he did not realise that he had come deep into the forest. there he saw four boys doing this pooja . he was very tired so he sat there for some time. after the pooja the boys gave him the prasad. he did not take the prasad nor did he salute the god. when he went back home he saw that his family was not there and he lost his wealth also. he tried to locate them but could not. he realised that all this is because he did a mistake by not taking the prasad. on following thursday he came to the forest and heard the story and took prasad. slowly he got back the lost wealth and his family. since then raja tungadwaj worshipped bruhaspathi dev and was very happy.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
vruth for the days of the week-wednesday
WEDNESDAY/ budhawar.
wednesday is ruled by bhudha graha, son of moon.he is placed next to moon in the solar system. he is the master for knowledge, speech , poet, hand work, and attaining complete education. child born on wednesday will be brave,good spokesman ,cleaver and can handle any difficult tasks easily.
any month the wednesday before shukla paksha(after amavasya) we can start this vrutha with minimum of 7 wednesday. should not use red colour at all. green colour should be used. green moong dal kichdi can be offered to god and taken.
story recited on this day goes like this.
there was a merchant who had a well established business. slowly his servants started cheating him. so he decided to take up the travelling himself. that time his wife was in the family way. she observed Wednesday vruth regularly. merchant left lot of money for his wife . but the servants and the relatives took money from her. one day she took the left over jewellery and went to the next village and started living there. At the appropriate time she delivered a boy on Wednesday. Ten years passed and child was very cleaver and brave.
The merchant who went on tour, came back with money , gold and silver. As he was entering his village his cart got stuck in the slush. he could not remove it. so he went walking to the near by village to ask for help. there he saw some boys playing. seeing a new person one boy enquired the reason for his tension. merchant requested him to take the cart out of the slush. all the boys went and helped him. the cart came out. that boy told him to come home for food as it was getting dark and he was also tired. merchant agreed. when he reached the boy's home he saw his wife there. she narrated the story to him and said because of bhudha devatha we got a good , cleaver and a brave child. he only helped his father to take the cart out. all of them went back home and lived happily.
wednesday vruth will change our unfavorable days to favorable .
wednesday is ruled by bhudha graha, son of moon.he is placed next to moon in the solar system. he is the master for knowledge, speech , poet, hand work, and attaining complete education. child born on wednesday will be brave,good spokesman ,cleaver and can handle any difficult tasks easily.
any month the wednesday before shukla paksha(after amavasya) we can start this vrutha with minimum of 7 wednesday. should not use red colour at all. green colour should be used. green moong dal kichdi can be offered to god and taken.
story recited on this day goes like this.
there was a merchant who had a well established business. slowly his servants started cheating him. so he decided to take up the travelling himself. that time his wife was in the family way. she observed Wednesday vruth regularly. merchant left lot of money for his wife . but the servants and the relatives took money from her. one day she took the left over jewellery and went to the next village and started living there. At the appropriate time she delivered a boy on Wednesday. Ten years passed and child was very cleaver and brave.
The merchant who went on tour, came back with money , gold and silver. As he was entering his village his cart got stuck in the slush. he could not remove it. so he went walking to the near by village to ask for help. there he saw some boys playing. seeing a new person one boy enquired the reason for his tension. merchant requested him to take the cart out of the slush. all the boys went and helped him. the cart came out. that boy told him to come home for food as it was getting dark and he was also tired. merchant agreed. when he reached the boy's home he saw his wife there. she narrated the story to him and said because of bhudha devatha we got a good , cleaver and a brave child. he only helped his father to take the cart out. all of them went back home and lived happily.
wednesday vruth will change our unfavorable days to favorable .
vruth for the days of the week-tuesday
TUESDAY/ MANGALWAR
Tuesday 's god is MARS mangal devatha. he is worshipped for braveness and prosperity . to destroy enemy.to cure blood related diseases . he is the son of earth.
During uttarayan after amavasya this vruth is started for 21 or 45 Tuesdays. on this day red colour is used for pooja as mangal is red in colour. During this vruth people do not eat salt. Fruits can be taken. For dhan in the temple to brahman red colour cloth , masoor dal, copper vessels are given to please mangal.
hanuman was also born on tuesday. so he is also worshipped on this day . people observe vruth and do pooja to hanuman. red/sindoor colour flower, red chandan is used to decorate hanuman's picture. sundarakand and hanuman chalisa is recited. sindoor is applied on hanuman to fulfill their wishes it is given to people as prasad. hanuman is given jalebi, boondi as offerings. then distributed to all.
In south india , tuesday vruth is observed for lord muruga. during the month of Masi
all the tuesday's are observed as salt less for the health of the family. also vaidheswaran, lord shiva is worshipped. This vrath is observed specifically for skin disease or any other health problem .
In padma puran there is a story which talks about the blessings of mangal. In a village there lived a poor family . Mother, Father and Son . Their son was born on tuesday so they called him mangaliya. they could not have proper meals also. but that lady observed tuesday vruth with great difficulty. She will beg people and do some charity also with that money. that day she will not plough the field or mop the house with cow dongh. mangal devatha decided to test her determination. he came like a sadhu and knocked the door. She came out and asked the sadhu what he wanted. He said "I am hungry. I have atta and ghee. you just clean the place with cow dong. and I will prepare the food."she told him she would not mop the house with cow dong since it was tuesday, other than this she is prepared to do anything. he told her to give bath to her son and make him lay down. on his back he will prepare the food. she obeyed. She requested hanuman ji and mangal devatha to help her. Sadhu prepared fire on Mangaliya's back and made the food. The sadhu then asked the lady to call her son. She told the Sadhu since he had prepared food on his back on fire, how can her son be alive. Still sadhu insisted . so she called him by name and he woke up and came running to his mother. mangal devatha said , he came dressed like a sadhu to test her. he was pleased with her dedication ,kind heart and truthfulness. and blessed her with prosperity and moksha after death.
'
Tuesday 's god is MARS mangal devatha. he is worshipped for braveness and prosperity . to destroy enemy.to cure blood related diseases . he is the son of earth.
During uttarayan after amavasya this vruth is started for 21 or 45 Tuesdays. on this day red colour is used for pooja as mangal is red in colour. During this vruth people do not eat salt. Fruits can be taken. For dhan in the temple to brahman red colour cloth , masoor dal, copper vessels are given to please mangal.
hanuman was also born on tuesday. so he is also worshipped on this day . people observe vruth and do pooja to hanuman. red/sindoor colour flower, red chandan is used to decorate hanuman's picture. sundarakand and hanuman chalisa is recited. sindoor is applied on hanuman to fulfill their wishes it is given to people as prasad. hanuman is given jalebi, boondi as offerings. then distributed to all.
In south india , tuesday vruth is observed for lord muruga. during the month of Masi
all the tuesday's are observed as salt less for the health of the family. also vaidheswaran, lord shiva is worshipped. This vrath is observed specifically for skin disease or any other health problem .
In padma puran there is a story which talks about the blessings of mangal. In a village there lived a poor family . Mother, Father and Son . Their son was born on tuesday so they called him mangaliya. they could not have proper meals also. but that lady observed tuesday vruth with great difficulty. She will beg people and do some charity also with that money. that day she will not plough the field or mop the house with cow dongh. mangal devatha decided to test her determination. he came like a sadhu and knocked the door. She came out and asked the sadhu what he wanted. He said "I am hungry. I have atta and ghee. you just clean the place with cow dong. and I will prepare the food."she told him she would not mop the house with cow dong since it was tuesday, other than this she is prepared to do anything. he told her to give bath to her son and make him lay down. on his back he will prepare the food. she obeyed. She requested hanuman ji and mangal devatha to help her. Sadhu prepared fire on Mangaliya's back and made the food. The sadhu then asked the lady to call her son. She told the Sadhu since he had prepared food on his back on fire, how can her son be alive. Still sadhu insisted . so she called him by name and he woke up and came running to his mother. mangal devatha said , he came dressed like a sadhu to test her. he was pleased with her dedication ,kind heart and truthfulness. and blessed her with prosperity and moksha after death.
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vruth for the days of the week-monday
For every day of the week people worship different gods. vruth is observed on that day to worship that particular god, with or without a wish .rahu fulfills wordly desire and ketu fulfills spiritual desire,called chaya graha , should also be worshipped .
MONDAY./SOMVAR
monday is the beginning of the week. this day's god is MOON. people observe vruth on this day for good health. moon is associated with medicine .
this day is associated with lord shiva and parvathi. generally people start this vruth on any first monday of the month.. minimum of 10 monday's or all monday's in a year are observed . pooja is done on the beginning and finishing day of the vruth. moon, shiva and parvathi is worshipped. offering white flower is considered good. white cloth and silver is given as dhan to brahman. one meal a day, or just fruits, milk or curd is taken on this day.
unmarried girls keep 16 monday vruth for good life. karthik month monday special shiva pooja is done . lamp is lit in the shiva temple . there is a story in the skanda puran which goes like this
a raja named chitravarma was rulling aryavruth. he was a good raja taking good care of his people . he worshipped shiva and vishnu. after a long time he was blessed with a daughter whom he called SEEMANTHINI. Astrologers said she would become a widow in the early years of her life. to avert this she was asked to do shiva and parvathi pooja and observe vruth on mondays. parents were worried. as time went she grew into a very beautiful women. she got married to a princess. one day he went boating with his friends. the boat toppled and he fell down. seemanthini became a widow but she was stopped from becoming a sati. she was very sad for her widowhood but she continued praying god and observing vruth.
The drowned prince was rescued by nagakanya. he was taken to under the earth (pattal lok) to nagraja takshak. on enquiry he gave his identity. Since he was also a shivabaktha he safely brought prince back to the shore . Since that day was monday, seemanthini came to temple to offer pooja. After pooja she saw her husband standing on the bank of the river. she was very happy. Both of them went back home happily .
We pray lord shiva to protect all.
MONDAY./SOMVAR
monday is the beginning of the week. this day's god is MOON. people observe vruth on this day for good health. moon is associated with medicine .
this day is associated with lord shiva and parvathi. generally people start this vruth on any first monday of the month.. minimum of 10 monday's or all monday's in a year are observed . pooja is done on the beginning and finishing day of the vruth. moon, shiva and parvathi is worshipped. offering white flower is considered good. white cloth and silver is given as dhan to brahman. one meal a day, or just fruits, milk or curd is taken on this day.
unmarried girls keep 16 monday vruth for good life. karthik month monday special shiva pooja is done . lamp is lit in the shiva temple . there is a story in the skanda puran which goes like this
a raja named chitravarma was rulling aryavruth. he was a good raja taking good care of his people . he worshipped shiva and vishnu. after a long time he was blessed with a daughter whom he called SEEMANTHINI. Astrologers said she would become a widow in the early years of her life. to avert this she was asked to do shiva and parvathi pooja and observe vruth on mondays. parents were worried. as time went she grew into a very beautiful women. she got married to a princess. one day he went boating with his friends. the boat toppled and he fell down. seemanthini became a widow but she was stopped from becoming a sati. she was very sad for her widowhood but she continued praying god and observing vruth.
The drowned prince was rescued by nagakanya. he was taken to under the earth (pattal lok) to nagraja takshak. on enquiry he gave his identity. Since he was also a shivabaktha he safely brought prince back to the shore . Since that day was monday, seemanthini came to temple to offer pooja. After pooja she saw her husband standing on the bank of the river. she was very happy. Both of them went back home happily .
We pray lord shiva to protect all.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
festivals and vruth
india is a religion based country with multi culture and tradition. dharma is attached to religion . festivals and vruth are attached to religious belief . it is said that for 30 days there are 33 festivals. that many festivals indians observe..treasure of hindu mythological stories talks about god's avatar's which adds a special meaning to our festivals. young or old likes to listen to these stories. india is the country where there is an university in naimesharinya to study about these stories.
upa means nearby -vasa means stay. so while fasting we stay near god. vruths are observed in two ways- with reason or without reason .upvas means forgoing food. upvas can be attached to vruth. vruth can be without food, only liquid, salt less, sugar less, self made food,or taking one meal a day. in observing vruth there is determination , procedure, discipline, a vow, bhakthi equivalent to tapasya(austerity). vrathi becomes strong mentally and physically by leading a systematic` and disciplined life . early bath , doing pooja visiting temple ,having one time light food , will help us come out of this wordly pleasure.
health comes first. aged people , pregnant women, people on medication will not be able to observe strict vruth . taking light food is always allowed. with good intension and true bakthi is only needed to please god.
indians worship the five elements of nature sky ,air, agni vayu and water. offering special flowers, fruits to particular god is also considered good. like arugampil (grass) to vinayaka, bilwa leaves to lord shiva,tazampoo to laxmi ,tulsi to vishnu.sacred months of the year are celebrated. certain trees and plants are worshiped .in india for seven days of the week there are stories and vruthas , which is followed by young and old. once or twice fasting during the week is good for health.
there is a procedure to observe vruth. vruthi while observing fast if he has a light diet on the previous day and has the food before the sunset on the vruth day and takes the meals early on the next day can enjoy the full fructification of the vruth.on the day of vruth afternoon nap should be avoided. there is a saying that to get rid of curse, a demon takes away the religious merit(punya)of the vruthi . (anyone knows the full story can help)
we should strictly observe the vruth for fulfilled satisfaction.
upa means nearby -vasa means stay. so while fasting we stay near god. vruths are observed in two ways- with reason or without reason .upvas means forgoing food. upvas can be attached to vruth. vruth can be without food, only liquid, salt less, sugar less, self made food,or taking one meal a day. in observing vruth there is determination , procedure, discipline, a vow, bhakthi equivalent to tapasya(austerity). vrathi becomes strong mentally and physically by leading a systematic` and disciplined life . early bath , doing pooja visiting temple ,having one time light food , will help us come out of this wordly pleasure.
health comes first. aged people , pregnant women, people on medication will not be able to observe strict vruth . taking light food is always allowed. with good intension and true bakthi is only needed to please god.
indians worship the five elements of nature sky ,air, agni vayu and water. offering special flowers, fruits to particular god is also considered good. like arugampil (grass) to vinayaka, bilwa leaves to lord shiva,tazampoo to laxmi ,tulsi to vishnu.sacred months of the year are celebrated. certain trees and plants are worshiped .in india for seven days of the week there are stories and vruthas , which is followed by young and old. once or twice fasting during the week is good for health.
there is a procedure to observe vruth. vruthi while observing fast if he has a light diet on the previous day and has the food before the sunset on the vruth day and takes the meals early on the next day can enjoy the full fructification of the vruth.on the day of vruth afternoon nap should be avoided. there is a saying that to get rid of curse, a demon takes away the religious merit(punya)of the vruthi . (anyone knows the full story can help)
we should strictly observe the vruth for fulfilled satisfaction.
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