sindoor and hanuman

hanuman is described in ramayana as a strong wise and devoted person. he is seen with rama, sita and laxman, humbly holding the feet of sri rama.in temples we see him holding gada(mace) in left and sanjivini mountain in his right hand. almost all the moorthy's are in sindoor colour, an orange shaded . there is a simple and a good story behind it.

once hanuman saw mata sita putting sindoor on her forehead. hanuman asked for the reason behind this. she said for the long life of husband. (it is our indian traditionthat married women put sindoor on their forehead ). hanuman thought, if a pinch of sindoor will give longivity of life to their husband ,then i will put more so that it will further increase the longivity. so he applied the sindoor through out his body. he went to Sri Ram darbar like that. everybody started laughing at him. after listening to the bhakti towards him, Sri ram gave him a boom that ON TUESDAYS WHO EVER OFFERS SINDOOR IN HANUMAN JI TEMPLE THEIR WISES WILL BE FULFILLED. since then it has become a tradition to offer sindoor to hanuman.

sindoor is mixed in til oil and applied to god . this is also called CHOLA CHADANA. people take back little sindoor from hanuman temple as prasad.

seek hanuman ji's blessings and be happy.

laddoo's to lord .hanuman

we offer laddoo's to lord hanuman. there is a very interesting story behind this.

With love and affection Mata Sita was serving laddoo's to Hanuman. The laddoo's were so delicious that hanuman did not feel like saying enough.he happily enjoyed eating them.
mata sita did not know what to do. so she put the left over laaddoo's on hanuman's head. when he saw that laddoo's are falling from head he thought he has over eaten the laddoo's that it started coming out from his head. hanuman said enough, he had consumed lots of laddoo's. with folded hands he thanked mata sita for giving such delicious sweet. that is why now also to make hanuman happy offerings are kept on the head of the hanuman and laddoo's are specially offered.

is it not interesting .
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dattatreya jayanthi

margazhi poornima is celebraed as dattatraya jayanthi. people celebrate this for prosperity and happiness. he is the son of sage ATRI and PATHIVRATHA ANUSUYA.
he is also called as attriya as he is the son of atri .sage atri did tapas and lord visnu blessed him saying ' DATTO MAYAHAMITI YATH BHAGAVAN SA DATTA' meaning i give myself so i am called DATTA .(lord visnu gave himself to atri muni) .he took birth as atri's son, called DATTA. . datta and atri makes DATTATREYA.
sage atri's is known for tapas and his wife anusuya is known for the chastity.once muni naradh went to devlok and talked high about anusuya's chastity to brahmani, laxmi and parvathi, who are also known for their chastity.they got jelous of anusuya.they wanted to test her chastity. they requested their husband,brahma, visnu and shiva to do .
when atri went to the river to take bath early in the morning, brahma, visnu and shiva came like sage . anusuya washed their feet with water and offered seat and some fruits . sage said they wanted food as they are hungry. anusuya prepared food and when she was ready to serve , they instructed anusuya to serve food naked then only they will eat. this was a real test for anusuya when her husband was not there. , immediately she closed her eyes,thought about her husband and god sage atri. she understood the person behind this action and their intentions.
she opened her eyes and took a handful of water and sprinkled on all the three
sages,saying ,"if my chastity is pure, let all the three sages become six months old baby". immediately they turned as six months old baby, and started crying for milk. she took the babies and gave milk. all the three children started growing up in there .
In devlok, all the three devi's started worrying for their husband.they askd naradh muni and he told the story to them. they felt ashamed of their action and went to atri's kutir and requested for pardon and appreciated the chastity of anusuya. anusuya again took a handful of water and sprinkled on the children and they turned as brahma, visnu and shiva.They told anusuya to ask for a boom, she said i want all the three as my son. So dattatreya is the combination of all brahma visnu and shiva's powers. with three faces.

people worship dattatreya , atri muni and anusuya on this day.seek their blessings .

THE TRAP OF DESIRE

A raja met a beggar on his morning walk whom he asked" what do you want ". the beggar laughed and said " you are asking me as though you can fulfill my desire" . The offended king said" of course i can . please tell me." He was so ordinary beggar, but the master from the raja's past life who has promised his student in the previous life that" I will come and try to wake you in your next life". But who remembered past lives? " I will fulfill anything you ask, said the king. " what can you possibly desire that i cannot give to you" . " A very simple desire can you fill my begging bowl"?. The raja laughed." of course". He called his aids and ordered to get it filled with money. they got some money and placed it in the bowl , but it disappeared. He put in more and more but all vanished. The bowl remained empty. A huge crowd had gathered and the raja's prestige was at stake. "I am ready to lose my kingdom , but i won't be defeated by this beggar".

The treasury was almost empty and the bowl seemed bottomless. Soon, all was gone. the king fell at the beggar's feet, " you are victorious - tell me , what is your bowl made of?" . the beggar laughed and said, " it is made up of the human mind. there is no secret . it is simply made up of human desire".

the understanding transforms life. the anticipation of desire is exciting. once achieved all is meaningless again. your mind has de materialised it. you were so drunk with desire that you forgot your inner nothingness. that is how one moves from one desire to another desire. that is how one remains a beggar, the journey is inwards, move inwards, come back home.

courtesy Indian express 27th march 2011.

i liked this story. i thought you too would.

GURU POORNIMA

GURU POORNIMA

IF A HUNDRED MOONS WERE TO RISE AND A THOUSAND SUNS APPREARED

EVEN WITH THE LIGHT , THERE WOULD STILL BE PITCH OF DARKNESS

. WITH OUT A GURU.

guru poornima is also called maharishi vedavyas jayanthi. according to the indian tradition guru is a step above than god. guru will show us god. he will remove the ignorance and will show us the right path to attain dharma , arth , kam and moksha. on this day we seek his blessings .
in mahabharatha there is a story about vyasa . there was a fisherman in hastinapur who had a daughter called satyavathi. she was very beautiful. she will help people cross the river in her boat. they come home in the evening with the fishes. so fish smell was always there with her and in their house. once parashar muni travelled in her boat. satyavathi became the mother of his son vyas. he was very powerful he went to himalayas soon after his birth. he was black so he is called krishna. he took birth in an island so he called dwaipayan. he devided the veda's into four parts so he is called vyas. he became popular as vedavyas. before gurupoornima, on ekadashi day sanyasi's start chaturmasa vrutham.. they also celebrate vyasa pooja to show their respect to him.
adi shankaracharya is known as incarnation of vedavyasa. so he is also worshipped on this day by all.
guru bakthi – stories like taruni, ekalvya saya about guru bhakti .in india on vijayadashami day also people go and seek the blessings of their guru and offer guru dhakshina.

GURUVE SHARANAM.

STORY U WILL ENJOY

WHAT ‘S IN THE NAME :

Though nothing is permanent , most people crave to be acknowledged and noticed during their lifetime.

Who discovered that the hard paddy could be cooked into soft rice? Who discovered the art of writing which links mind to minds and heart to hearts? Who discovered the magic of weaving beautiful clothes of soft cotton to adorn the body? Who is the genius who lifted the water in the pot, from the deep well to your thirsty lips?

When the world does not remember the names of such great achievers who laid the very foundation of human civilization , who will remember your name.? even if your name has to be inscribed all over the world , it will not remain for ever. Yet, thirst for name ? why people run behind name and fame?

Listen to this tale from the tradition of sant(saints) stories. Once it was proclaimed that great achievers of the world would be provided an opportunity to inscribe their names on a huge, sacred mountain in the heaven. The great emperor of the world heard this announcement. He fell pray to the madness of the name. over night , this miserly king turned into a generous philanthropist.

He began to empty his treasury and became charity personified. At last the day to depart arrived. He reached the other world. Soon he began to search for the great mountain. The messenger of the god let him to the mountain. It was the mountain of fulfillment for which he had waited all his life. With great enthusiasm and expectation, he got ready to inscribe his name. to his utter disappointment there was not an inch of space left in the mountain to inscribe his name. from the foot to the peak, every nook and corner is filled with names and names.

The disappointed emperor asked the messenger how could there be false promises in the heaven .perceiving his anguish , one of them suggested the emperor could erase a name from the mountain and inscribe his own name in that place. When the emperor heard this, his illusion vanished . truth flashed and he thought,--

‘ how long will my name remain in the mountain? Only till another person wipes it away and writes his own”. The emperor turned away without writing his name on the mountain but immense satisfaction was there on his face.

Change and movement are the inherent nature of the world and life. OLD WATER FLOWS DOWN THE RIVER . WHEN THE NEW WATER FLOODS. It is the law of nature that old yieldeth place to the new.

Then how can your name also remain permanently on the face of the earth. One who is born has to die. Once dead and reborn , your name is no longer yours. This madness for a name is not a natural phenomenon. As a new born baby were u aware of your name? it is an acquired later day disease.

Look at those plants which purify the earth of our soiled breath? Broom, which cleans the house but hides behind the doors. Foundation stone of a mansions, hidden somewhere in the earth. If the stone were driven by a desire to come out and flaunt in the open air?

INDIAN EXPRESS .dt.Tuesday 20 july 2010. – soul search.

AADI FESTIVAL VARALAKSHMI VRUTHAM

adi is ashada which comes in the month of july-august. it is rainy season. mother nature is in full form with abundance of fruits and different kinds of flowers . this festive is the tribute to water- life sustaining force. in all the rivers and temple wells and tanks ,water level raises because of the rain. nature with full of comapasion is celebrated as adi Thiruvizha in Tamil Nadu. once adi festival starts it is festive season..

with adi dakshinayanam starts i.e. july-jan. when the sun transits from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere . The transition from the southern to the northern hemisphere in the month of January is known as uthrayanam. Both the periods are considered very auspicious .

this festival brings joy to the newly married. .it is the festival for the bride. both bride and the groom are invited for grand feast in the bride’s place. Elders prepare for the feast from thengay paal payasam , 2 pachidi, aviyal , poriyal, vadai , a sweet. Ofcourse new dress for the newly maried. A new silver tumbler with payasam will be given to the groom. there is a tradition that bride will get a saree from the groom’s side also . bride will stay in her mother’s place for ashada.

Adi month has other festivals also like, adi 18.this festival coincides with annual freshes of the rivers and to pay tribute to river, our life sustaining properties. we prepare different kinds of rice ,thengai ,lemon, sweet, curd and appalam vadam and kootu and enjoy with the family

adi pooram is for the goddess, we offer bangles and other mangala items:

adi krithigai is important to lord murugan:like this adi holds a very important place in the calendar.

VARALAKSHMI VRUTHAM

glorious varalaxmi vrutham is observed in south india maharashtra and orrisa. married women observe this vruth for longevity of their husband's life, children, prosperity, happiness and good health of the family .vara means boon, mahalaxmi will bless the home of the devotee with her boon.this is the day malalakshmi was born from the ocean and maha vishnu married her. to seek mahavishnu's blessings in shravan( adi) month shuklapakha last friday before poornima this is celebrated.
as the story goes. this was pronounced by lord shiva himself to parvathi to observe this vruth and do pooja for the prosperity and happiness of the family. in the kingdom of maghada, there lived a girl named charumathi.she devotedly served her husband and in laws. pleased , mahalaxmi came in her dream and told her to perform vara mahalaxmi pooja to fulfill her wishes. she thought her the method and charumathi did the pooja in her dream. morning she told everybody about the dream. this day was sharad (adi) month last friday before the poornima, she performed the pooja along with her neighbours, and relatives . different kinds of sweets were made and offered to god. devotional worship is always answered. all their wishes were fulfilled. prosperity and happiness was there everywhere.since then this pooja is performed on this day.
elaborate arrangement are made for this pooja. previous day cleaning the house. new clothes and jewellery are purchased. next day women get up very early and start with the rangoli in front of the house .prepare the naivedyam of different kinds of modakas, raw rice idli, appam , payasam, vadai.
mahalaxmi is decorated in the kalasa filled with rice ,dal,few coins, gold, manjal and kumkum, bangles, comb, mirror. then mango leaves are kept and turmeric is applied on the coconut and it is kept on the mango leaves. silver face of laxmi's is kept on it decorated with jewellery , flower garland. she is ready for the pooja.
to invite mahalaxmi for the pooja . kolam is drawn foot prints of laxmi is drawn from the entrance to the mandapa. kalasam is kept at the entrance.harathi is taken and two ladies singing ,LAXMI RAVE MAA INDIKE,(laxmi come to my home) brings kalasa to the pooja mandap. very elaborate pooja is done starting with ganesha's pooja . yellow thin thread is tied on the right hand of the lady who performs pooja. other members of the family and neigbours also tie the thread. and kumkum is given to them. songs are sung on laxmi .
in the evening neighbours and relatives visit each other's house and seek the blessings of laxmi. next day punarpooja is done and kalasa is kept inside the rice drum. on the third day it is taken out and the mangala items is used at home. rice is put back in the drum, it is believed that there will not be shortage of food. sweet is made out of the coconut.
varamahalaxmi vrutham brings the blessings of eight laxmi's & mahavishnu to the devotees home. bountiful of happiness and prosperity in every body's house .