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By Vipul Shukla | Published 12/6/2009
Category: Temples & Holy Places
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Category: Temples & Holy Places
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Traditionaly, Dwadash Jyotirlinga pilgrimage begins with the Somnath temple. The present Somnath temple is an elegant reflection of the past glory of Somnath. Built in Kailsah Mahameruprasad style, it was constructed under the guidance of Prabhashankar Sompura.
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Historian Asko Parpola has assumed that the cultivation of rice spread from the Ganges valley to Swat, Pirak (Kachi plain) and Gujarat during the first quarter of the second millennium BC. He says that the rice undoubtedly came from the Ganges valley, and this suggests a new level of mobility in North India. Again, he says that the etymology of the Vedic word for rice does not tally with the Proto-Austro-Asiatic words.
By Author Unknown | Published 11/28/2009
Category: Articles on Hinduism
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Category: Articles on Hinduism
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Abhimanyu is a key personality featured in the epic Mahabharata. The son of Arjuna and Subhadra, half-sister of Lord Krishna, Abhimanyu is a partial incarnation of Chandra. An unparalleled archer, he was considered equal to his father in prowess with the bow and arrow.
By Sampradaya Sun | Published 11/27/2009
Category: Articles on Hinduism
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Category: Articles on Hinduism
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By Trivrikrama Acharya | Published 11/25/2009
Category: Hindu Scriptures
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Category: Hindu Scriptures
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While the narration of Nrsimha-lila events in the major Puranas stops with the death of Hiranyakasipu and the pacification of the Lord's anger by Bhakta Prahlad, Lord Shiva and the demigods, a number of artifacts are found to present further aspects of the Lord's pastimes. These come in the form of literature, temple deities, paintings, and academic study of the murti iconography in which such depictions of Lord Nrsimhadev's post-destruction pastimes appear.
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The devotional artworks produced by the Kangra School is one of the finest gifts of India to the art world. Named for the region of its origination, Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, being the former princely state who patronized the founding artists of the school. As the Basohli School of painting began to dwindle in the mid-18th century, the Kangra School soon became prominent, producing such a magnitude in paintings, both in depth of content and number of individual works, that the broad Pahari School itself came to be known as Kangra.
Ratha Yatra is held in the month of Asardh according to Bengali calendar (June - July), and the world famous Puri Ratha is now preparing to get underway. But nearby, another super-excellent festival is celebrated: the Ratha-yatra of Sri Sri Madan Mohan in Cooch Behar. This Ratha-yatra is quite similar to the Ratha of Sri Sri Jagannath at Puri, in nearby Orissa.
By Chandra Mauli | Published 11/29/2009
Category: Articles on Hinduism
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Category: Articles on Hinduism
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Indian Literature in English has earned acceptability, authenticity and global acknowledgement. In a multilingual country like India knowledge of more than one language has enabled people from ages to translate culture and literature from one speech system into another. In fact, translation is integral to Indian psyche.
The Festival of Jagannath Mishra is an observance of the Jata karma samskara for baby Nimai (Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu). Following the fast for Gaura Purnima, which is broken upon the rising of the moon, the next day is held for feasting. On Jagannath Mishra festival day, the devotees meditate upon the Jata karman ceremony. The festival is also known as Anandotsava amongst the Gaudiya Matha devotees.
By Padmanabha Mahapatra | Published 11/4/2009
Category: Articles on Hinduism
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The ten incarnations of the Adi Sakti or the divine primeval force are known as Dasa Mahavidya. Tara Mahavidya is placed second in the order. The Daksa-yajna legend conceived in the Mahabharata is of major importance in regard to the origin of Dasa-Mahavidya. According to the versions of Matsya and Padma Purana, Sati, one of the daughters of Daksa, happened to be the spouse of Lord Sadasiva.
By Frank Reynolds | Published 11/4/2009
Category: Articles on Hinduism
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Category: Articles on Hinduism
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Airavata is the white elephant who carries Lord Indra. According to the Ramayana, Airavata's mother was Iravati, the daughter of Kadru and granddaughter of Kasyapa. According to the Matangalila, Airavata was born when Lord Brahma sang sacred hymns over the halves of the egg shell from which Garuda hatched. He was followed at birth by seven more male and eight female elephants.
Tracing a symbolic furrow at the end of the annual Royal Ploughing Ceremony (Preah Nongkoal), Prince Norodom Yuvaneath (King Norodom Sihanouk's son), dressed in the traditional robes of the royal court, commemorated an auspicious beginning of the new rice planting season based on an ancient Brahman custom around a procession of three royal oxen, who walk around the ‘Royal Rice Fields’ three times.
By Sankaran Nair | Published 10/17/2009
Category: Articles on Hinduism
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The king's coronation, mundane ceremony, royal wedding, first ploughing ceremony etc. were among the important events at which the Thai Brahman priests officiated. The Ploughing Ceremony, the first of the traditional agrarian festivals, is basically of Brahman origin. The Royal Brahman astrologers set the auspicious day and time for the Ploughing Ceremony held in the sixth lunar month, usually mid-May.
By Satyabrata Das | Published 10/17/2009
Category: Articles on Hinduism
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Our ancient literature was essentially pan-Indian in character. As such, all Indian languages descend from only two sources: the Indo-Aryan and the Dravidian. Obviously, both Oriya and Assamese share their common origin from the Indo-Aryan stream. Further, as Dr. Grierson argues, Oriya, Bengali and Assamese are the three languages that have emerged from one common source: the Magadhan element, called Magadhi Apabhramsa. As Grierson asserts:
By Sri Vishvanatha Chakravarthi | Published 10/17/2009
Category: Articles on Hinduism
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I worship Lord Hari, whose feet are endowed with the 19 great opulences of, on the left foot, the halfmoon, water-pot, triangle, bow, sky, cow's hoofprint, fish, conch, and on the right foot, the eight-pointed star, svastika, wheel, parasol, barleycorn, elephant-goad, flag, thunderbolt, jambu fruit, urdhva-rekha, and lotus.
By Rahul Acharya | Published 10/17/2009
Category: Articles on Hinduism
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The expression "Mahari" is a derivative of two Oriya words, 'Mahan' and 'Nari', meaning 'divine damsels'. They were a professional group, a class of sevayats of Lord Jagannath. The Mahari's consisted of different categories of sevikas, being assigned different sevas as follows:
By Author Unknown | Published 10/15/2009
Category: Articles on Hinduism
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Category: Articles on Hinduism
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Describing how a brahmin should earn his livelihood, Lord Brahma said to Narad: "Alms, which a brahmin gets without making any demand for it is called Vritta. 'Unchhavritti' is even better than Vritti, and it means collecting food grains which are scattered in places like fields, granaries, the market-place, etc.
By Author Unknown | Published 10/15/2009
Category: Articles on Hinduism
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Category: Articles on Hinduism
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Hamsa (or hansa) is the Sanskrit term for a transcendentally situated swan or goose. Considered by scholars to be either the Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) or the Bar-headed Goose (Anser indicus), the Hamsa is best known and loved as the vahana (sacred carrier) of Lord Brahma and the Goddess Saraswati.
By Harish Hebbar | Published 10/15/2009
Category: Articles on Hinduism
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There are a number of other Brahmins in current day Tulu nadu, distinguished by their own different spoken languages and forms of worship. They migrated in later centuries by land and sea. These include Chitpavana, Karadi, Konkanastha and Sarasvatha Brahmins. Marathi Brahmins, Chitpavana and Karadi Brahmins, who are Advaita followers, migrated to Tulu nadu from Ratnagiri and Karad in Maharashtra.
Let us now go into an historical introspection of the Patuas and their creations. The oldest information regarding Patuas dates back to 200 B.C., when Patanjali had mentioned the Chitrakara tribe in his writing. We get more detailed information in the Jataka stories of the Buddhist religion and Kalpasutra, the holy book of the Jains.
