Sunday, December 27, 2009

Gateway to Heaven

When I was exploring the ShriRangam temple at Trichy during my trip, I found a strange door in the temple complex. Then I came to know about its spiritual importance. This door is called “Vaikunth Dwaar”. The word “Vaikunth” means the abode of Lord Vishnu and “Dwaar” means the “gate”. This door is opened only once a year. This mega event happen on the 11th tithi(date) of hindu caalender in the month of Maargshish. It is believe that one who passes through this divine gate on this day,will attain salvation.This great event has a special significane in 3 temples-Shrirangam,Bhadrachalam and Tirupati. Fasting obsereved on this day is considered as so auspicious that it is believe that one who keep fast on this day will accrue all the punyas equivalent to remaining 23 ekadashi. Reciting Vishnu-sahastranama is best mantra on this day.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Ashta-Vinayaka

In Maharashtra state there is a pilgrimage known as “Ashta-Vinayaka” which is considered as very sacred. It is believe that a person who undertake this journey get librated from the problems related to materialistic world.The word “Ashta” means "eight" and the word “ Vinayaka” is another name of lord Ganesh. This spiritual journey involves the journey to 8 temples of lord Ganesha that are spread around the radius of 120 km around Pune. The importance of these temples confirms from the fact that the idols of the Lord Ganesha are not man made.The idols are “Swayambhu” which means they appear on its own(self-begotten).All the idols appeared at different period of time. It is very auspicious to perform the yaatra in a specific order in accordance with the chronological order of appearance of idols.It is believe that after completion of the journey of 8 temples , one must visit the first temple of Moreshwar(the starting point) again which signifies the completion of journey.
Following is the order in which the journey should be performed.
1. The Moreshwar Temple, Moregaon
2. The Siddhivinayaka Temple, Siddhatek
3. The Balleshwar Temple, Pali
4. The Varadavinayaka Temple, Maha
5. The Chintamani Temple, Theur
6. The Girijatmaj Temple, Lenyandri
7. The Vighnahar Temple, Ozar
8. The Mahaganpati Temple, Rajnangaon

Sunday, December 6, 2009

The Legend of Kumbh Mela

“Kumb mela “ is a holy fair which is one of the greatest festival in the life of a hindu.There is a legend behind the occurance of this fair. As per legend once Gods and demons churned the cosmic ocean for the search of amrit(the divine nectar for immortality). At the end of churning, the pot (kumbh,in hindi) of amrit emerges from the ocean. At that moment the fight broke between Gods and demons for the possession of the pot. The battle for the possession of pot continued for 12 days which are equivalent to 12 human years. During that battle few drops of amrit fell on 4 places- Prayag, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik. During the war, 3 planets Sun,Moon and Jupiter played significant role in protecting the pot from breaking. To commemorate this holy event Kumbh Mela is celebrated in every twelve years at the four sacred places where the drops from Kumbh were fallen. Since then it is believe that according to particular planetary position of Sun,Jupiter and moon respectively these places acquires special divine powers and bathing in these pilgrimage sites in the sacred river helps to ward off the sins. This fair,kumbh mela occurs four times every twelve years and rotates among four locations: Prayag, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik. Each twelve-year cycle includes one Maha Kumbh Mela(GreatKumbhMela).
Following are the planetary combinations for each site for Kumbh festial.
1)
At Prayag, the Maha Kumbh Mela is held in the month of Magha (January/February in the Gregorian calendar). when Jupiter is in Taurus and both the Sun and Moon are in Capricorn.
2)At Haridwar, the Kumbh Mela is held in the months of Phalgun and Chaitra, when the Sun passes to Aries, the Moon is in Sagittarius and Jupiter is in Aquarius.
3)In Ujjain, it is held in the month of Vaishakha, the Sun and Moon are in Aries and Jupiter is in Leo.
4) At Nasik, the Kumbh Mela takes place in the month of Shravana, when the Sun and Moon are in Cancer and Jupiter is in Scorpio.It takes nearly one year for Jupiter to transit through one zodiac sign.Thus,for each site Kumbh Mela comes in every 12 years.