Akshaya thrithiya

Akshaya thrithiya falls on the May 16th of 2010.Its called Akkha Teej by the North Indians and is widely celebrated day in the year all over India.It falls on the third day after amavasya in the month of "Vaishaka" in shukla paksha(which is the waxing phase of moon).It is said both Sun and moon are best placed on this day.It is such an auspicious day that it is said there is no need to look for muhurat on that particular day as every second is auspicious.Akshaya in sanskrit means"that which never diminishes.It is the most ideal day to make new beginnings and make investments.Sri Parushurama Jayanti is also observed on this day.There are many legends associated with this day-

1. Pandavas received the Akshaya Pathram (a bowl in which anything placed will never diminish) from Lord Krishna (in the Mahabharata) on this day.

2.It is believed sage Vyasa invoked Lord Ganesha to start the beginning of composition of the most celebrated hindu epic- The bharatha(Mahabharatha)

3.Sudhama(lord krishna's childhood friend) visiting lord Krishna with a handful of beaten rice(hence in hindu tradition people do not visit anyone without carrying an eatable to anybody's house specially if there are kids in the visitor's house.

4.Goddess Annapoorna was born on the auspicious day

5.Lord Shiva came down from the kailash parvatha in form of a beggar to accept the bhiksha(alms) from the goddess Annapoorna


6.Kubera, the Banker in heaven, also got his position on Akshaya Tritiya.

Also in the puranas there is a description of a particular story associated with a merchant.here it goes-

During the ancient times,
there was a merchant who was so poverty-stricken that he found
it difficult to afford even one square meal a day. However,
he was intensely religious and noticing his
devotion the elders explained to him the greatness of Akshaya Tritiya.
The poor merchant decided to follow their advice.

On an Akshaya Tritiya day, he woke up at dawn,
bathed and offered food, water, sugarcane juice, milk and money to poor Brahmins.
he followed all the necessary austerities as advised by the
elders. Due to his sincere efforts, he was born as Kushapathy Chakravarthy in his next birth,
say the Puranas.

This day is very blessed for your departed ancestors. You can yourself do a ritual offering on this day before sunset. Place black sesame seeds and rice or rice powder on your right palm. Pour water over the items. Think of your departed ancestors and offer the rice powder and sesame. After this ritual, discard the material. This will do a lot of good for you.

shravana and Death of king Dasharatha

Once during his youth, this king Dasharatha went for hunting. He was expert in archery. He had also acquired a peculiar gift of hitting the arrow even in the dark or blindfolded at the sound of the movement of the target or the prey.

On the fateful day, as it happened, the king could not hunt any animal. He was tired and was bit dejected and irritated at this failure. Just then, from a distant pond there arose the sound, as if some animal were drinking water. The king could not directly see who was there, but he guessed that it must be some animal- his hunting prey! The usually well balanced mind of the king thought for a while to reach the pond and then hunt down the prey. But the king was so much tired that he decided to use his skill of hitting the arrow at the sound and finish his job. He put the arrow on the bow, waited for the next sound to reach his ear, and hit the target in a flash.

And what a tragedy! The arrow did hit the target, but the cry which tore the peace and tranquility of the jungle was not of an animal, but of a young boy! The kind heart of the king melted like the butter over fire.

Disturbed, he rushed to the pond and saw, as feared, a young boy fatally wounded with his arrow in the chest. Tears flowed down the eyes of the king. He took the boy in his lap, put a few drops of water in his mouth to wet his drying lips, and inquired: "O, young one, what brought you to this lonely place? Are you alone or, are there any co-travelers with you? What a grave mistake I have committed! How can I rectify this now?"

On hearing the king spoke thus, the boy pacified the king and said:

"O, King, I am a Brahmin boy. My name is Shravana. My parents are old and blind. I am taking them to pilgrimage all over this noble land of Bharata (India). I carry them on my shoulders in huge baskets attached to the bamboo with the ropes (kawad in our dialect). My parents are waiting at some distance for me. I was here to fetch water for them. I am their only support. Now I am worried that they may not survive after hearing the news of my death. I am also not sure whether you can help them because sooner or later they would come to know that you are responsible for all this. O, noble king, please take me to them as I am afraid my life-force may leave the body any time now."

With these words of great remorse and pathos, the young Shravana died in the lap of the king.

Confused and with heavy heart, tortured by the thought of the ignoble deed for which his impatience and indiscretion were responsible, the king slowly went to the old parents. He put the body of the Shravana in front of them. The sensitive ears of the father immediately guessed that something was amiss. Said the old man: "Who is there? Surely these heavy steps are not of son."
The king replied, "O, noble Brahmin, you are right. I am king Dasharatha."
"Where is my son, O king. What has happened to him?", inquired the mother.

With great sorrow and heavy heart the king narrated the unfortunate event that led to the sad death of their son. Hearing this tragic news the mother collapsed there only, never to come back to life again. The father, under great agitation and distress, thus cursed the king:

"O King, you have indiscriminately killed a Brahmin boy. Our sorrow cannot be described in words; our son was our only support. You have left us with no choice but to die. You have separated us from our most beloved son. I send a curse to you, O king, that you shall also die experiencing the pain and suffering of separation from your son."Soon the old man also left his body for good.

What could the king do, but shed tears and return back to his palace! Years passed by and the king started forgetting this sad incidence in his life about which he did not mention to anyone including his three wives.

KATIL-Sri Durgaparameshwari

KATIL is a sacred place for Hindus in Dakshina Kannada. This temple is dedicated to Goddess Durga Parameshwari. The holy temple is situated in the middle of the sacred river. The temple surrounded by panoramic scenes and fascinating greenery . The devotees overwhelmed with pious emotions when they glance at the flowing water in the river, which embraces all around the lower layer of the temple.

When Goddess slew Shumbha & Nishumbha, Arunasura, one of the ministers, had fled from the battlefield and saved his life. Later he became the leader of the Rakshasas (demons). He began to disturb the sages and destruct their Yagnas. As a result, the Devas stopped raining, which resulted in total drought and scarcity of water and food grains on the earth. Moved by the pathetic conditions of the people Maharshi Jabali, the great sage decided to perform a Yagna to appease the Devas. He approached Devendra and requested him to send Kamadhenu (a sacred cow) with him for the ritual. Since Kamadhenu had been to Varuna Loka, Devendra permitted the sage to take Nandini, the daughter of Kamadhenu in order to assist him as Homadhenu (symbolic cow for ritual) in his proposed Yagna. Jabali went to Nandini and put forth his request. In reply Nandini abused the earth and the people there and refused to accompany him. When the sage found that Nandini was firm in her refusal, he cursed her to flow as a river on the earth. As Nandini prayed Jabali for mercy, kindhearted sage advised her to pray to Adhishakti to get freed from the curse. Accordingly she prayed Adhishakti. Pleased by her deep meditation Goddess appeared before Nandini and told her that she has to flow as a river as a result of the curse, because nobody can tress pass the sentences (Rishi Vakya) of a holy sage. But she added "I shall take birth as your daughter in due course and purify you from this curse". Satisfied by this assurance Nandini emerged as a river from Kanakagiri on the day of Magha Shuddha Poornima and made the earth green once again.

Meanwhile Arunasura acquired a boon from Brahma, which made him free from fear of death by Trinity, Devas, men or women or by any two legged or four legged animals & creatures. Goddess Saraswathi also blessed him with Gayathri Mantra

All these made him the most powerful. He defeated the Devatas and conquered Heaven. Disheartened by disastrous defeat, the Devatas, along with Trinity pleaded Adhishakti for the rescue. Goddess said that unless and until Arunasura is prevented from reciting Gayathri Mantra she too would not be able to destroy him. She suggested them to send Brihaspathi (Guru of Devatas) to distract Arunasura from his meditation of Gayathri, and make him get rid of Gayathri recitation so that she would be able to kill him. Brihaspathi approached Arunasura, flattered him, poisoned his ears and succeeded in diverting him from his meditation.

Now Arunasura vainly felt that he was more than God himself. He not only ordered his subjects to worship him but also troubled the sages and spoiled their Yagnas. As promised to the Devas, Goddess took the shape of Mohini, a charming woman and began to wander in the garden of Arunasura. Chanda & Prachanda, ministers of Arunasura saw her and informed the master about her beauty. Arunasura decided to marry her and approached her. When she turned deaf ears to his request & teased him for fleeing from the war field, being afraid of the lady who killed his masters Shumbha & Nishumbha, he became furious. When he tried to take her by force, she disappeared inside rock. Arunasura broke the rock with his sword. Suddenly, a vast swarm of bees emerged from the rock and stung him. Devi had taken the form of a big, furious bee that is 'Bhramara' and stung him repeatedly till his last breath.

Now the Devas and the sages led by Jabali performed "Abhishekham" (holy bath) to Devi with tender coconut brought from the Kalpavriksha of Devaloka, and prayed her to bless the world with 'Soumya Roopa' (tender posture). According to this request Devi emerged in the form of 'Linga' (symbolic holy rock) in the middle of the river Nandini and is known as Shree Durga Parameshwari. KATI means waist and ILA means earth. So Kateel stands for that area of the earth, which is the Kati, or the center of the river Nandini. The Nandini is purified by the birth of Adhishakti in her "Kati" and Durga Parameshwari is here for the good of the universe and blesses those who come to her.

Muruga's wedding and the holy ash

Parvathi was behind her son nagging as all mom's to get married.He was on the hillock of Palani


where Parvathi followed her son and ordered him to marry.He agreed after lot of persuasion from Parvathi-the wanted to be mother-in-law. Parvathi selected a girl whom she liked a lot and just adored the girl for her son who was a perfect match in every which way.Parvathi approached Subramanya(muruga) and seemed very excited,she told him oh the girl is so beautiful so kind so so so....with all positive adjectives that a girl would possess but in the end she added she is ME and you can't tell her apart.Parvathi meant she was perfect girl for him.Subramanya smiled and said am sorry mom I cant marry her.Parvathi was all furious and thought he din't wana get married at all and asked him to puke all the milk that she had fed him.He smiled and puked everything and the whole hill was covered with the milk that was consumed by Subramanya when he was a kid.Then Parvathi starts crying when subramanya consoles her and tells her mom if shes like you how can I marry her would a son marry his mom or someone who is mom like?please look for another girl.Then Parvathi realises and starts looking for other matches.She blesses him saying this would be used as the holy ash in your name and would retain all the fragrance that it is carrying now even after its dry.People would be cured of diseases consuming the milk you have spilled,their wealth would grow immensly applying it on their forehead and would always prosperous with its continual use, From that day on Subramanya was the god of health Wealth and Prosperity.

Story Time

Remembering days as a young gal when my grand mom used to tell me many many stories most of them used to be quite unheard from anyone before.She was a box of Pandora from which the stories never got over.It was all from the Hindu mythology which i used to enjoy a lot. I miss those stories now since she is no longer in a state where she can/could tell stories.In remembrance of those stories I shall try to narrate a few when ever am in a mood to :P

To start with I shall begin with a story on Lord Ganesha :

Ganesha, the elephant-headed god of Hindu mythology, has been quite beloved of all, children and adults.He is very famous especially with the teen girls who carry on worshiping him until their end. He is credited with a lot of intelligence and wisdom ..and come on...you just have to love a cute elephant!!! That too,one with a penchant for eating binges!!! (hehe i can relate with him on this) :P Tales of his intellectual prowess abound in Indian mythology, the story that follows is a well-loved one. It also results in the establishment of a well-known temple, Palani, for its other protagonist, Muruga, Ganesha's brother (watch this blog space for an upcoming series on temple tales). The story goes:
Once upon a time, the gods in heaven, set up a task force headed by Brahma to give a mango that contained all the knowledge of the universe to the most deserving god. Brahma approached Shiva and Parvati who were spending some quality time with the kids, Ganesha and Muruga(also known as Subramanya), in the Himalayas. Brahma said, "O Shiva, here is a fruit that represents the knowledge of this universe. We would like you to give it to the most deserving god."
Shiva said, "All right Brahma I will do it. Parvati, can you suggest to whom I should give this to?"
Parvati said, "I think Muruga and Ganesha are both equally deserving of this fruit. One is unmatched for his bravery and knowledge, the other for his intelligence and grace. How do we decide?" (no nepotism, of course, since gods are impartial!!!) Brahma and the retinue of devas agreed with Parvati.
Shiva mulled over this problem for a bit and said, "I have it! They can have a race to see who wins! The winner will get the fruit" (a strategy used by most parents even today to achieve results with siblings).
"But what kind of race?" asked Parvati.
"Well, let them both go around the world thrice and whoever comes back here first will win the mango," said Shiva.
So he called Muruga and Ganesha and explained the rules and what the prize would be. Both the brothers were excited at the prospect.
Muruga said, "Hah! Ganesha, you on your silly little mount (a rat) won't even have taken off and I will be back to win the prize!"
To which Ganesha said, "Well since you're so confident, and I know I can beat you, how about I give you a handicap? You can even do an entire round before I even start."
Muruga decided his brother had gone crazy or was being lazy and wanted to finish his lunch instead. So after bidding his parents goodbye and taking their blessings, he sat on his mount, a beautiful peacock, and took off around the world. After he finished one round, he saw Ganesha still seated where he was and finishing the remains of his lunch, with one modaka left on his plate. He thought to himself, "There's no way Ganesha can beat me now!!!" He waved at Ganesha, who waved back, and went on his way.
Now Parvati watched the whole exchange between the brothers and asked Ganesha worriedly, "Aren't you going to at least TRY to win the fruit? Muruga has a huge lead over you. And not that I don't love you, but you're a little out of shape!!! You had better hurry up!!"
"Dont worry, ma," said Ganesha. "I'm giong to win." Burping a little since he'd overeaten as usual, Ganesha washed his hands and face and smoothed out his clothes. He then summoned his little mount and approached Shiva and Parvati who were seated together. He said, "O mother and father, Shiva and Shakti, together you represent the entire universe. All the elements of the universe are enshrined within you. For me, you are the entire universe." He prostrated before them and with his hands folded went around them thrice lost in deep meditation and with utmost devotion. Amazed by his grace and knowledge and devotion, Shiva, Parvati, Brahma and the assembled gods blessed Ganesha and gave him the fruit.
Just then Muruga entered their presence with a triumphant smile when he saw Ganesha. He assumed Ganesha hadn't even tried to win. When he saw him holding the fruit instead, Muruga was furious. "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded. "I won the race and HE got the fruit?"
When Shiva explained what had happened, Muruga stormed off in anger to roam the earth and was later pacified as the deity of Palani .
And so, Ganesha is revered by all for his knowledge and wisdom and is beloved throughout India and even abroad. Go Ganesha! Om Namah Ganesha!(For a story of muruga and Parvathi click here it is about how the holy ash(vibhoothi)came into existence)