Category Archives: festival
Ganpati Bappa Morya
Ganesha, Ganpati, lambodar, ekdanta, etc, etc
or Lalbaghcha raja … dagdubhai seth…. (d richest Ganpati in mumbai…or maybe of India)
Dagdubhai Seth GanpatiOh! the cutest n adorable Elephant God is known by sooo many names all over India, & esp in Maharashtra n other konkani parts of over India on the fourth day of bhadrapad (or bhadon).
Ganesh Chaturthi – [thats tomorrow – Sep3, 2008] is celebrated as Ganpati ji’s birthday.
Seeing the moon is strictly prohibited on Ganesh Chaturthi.
Here’s the story
Lord Ganesha, the son of Shiva and Parvati, is believed to bestow his presence on earth for all his devotees on this day. The festival lasts 10 days, and ends with Lord Ganpati ji’s visarjan on Anant Chaturdashi.
The awesome elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati, is widely worshipped as the supreme god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune.
I wish I knew a bit of marathi and could actually understand whats sung in these fav-since childhood artis of Ganpatiji 🙂
Jai dev jai dev – This video has awesome pics of Ganesha, and visarjan…and even has spiderman-looking Ganesha towards the end 😀
Then here’s ganesh arti in Lata di’s voice cutiepie dagdubhai seth I guess…. richest ganesha 🙂
Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai’s Prabhadevi area if I remember correctly[umm… Mahalaxmi temple was near Mahalaxmi, or Haji Ali… so it must be Prabhadevi….]…..[no camera’s allowed there… but I managed to take a pic / two outside the temple :D]
Umm… there’s Sukhkarta Dukharta Arti by Ravindra Sathe but couldn’t find that….. plz do lemme know if you find more 🙂
An interesting site about the story, about modaks, etc : Indiasite_Ganesh_Chaturthi
Some videos of visarjan (commentary in Marathi)
Recipe to make the cute little sweet rice dumplings (Modaks)
Happy Ganesha Chaturthi….:)
Ganapati Bappa Morya, Pucha Varshi Laukar ya!
Ganapati Bappa Morya, Pucha Varshi Laukar ya!
meri zindagi ke kucch rang…..
hectic hectic.. week…. phew! so damn tired….. ah! but d smile on the faces of the lovely li’l dahlings…. made me forget d tiredness….. as i stepped out of the car, all weary and tired.. I anticipated some curious eyes staring at me…..
Fiddling with my bag for the colours [gulaal] I had kept, and the ghujiya, I was still looking into the red coloured jhola bag which mom got for me 😀 n i readily accepted dat as it was quite different from d dainty purses I have been carrying, and esp coz it reminded moi of the good old college days….ah! purani jeans aur guitar 🙂 hmmm…. so…. well! i was distracted by the “beats” of a v fav song playing somewhere… 😀 n a group of kiddos jumping around all oblivious.. trying to copy shahid n kareena 😉 lolz…. i was fascinated….. stood watching them…. felt my feet tapping even at d “noisy” broken “music” and “beats” from d broken radio 😛
I guess d cheer of the voices + d lovely laughter and smiles on the faces of the kids was much more musical and “beat-sical” 😀
I dunno… just joined the gang…. to match a step or two 😛 did a jive.. right there in d centre of the road… wid d kidlings squealing wid laughter 🙂
In d midst of all this, some child pulled at mah bag [d jhola :D] and i remembered d gulal n d ghujiya… ah! all taken out – used to the fullest… n
relished:) d “didi didi” + “happy holi apko bhi” +d cute hugs and kisses fro d li’l dahlings brought tears to mah eyes….
wid misty eyes…, I hugged ’em for their unconditional love……thanked dem…. esp when they said “didi fil she zalul ana ” [dats-> loving sister, plz do come back again], I forgot the intense tension I was in d conference room a while ago…. Happy Holi dahlings….. love ya:) Keep smiling… and God Bless!
I took their leave as the next song “”holi ke din dilmil jaate hain….. ” from sholay starting to play……
Shiva: God Of Welfare Or Kalyanasundaram
On the occasion of Mahashivratri:
What does Shiva mean? From written and unwritten sources, from Tantrik and Vedic texts, from shrutis and smritis, we get three meanings of the term Shiva. The first and most important meaning of Shiva is “welfare”. Shivamastu means the same as Kalyanamastu — “May you be blessed”.
Kalyanasundaram is the representation of Shiva embodying the true spirit of blessedness. He is said to serve all life forms with five faces, two on the left as Vamadeva and Kalagni; two on the right as Daksineshvara and Ishana and one in the centre as Kalyanasundaram, the Supreme Controller.
Shiva is Daksineshvara because He is showering daksina or compassion upon all creation. That is the special role allotted to Daksineshvara. Ishana is responsible for controlling all the jivas, individual beings, with meticulous care. And Kalyanasundaram, the face in the centre, plays the role of controlling all the faces. Kalyanasundaram’s only purpose is to promote the greatest welfare of all living beings.
As Vamadeva, Shiva is terrible — He is Rudra — “one who teaches others by making them shed tears”. But the underlying purpose is to teach people, not to harm them. The other face, Kalagni, also subjects people to torture, but there also, the main purpose is to teach them, to promote their welfare. Now here also, the central face, Kalyanasundaram, controls the two roles of Vamadeva and Kalagni. He is Sundaram, beautiful, because He promotes kalyana or welfare. Hence Kalyanasundaram.
Shiva is both severe and tender. He is tender, so naturally people love Him. Although He is severe, people still adore Him, because underlying His apparent severity there is tenderness. Thus the role of Shiva is predominantly the role of promoter of welfare. So the first meaning of the term Shiva is “welfare”.
The second meaning of the term Shiva is “cognition in its zenith status”, the Supreme non-attributional process, beyond the faculties of all existential bondages.
The third meaning is Sadashiva, who, by His holy birth, consecrated, as it were, every particle and utilised His whole life for the sole purpose of advancing the cause of universal welfare of not just humans but all life. Hence he is called Sadashiva: Sada means always and Shiva, welfare. He is one whose only vow of existence is to promote the all-round welfare of all living beings.
Here is a question: In the night of blinding darkness, do humans alone aspire to feel the soothing touch of light? No, all want it. All seek to grow out of the oblivion of existential darkness into the warmth of life, to experience finally the fulfilment of their life’s urges.
Up until this day, human beings have not made a proper appraisal of this great noncorporeal power, Shiva, who gave human beings their first opportunity to experience the sweet joy of fulfilment of all their longings. No one has discussed Him much up until now. Why people failed to make this appraisal is irrelevant today. It is the firm duty of every individual to know and evaluate the exact contribution of Shiva, and in this process of evaluation, we cannot ignore the phenomenon of Supreme Light.
One may derive some joy from a bright ray emanating from a shining entity, but without the entity itself, the bliss will not be complete.
The cosmic dance – Natraj
Om Namah Shivayah!
Source: Indiatimes
Shiva: God Of Welfare Or Kalyanasundaram
On the occasion of Mahashivratri:
What does Shiva mean? From written and unwritten sources, from Tantrik and Vedic texts, from shrutis and smritis, we get three meanings of the term Shiva. The first and most important meaning of Shiva is “welfare”. Shivamastu means the same as Kalyanamastu — “May you be blessed”.
Kalyanasundaram is the representation of Shiva embodying the true spirit of blessedness. He is said to serve all life forms with five faces, two on the left as Vamadeva and Kalagni; two on the right as Daksineshvara and Ishana and one in the centre as Kalyanasundaram, the Supreme Controller.
Shiva is Daksineshvara because He is showering daksina or compassion upon all creation. That is the special role allotted to Daksineshvara. Ishana is responsible for controlling all the jivas, individual beings, with meticulous care. And Kalyanasundaram, the face in the centre, plays the role of controlling all the faces. Kalyanasundaram’s only purpose is to promote the greatest welfare of all living beings.
As Vamadeva, Shiva is terrible — He is Rudra — “one who teaches others by making them shed tears”. But the underlying purpose is to teach people, not to harm them. The other face, Kalagni, also subjects people to torture, but there also, the main purpose is to teach them, to promote their welfare. Now here also, the central face, Kalyanasundaram, controls the two roles of Vamadeva and Kalagni. He is Sundaram, beautiful, because He promotes kalyana or welfare. Hence Kalyanasundaram.
Shiva is both severe and tender. He is tender, so naturally people love Him. Although He is severe, people still adore Him, because underlying His apparent severity there is tenderness. Thus the role of Shiva is predominantly the role of promoter of welfare. So the first meaning of the term Shiva is “welfare”.
The second meaning of the term Shiva is “cognition in its zenith status”, the Supreme non-attributional process, beyond the faculties of all existential bondages.
The third meaning is Sadashiva, who, by His holy birth, consecrated, as it were, every particle and utilised His whole life for the sole purpose of advancing the cause of universal welfare of not just humans but all life. Hence he is called Sadashiva: Sada means always and Shiva, welfare. He is one whose only vow of existence is to promote the all-round welfare of all living beings.
Here is a question: In the night of blinding darkness, do humans alone aspire to feel the soothing touch of light? No, all want it. All seek to grow out of the oblivion of existential darkness into the warmth of life, to experience finally the fulfilment of their life’s urges.
Up until this day, human beings have not made a proper appraisal of this great noncorporeal power, Shiva, who gave human beings their first opportunity to experience the sweet joy of fulfilment of all their longings. No one has discussed Him much up until now. Why people failed to make this appraisal is irrelevant today. It is the firm duty of every individual to know and evaluate the exact contribution of Shiva, and in this process of evaluation, we cannot ignore the phenomenon of Supreme Light.
One may derive some joy from a bright ray emanating from a shining entity, but without the entity itself, the bliss will not be complete.
The cosmic dance – Natraj
Om Namah Shivayah!
Source: Indiatimes
a-wait
Ok.. dats moi reading n singing carols 😛
Meanwhile… as some lovely friends requested… here’s d link for making candles
from my blog
Meanwhile… as some lovely friends requested… here’s d link for making candles
from my blog
Merry Christmas and Terry bhi Christmas 😛 [in hindi (phonetically) – my christmas n urs christmas too :D]
Jingle Bells , Jingle Bells
Jingle All the way 😀
How bout a ride?
hmmm…. n my linked list of movies to watch:
Saw Chestnut d central park hero yesterday… choooooooooo cute 🙂 d two li’l orphan girls… how they take care of d dude dog… and how d story turns up… must watch 🙂 hehe….. very close 2 how i play with my pet 😛
1. Jab we met :D.. o punjabi kudi 😀
2. Welcome =)) hehe… d ad is so funny 😀
3.taare Zameen par …yo! for a ace khan 🙂 loved d songs :):) n Jodha Akbar
4. and yeeeeee… air buddies 😀 hehe nanhe natkhat :P:P how i loved cute mumble from Happy feet 😛 hehe
a-wait
Ok.. dats moi reading n singing carols 😛
Meanwhile… as some lovely friends requested… here’s d link for making candles
from my blog
Meanwhile… as some lovely friends requested… here’s d link for making candles
from my blog
Merry Christmas and Terry bhi Christmas 😛 [in hindi (phonetically) – my christmas n urs christmas too :D]
Jingle Bells , Jingle Bells
Jingle All the way 😀
How bout a ride?
hmmm…. n my linked list of movies to watch:
Saw Chestnut d central park hero yesterday… choooooooooo cute 🙂 d two li’l orphan girls… how they take care of d dude dog… and how d story turns up… must watch 🙂 hehe….. very close 2 how i play with my pet 😛
1. Jab we met :D.. o punjabi kudi 😀
2. Welcome =)) hehe… d ad is so funny 😀
3.taare Zameen par …yo! for a ace khan 🙂 loved d songs :):) n Jodha Akbar
4. and yeeeeee… air buddies 😀 hehe nanhe natkhat :P:P how i loved cute mumble from Happy feet 😛 hehe
The midnight magic
Borrowed from Times of India
Hmmm… whatever… i believe that just like d birthday hours….. d christmas eve and the Christmas day… whatever one wishes for sache mann se …. one gets….. 🙂 so be careful what you wish 4!
The myth of mummy and Santa Claus should never ever cloud the true spirit of Christmas. Amy Fernandes shares her experience
When my younger son was asked, at Sunday School, to write the names of the two most important people in his life at Christmas, he promptly wrote:
1. Santa Claus
2. Mummy
Then, perhaps, thinking of the repercussions of his admission No.2, he cancelled the second and wrote,
2. God
Okay, okay, I apologise. The myth of mummy and Santa Claus should never ever cloud the true spirit of Christmas, but try telling a five year old that! To most children, unless they are on the fast track to canonisation, Christmas is what Santa and their parents deliver. Period. And even when kids grow up and look up the elevator shaft (especially Indian kids in Mumbai who have never seen chimneys except in bakeries), wondering when Mr.Claus will turn up with his stockings, how many of us as parents have found the heart to say, “Sorry kid, there ain’t no Santa”? Even counsellors and psychologists are constantly confused and divided over the topic. Sometimes we’re told to get real. Tell them, tough luck kid, but it was your father who said ‘ho, ho, ho’ all these years. And just when we’re about to slather on some of that tough love act, there will be another school of thought going, ‘ho hum, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’
As parents we want to preserve the magic of Christmas for our children as long as we can. And then some. Because in our hearts, we haven’t stopped believing in that magic either.
Even as the ‘disillusionment’ of a Santa-less life sets in, something else takes its place. I’ve seen it happen. It normally takes place on an open ground, when the air is crisp and the strains of Christmas carols fill up the dark night. And the church bells announce the arrival of yet another Christmas. It’s yet another Christmas to you and me, but to a kid who has just learnt to let go of her Christmas stocking, the midnight mass is his or her magic ground. It’s their mystical magical rites of Christmas.
Many of us who have attended the Midnight mass know the feeling. As grown ups we’ve read enough to know that the 25th December may not be the exact date of the Infant’s birth. It might well have been on the winter solstice on the 21st December. We know that Christmas trees and Mistletoes are mere trappings of the season but these are the touchy feely aspects of Christmas. The Midnight Mass to most of us is the ‘click’ that unleashes the spirit of the season within us. It’s a spiritual hug we get from the universe. And although the temperature is dipping, and the dew is giving us a mild headache, and there is a wrong note in the choir; for god’s sake will someone throttle the fake tenor, something is welling up inside us and setting us in the mood of the moment. It is the universal idea of Christmas, whether there is snow or dust where you live, whether you’re Christian or not. The mass, the rituals, the choir, the church bells, the simple sharing of cake and coffee, and then rushing home to open the presents which everyone from the 15 year old to the 50 year old have surreptitiously placed below the Christmas tree, it’s all part of the midnight magic, for us who have outgrown the notion of Santa Claus but retained the idea of St.Nicholas.
The midnight magic
Borrowed from Times of India
Hmmm… whatever… i believe that just like d birthday hours….. d christmas eve and the Christmas day… whatever one wishes for sache mann se …. one gets….. 🙂 so be careful what you wish 4!
The myth of mummy and Santa Claus should never ever cloud the true spirit of Christmas. Amy Fernandes shares her experience
When my younger son was asked, at Sunday School, to write the names of the two most important people in his life at Christmas, he promptly wrote:
1. Santa Claus
2. Mummy
Then, perhaps, thinking of the repercussions of his admission No.2, he cancelled the second and wrote,
2. God
Okay, okay, I apologise. The myth of mummy and Santa Claus should never ever cloud the true spirit of Christmas, but try telling a five year old that! To most children, unless they are on the fast track to canonisation, Christmas is what Santa and their parents deliver. Period. And even when kids grow up and look up the elevator shaft (especially Indian kids in Mumbai who have never seen chimneys except in bakeries), wondering when Mr.Claus will turn up with his stockings, how many of us as parents have found the heart to say, “Sorry kid, there ain’t no Santa”? Even counsellors and psychologists are constantly confused and divided over the topic. Sometimes we’re told to get real. Tell them, tough luck kid, but it was your father who said ‘ho, ho, ho’ all these years. And just when we’re about to slather on some of that tough love act, there will be another school of thought going, ‘ho hum, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’
As parents we want to preserve the magic of Christmas for our children as long as we can. And then some. Because in our hearts, we haven’t stopped believing in that magic either.
Even as the ‘disillusionment’ of a Santa-less life sets in, something else takes its place. I’ve seen it happen. It normally takes place on an open ground, when the air is crisp and the strains of Christmas carols fill up the dark night. And the church bells announce the arrival of yet another Christmas. It’s yet another Christmas to you and me, but to a kid who has just learnt to let go of her Christmas stocking, the midnight mass is his or her magic ground. It’s their mystical magical rites of Christmas.
Many of us who have attended the Midnight mass know the feeling. As grown ups we’ve read enough to know that the 25th December may not be the exact date of the Infant’s birth. It might well have been on the winter solstice on the 21st December. We know that Christmas trees and Mistletoes are mere trappings of the season but these are the touchy feely aspects of Christmas. The Midnight Mass to most of us is the ‘click’ that unleashes the spirit of the season within us. It’s a spiritual hug we get from the universe. And although the temperature is dipping, and the dew is giving us a mild headache, and there is a wrong note in the choir; for god’s sake will someone throttle the fake tenor, something is welling up inside us and setting us in the mood of the moment. It is the universal idea of Christmas, whether there is snow or dust where you live, whether you’re Christian or not. The mass, the rituals, the choir, the church bells, the simple sharing of cake and coffee, and then rushing home to open the presents which everyone from the 15 year old to the 50 year old have surreptitiously placed below the Christmas tree, it’s all part of the midnight magic, for us who have outgrown the notion of Santa Claus but retained the idea of St.Nicholas.
Happy Diwali
Oh! dats mah fav one….. 🙂 d Gayarti Mantra….. d wordings hv been thr in mah profile.. m glad I found a beautiful graphic 2:)
Lovely! aint it:) looks like lovely people with “enlightened heads/souls”.. all forgiving n caring standing 2gether to enlighten d world 🙂
May God bless us with wisdom – and light our intellects n souls -just like d cute li’l diyas remove d darkness 🙂 pyare timtimate deep 🙂 lovely candles n d cute candlelights 🙂
Happy Diwali
Oh! dats mah fav one….. 🙂 d Gayarti Mantra….. d wordings hv been thr in mah profile.. m glad I found a beautiful graphic 2:)
Lovely! aint it:) looks like lovely people with “enlightened heads/souls”.. all forgiving n caring standing 2gether to enlighten d world 🙂
May God bless us with wisdom – and light our intellects n souls -just like d cute li’l diyas remove d darkness 🙂 pyare timtimate deep 🙂 lovely candles n d cute candlelights 🙂
Happy Janmashtami!
Bara natkhat hai …Nand ka Lala…. 🙂
All you need is love… when George Harrison sang these lines, wonder if he had been thinking about Lord Krishna! Krishna’s birthday is celebrated all over the world as Krishna Janmashtami, Krishna Jayanthi or Gokulashtami. No other deity’s birth is enveloped in such high drama.
Read More at Iskcon News
More Krishna Pics:
some-more-krishna-pics.html
some-more-on-home1.html
Krishna_Pics
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama RamaHare Hare…..
Happy Janmashtami!
Bara natkhat hai …Nand ka Lala…. 🙂
All you need is love… when George Harrison sang these lines, wonder if he had been thinking about Lord Krishna! Krishna’s birthday is celebrated all over the world as Krishna Janmashtami, Krishna Jayanthi or Gokulashtami. No other deity’s birth is enveloped in such high drama.
Read More at Iskcon News
More Krishna Pics:
some-more-krishna-pics.html
some-more-on-home1.html
Krishna_Pics
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama RamaHare Hare…..
NourishMySoul 