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Showing posts from November 8, 2006


India’s first bone bank has no bones due to Hindu rituals

The broken bone bank is at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). The bone bank set up in 1999 has only received six dead bodies in the past seven years. Mumbai Mirror writes: Malhotra blamed the dearth of donors on Hindu ritual of immersing ashes of dead into Ganges . "Even in cases where people have pledged their bones to hospital after death, families of the deceased do not agree to it," Malhotra said. It is a known fact that Hindus burn the dead body and immerse ashes in holy rivers. So the people behind bone bank in India should have already known its fate. Things are slowly and many Hindus are now donating their body to various medical colleges in the country. Asthi or bones after cremation is collected and placed in a clay pot. It is properly covered and then later immersed in a holy river. The belief among Hindus is that a person attains moksha by immersing the ashes and remains of bones in water. This is the reason w

Mahabhisheka on Nandi atop Chamundi Hill after 150 years

When the Nandi is 25 ft. long and 16 ft. tall, it is hard to perform a Mahaabhisheka periodically. Therefore only a Ksheerabhishekha (milk anointment) was performed yearly. Some joggers and morning walkers on the Chamundi Hill road decided to clean the Nandi, which had a thick layer of dirt and dust. Care was taken not to use any chemicals for cleaning. Soapnut, shikakai and coir were used to clean the huge statue which is the pride of Mysore . After the cleaning, the statue was embalmed with a paste of roasted coconut. The embalming is said to keep the statue shining for ten years. Chamundi Hill is around 4.5 kilometers from the Mysore city center. Pilgrims ascend more than 1000 steps to the summit of the 1,062-meter high hill. The temple dedicated to Chamundeshwari is located atop of the hill. The impressive sculpture of Nandi stands halfway up Chamundi Hill near Mysore, India. Carved in 1659, from a single granite boulder, Nandi is 7.5m long and 5m high.