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Showing posts from November 16, 2009


Ear Piercing in Hinduism – Karnvedh or Karna Vedha Sanskar

Ear lobe piercing, known as Karnvedh Sanskar, is considered an important ceremony in many Hindu traditions. There is no unanimity regarding the year to perform ear piercing on a Hindu girl child. It is usually performed during the sixth month or seventh month or third year or fifth year or 7th year after birth. An auspicious day and auspicious time is chosen for performing the ear piercing ceremony. Special pujas and prayer is done and the ceremony is done under sunlight. Earrings are then offered to the child. According Hindu scriptures like Dharma Sindhu, Karna Vedha Sanksar must be performed on the 10th, 12th or 16th day after birth of the child. But most people avoid this calculation. They perform it during the 6th or 7th month after birth. After this, the ritual is performed on odd years after the birth of the child – 3rd or 5th year. The ritual is not performed during even years after the birth of the child. The ear piecing ceremony is a ritual performed by al

Download Novel Bhimsen by Prem Panicker – English Translation of Malayalam Novel Randamoozham by M T Vasudevan Nair

Randamoozham is a classic novel in Malayalam by Jnanpith award winner and the popular Malayalam writer M T Vasudevan Nair. Randamoozham means the ‘second turn’ and the story of the Mahabharat is seen through the eyes of Bhima – the second of the Pandavas. Prem Panicker, senior journalist, had serialized the novel in English in his blog for over a year. Now he has published the entire novel in pdf format for free. Randamoozham is basically the re-imagining of the epic from the point of view of Bhima. It is a work of fiction and not a religious one. In the novel there are no supernatural heroes, even Lord Krishna is stripped of his divine powers and is presented as a normal human being. Bhima, who always gets the second turn in all the main incidents in the Mahabharata, talks about the favoritism, betrayal, helplessness and silent sufferings of many characters in the Mahabharata including himself. The focus is on the relationships between the main characters. A classic, Randamo

Ayyappa Photos and Pictures – Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple Wallpapers

There are hundreds of Lord Ayyappa Photos and Pictures of Lord Ayyappa on the internet. We thought that it would be nice to provide our readers with Sabarimala Ayyappa wallpapers as the holy Mandala Makaravilakku period is starting at the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple . The Sabarimala Ayyappa wallpapers for this post were selected from several websites and the images are copyrighted to respective owners we are only providing a link to respective websites. Some of the images were modified and created by us to give the look of a wallpaper. Latest - Online Virtual Tour of Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple and other holy places Please click on the link for a larger view of the image. Right click and use the save image option.

Somvar Vrat Katha – Monday Fasting Story in Hinduism

Somvar Vrat, or fasting on Monday, is dedicated to Lord Shiva. On the day, devotees the fast listen to Somavar Vrat Katha. The story associated with Monday fasting narrates the experience of a devotee who observed the Somvar Vrat. There are a couple of stories associated with Fasting on Monday and this is one of them. Once there was a wealthy merchant. He was an ardent Lord Shiva devotee. But after several years of marriage he had no children. He observed Monday fast to get a child. Soon Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati appeared in his dream and blessed him with a son but Lord Shiva said that the child will only live for 12 years. After a year, the merchant’s wife gave birth to a child and everyone was happy. But the merchant was still sad as he knew that the child only had 12 years of life. Even after the birth of the child, the merchant continued to perform the Somvar Vrat. He distributed cloths and fed the poor and needy. When the son reached the age of e