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Showing posts from August 15, 2014


Bharat Mata – India as the Mother

The concept of Bharat Mata, considering India as the Mother, is not associated with Hinduism. But the concept is borrowed from Hindu religion in which earth is considered as Mother. It is also inspired by the story of Goddess Durga. The idea of Bharata ( India ) personified as Mata (Mother) became popular during India ’s freedom struggle. The slogan Bharat Mata ki jai (Glory to Mother India) became an important slogan of the freedom movement. This idea along with Vande Mataram was taken from Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s famous novel Ananda Math (The Abbey of Bliss). Sri Aurobindo Ghosh famously exclaimed how in the map of Bharat one could find the portrait of Bharatmata. He described the cities, the mountains, rivers and forests as the materials which go to make up her body. The people inhabiting the country are the cells, which go to make up her living tissues. Indian literature is her memory and speech; the happiness and freedom of her children are her salvation. He call

Radha Gokulananda Temple in Vrindavan

Radha Gokulananda Temple is located between the Radha Raman Temple and Kesi Ghat in Vrindavan. Sri Krishna is worshipped here as Gokulananda. The temple has two sets of murtis of Radha and Krishna . The two set of murtis were worshipped by Loknatha Goswami and Vishwanath Chakravarthi. The temple has three courtyards. The first courtyard is a closed one and it has numerous Tulsi plants. The second courtyard is meant for prayers. The murtis are housed in the third courtyard. One set of murtis are small and the other set is big. Both the murtis of Sri Krishna is black in color and is depicted as playing the flute. Apart from the murti of four murtis of Sri Krishna and Radha, there is a golden colored murti of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. There is a Govardhan Shila (stone) in the temple which has the thumb impression of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Apart from the murtis, the temple also houses the Samadhis of Loknatha Goswami, Vishwanath Chakravarthi and Narottama Dasa.