--> Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from March 18, 2015


Athirathram at Sukapuram in Kerala from March 20 to March 31, 2015 – The World’s Oldest Surviving Ritual – Athirathram Vedic Ritual

Athirathram, an ancient Vedi ritual, will be held from March 20 to March 31, 2015 at Dakshinamurthi Temple at Sukapuram near Edappal in Malappuram District in Kerala. It is also the world’s oldest surviving ritual. What is Athirathram? Vedic Yajna (Yajgya or sacrifice or ritual) is performed for the prosperity of human race through peaceful co-existence with nature by energizing the various forces in nature – especially sun. Agni, fire, that represents Sun, the Prathyaksha Brahman or Visible God, in Sanatana Dharma, is worshipped during the Yajna. This vedic ritual is known as Athirathram and is one of the world’s oldest surviving ritual.  During the Athirathram, the Vedic rituals and yajnas performed during the period of the Vedic age will be recreated. For 12 days, one will be transported to the era of the Vedas and Upanishads. Today, the knowledge of Athirathram is only preserved by select Namboothiri (Brahmin) families in Kerala. Athirathram invokes the abundan

Karka Rashi Tree – Which is the tree associated with Kataka Rashi Born People?

There are trees associated with each 12 Rashis. Karka Rashi also has a particular tree dedicated to it. People born on each Rashi should worship the particular tree. The tree associated and worshipped by Kataka Rashi Born people is flame of forest. Flame of forest is the English name and the scientific name is Butea monosperma. The Hindi name of the Karka Rashi Tree is Palash or Tesu Telugu name is Modugu Malayalam name is Shamata Tamil Name is  Porasum, Parasu Kannada name is Muthuga In Marathi it is known as Palas Bengali name is Polash Karka Rashi born people should plant the flame of forest. Water it. They should also protect the flame of forest tree.

Book – At Ganapati’s Feet: Daily Life with the Elephant-Headed Deity

The book titled “At Ganapati’s Feet: Daily Life with the Elephant-Headed Deity” is written by By Janyananda Saraswati (David Dillard-Wright) and published by Mantra Books. The book is author’s journey through the spiritual world and his guide is Ganesha. The first half of the book focuses on the author’s dilemmas and how Ganesha helped in overcoming the situation. The author was born and brought up in the Christian world. Ganesha was a great discovery for him as it helped in realizing the true meaning of many Christian teachings. Therefore the book is peppered with important teachings from Hindu and Christian beliefs. The first two chapters are titled: Ganesha of Newark Avenue : An Autobiographical Introduction Christianity and Hinduism: Opposites or Complements?  This is authors’ personal journey into the world of Hinduism is largely helped by Ganesha. In nutshell through the first two chapters the author reiterates the great teaching of Rig Veda - "Truth