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Showing posts from August 22, 2015


Uddanda Ganapati – The Form of Ganesha that Punishes the Evildoers

Uddanda Ganapati is one among the 32 forms of Ganesha. This form of Ganesha punishes the evil doers and reinstates Dharma. This form of Ganesha is very rare and there are no major known temples exclusively dedicated to this form of Ganapati. In this form Ganesha has ten hands. The most curious aspect of this form is a female who sits on the lap of Uddanda Ganapati. She is described as the consort of Ganesha. Uddanda Ganapati also has a third eye – quite similar to the one Shiva has. The color that is assigned to this form is red. All the above said characteristics indicate that this is an angry form of Ganesha and it appears to annihilate Adharma. The hands hold a pot of gems, lily, sugarcane, mace, lotus, paddy, pomegranate, noose, garland and tusk. There is no consistency on the items that are assigned to Uddanda Ganapati. Some pictures also have him holding an axe.

Karna And Parshuram - The Story Of The Curse That Got Karna Killed

Karna, the eldest son of Kunti and Sun God, was keen to acquire the Brahmastra mantra (the arrow which had the power to destroy the world) from Parshuram. However, Karna was a Kshatriya – from warrior class. Parashuram was a sworn enemy of the Kshatriyas. He only gave lessons to Brahmins – the priestly class. So Karna disguised as a Brahmin and deceived Parashurama to accept him as his disciple. Karna was a devoted and able student and his hard work pleased Parshuram. Soon Karna learned the Brahmastra mantra and became the greatest warrior on earth. One day when Parashurama was sleeping on Karna’s lap, a bee stung Karna on the lower portion of his thigh.  It was very painful and he started bleeding.  However, fearing that if he moved his legs, he would awaken Parashuram, he did not move at all and continued to suffer.  When Parashuram woke up, he saw Karna bleeding.  Parashurama immediately realized that a Brahmin cannot suffer such intense pain. Only a warrior

Story of Aravan – Iravan

Aravan or Iravan is the son of Arjuna and Ulupi, the Naga Princess. There are two stories of Aravan in vogue. In the Mahabharata, he dies in the Kurukshetra war. In South Indian folklore, he agrees to be sacrificed for Pandava victory in the great war in the Mahabharata. He is also the deity worshiped by the transgender or eunuchs. In the Mahabharata war, Iravan fights on the side of the Pandavas. Iravan fights the Kauravas along with his Naga warriors. On the eighth day of the war, Iravan finds Shakuni Mama killing Pandava soldiers by shooting arrows on their back. For this trickery, the entire legion that Shakuni commanded was killed by Iravan and Naga warriors. Duryodhana who witnessed the destruction of a large part of his army ordered Alambusa, a demon with magical power, to kill Iravan. Alambusa flies through the air and chops off the head of an unsuspecting Iravan who was engaged in a combat with Shakuni. He was killed through trickery. Alambusa was later ki

Mundeshwari Temple in Bihar – Is it the oldest functional Hindu Temple in the World?

Ma Mundeshwari Temple in Kaimur District of Bihar was recently in news due to the planned renovation and restoration by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Newspaper reports suggested that Mundeshwari Temple was built in 108 A D. Since then rituals and worship have been taking place at the temple without a break. Thus making it the oldest functional temple in the world. The use of the term ‘oldest’ is a bit risky when talking about temples associated with Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism). Simply because no one has been able to clearly state how old Sanatana Dharma is. Say this temple is the oldest and immediately another person will be come with something much older. So the safest option is to say that Ma Mundeshwari Temple in Kaimur District of Bihar is one of the oldest Hindu temples in the world. Ma Mundeshwari Temple is situated atop the Kaimur Hill (608ft). The temple is in an octagonal shape. The sanctum sanctorum of the temple has an idol of Devi – Munde

Hanuman Chalisa in Odia in pdf – Download Hanuman Chalisa Lyrics in pdf in Oriya for Free

Hanuman Chalisa, composed by Goswami Tulsidas, is the most popular prayer (bhajans) dedicated to Hanuman. Below is the link to Hanuman Chalisa pdf in Odia (Oriya) text. You can download it for free. It is uploaded into google documents. There is no authorization required for downloading. It is absolutely free. For easy download you need to be logged into gmail or any other google product. The chalisa is created by Gita Press, Gorakhpur. Link -  Hanuman Chalisa Odia in pdf