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Showing posts from March 31, 2017


Importance Of Upanayana In Hinduism – How To Perform Upanayana Ritual?

Upanayana is a sacred ceremony in Hinduism by which a boy or girl between the ages of seven and sixteen is initiated into the spiritual world. Upanayana literally means ‘providing an additional eye’ – upa means additional and nayana means eye of spiritual knowledge and wisdom. The term also means leading the disciple to the Guru (upa – means near and nayana means leading.) Symbolic symbol of Upanayana is the wearing of yajnopavita or sacred thread. Yajnopavita or sacred thread is believed to have worn by the creator. There is no reference to it in the Grahyasutras. Bal Gangadhar Tilak has stated that it is remnant of the cloth worn by Prajapati. Not all Hindus perform Upanayanam . Numerous Hindu communities and sects do not perform the sacred thread ceremony. Like all rituals in Hindu religion this one is also not mandatory. Those who wear the sacred thread are known as twice born . When a child starts his spiritual education by learning the Vedas, the child is getting a new

Valliyankavu Devi Temple in Idukki, Kerala

Valliyankavu Devi Temple is a powerful shrine dedicated to Mother Goddess Shakti at Paloorkavu near Mundakkayam in Idukki, Kerala. The shrine has two separate sanctum sanctorums – one dedicated to fierce Goddess Bhadrakali and another dedicated to the motherly form of Parashakti Durga. Legend has it that the murti of Durga worshiped in the temple was originally worshipped by Pandavas and Panchali during their exile period inthe Mahabharata . The murti of Bhadrakali was installed by the tribals of the region. The temple courted trouble when some people suspected that the tribals were performing ‘bali’ (human and animal sacrifice) in the shrine. The government then took over the temple. Even today, the temple performs symbolic ‘guruti or bali’ using white pumpkin after the last puja. Guruti is not performed in the shrine when Sabarimala Temple opens for Mandala Makaravilakku season. The Guruti restarts with Mahaguruti after the Makaravilakku festival in Sabarimala