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Showing posts from March 4, 2018


Story of Hanuman and Mount Govardhan

An interesting story in Ramayana connects the famous Govardhan Mountain that Sri Krishna lifted to save the people of Gokul with Hanuman. In the Ramayana, to build the bridge to crossover to Lanka huge stones were required and the Vanara Sena brought huge mountains from different places. By the fourth day of the construction of the bridge, the mountain peaks in South India were leveled. To get more stones, Hanuman flew to the Himalayas . Here he comes across the mighty mountain Dronachala. He decides to lift Dronachala and carry it to the southern tip for construction. But Hanuman is unable to lift the mountain. Soon Hanuman realizes that the mountain is made out of Salagrama, holy black stone with striations associated with Vishnu. Hanuman then prays to the Dronachala Mountain and tells it that He will carry it to Sri Ram who will touch it with his feet while crossing over to Lanka. Dronachala readily agrees. While Hanuman was away in the Himalayas , members of the Va

Story of Origin of Crows in Hindu Tradition

There are two important stories in Puranas regarding the origin of crows. Crows are important Hinduism because one of the unique rituals followed in Hindu tradition during Shradh is offering food to crows. As per Agni Purana, crows in the world were born from Kaki, the daughter of Sage Kashyap and Tamra. Another story of origin of crows is mentioned in the Shiva Purana. King of Kashi had a daughter named Kalavati – she was an ardent devotee of Shiva and always chanted the Shiva Panchakshara Mantra. She was married to Dasarha, King of Mathura. When Dasarha touched Kalavati intense heat was produced and this burned the hands of the king. On enquiry it was found the Dasarha was a sinner and was leading an Adharmic life. Kalavati took Dasaraha to Sage Garga, who purified him with mantras. Through the power of the mantras, sins from Dasaraha came out in the form of crows. Related Shradh Food Offerings to Crow

About Kalash Pot Atop A Hindu Temple

Kalasha pot on top of the sanctum sanctorum of a Hindu temple represents the roots of the inverted tree concept found in the Upanishads. Kalasha as per Puranas is one of the fourteen precious gems that came out of the milky ocean when it was churned (Samudra Manthan). Some temples have stone block as Kalasha. The significance of the shape of the Kalasha is that it symbolizes the potentialities of life. The bud which is the topmost portion signifies new life and growth. Some temples have stone block as Kalasha. But most are either made of copper or bronze and in some temples they are gold plated. The Kalasha has components like the foot-hold, the egg, the neck, the lotus-band, the rid and the bud. The foot-hold is sometimes in the shape of a lotus whose petals open out and egg shaped pot sits on it. From a distance the shape of the Kalasha looks like that of a flower bud or pot. Cereals and precious stones are placed inside the Kalasha.  Another important