In Hindu religion, diamonds are classified in four types. As per Hinduism each type of diamond is unique and they have different benefits. First type is known as Colorless diamond – it gave power, friends, riches and good luck. The second type is known as Brown (or Champagne) diamond – it prevented old age. The third type is known as Kodali flower diamond – it brought success. The fourth type is known as the diamond with the sheen of a polished blade – it brought all types of good fortune. Red and yellow diamonds did not fall into the above category and were known as royal gems.

There is a tradition of donating lamps to temples in South India . Lamps made of both stone and metal are donated to Hindu temples. Lamps are usually donated as offerings to the main murti or god in the temple. Many times it is also done as part of redemption of sins. In some cases lamps are donated in memory of deceased ancestors or relatives. Sometimes as thanksgiving for desire fulfilled and also to commemorate a particular event in family or personal life. Hindus donate lamp for early cure for illness and also for good health. The Hindu reports  Donors frequently had their spouses’ imaged cast as a lamp as well – the Annur Maheshwara temple has an inscription that records the gift of servants to the temple by a resident of kavaiyanputtur, who also presented a metallic statue of himself and (his wife) and gold for a twilight lamp.  If made of stone, the lamp was gouged out in the top from a pillar of granite. The height of the pillar varied with the wealth of the

The annual Fire Walking festival at the Sri Mariamman Temple in Singapore attracts thousands of Hindu devotees. The firewalking festival is aired live online. The live streaming is available on the internet and mobile. The living streaming is available on November 4 and November 5, 2023. You can view the live streaming if available here -  Live Online Singapore Fire Walking Festival

Arogya Bhava is the health aspect in Hindu astrology. Argogya or health is judged from the lagna bhava (ascendant aspect) and roga or the disease is decided from the sixth bhava. Thus, ultimately, both the bhavas and their relative strengths are used in the determination or the status as well as the judgment of health. When the Lord of the lagna is in his own navamsa, associated or aspected by an unaffected benefic, it indicates sound health. When the lagna is occupied by its own Lord, the native enjoys sound health; when the lagnesha (Lord of the lagna) is associated with malefic in sixth, eight or twelfth houses, the native will not enjoy normal health. A malefic in lagna and weak lagnesha causes ill health. A strong build is caused by watery sign in lagnas with benefits free of evil association and aspects. A powerful benefic in the ascendant grants a strong constitution. If the lagnas amsadhipati is exalted and the Lord of the house is malefic, it indicates a weak bo

Ashlesha Nakshatra 2020 time and dates based on traditional Hindu calendar, Astrology and Panchangam. Ashlesha Birth Dates, also known as Ashlesha or Ayilyam in South India, is the ninth Nakshatra among the 27 Nakshatras. Below are Ashlesha Nakshatra date in 2020. The astrological prediction of Ashlesha Nakshatra as per Moon Sign is that of Kataka or Karka Rashi. Chandra or moon is the Lord of the Raasi. The color of Ashlesha is black – red. Ashlesha Nakshatra Date and Time 2019 - North - East - South of India This time is applicable in Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Pondicherry, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and Andaman and Nicobar. January 13, 2020, Monday Time is from 1:36 PM on January 12 to 12:24 PM on January 13, 2020 Febr

Deepavali Asthanam is one among the important annual festivals performed to Lord Sri Venkateswara Swami in Tirumala Tirupati Balaji Temple. Diwali Festival is conducted on the Amavasya (New moon) day in Aswayuja masam. There are few important rituals on the day. During Diwali Festival, Sri Malayappa Swami will stay in Ranganayakula Mandapam leaving the Ananda Nilayam. After that Balaji arrive at Ghanta Mandapam on the auspicious Deepavali day for Asthanam along with His consorts. Later Sri Malayappa Swami and His Consorts will be placed atop the Sarva Bhoopala Vahanam and will be seated in Bangaru Vakili opposite to Garudalwar. On His left side Sri Vishwaksena Varu will be seated. Afterwards Second Archana will be performed to both mula murti and utsava murthis. Later Gamekarlu (prasadam carriers) along with umbrellas and musical instruments bring prasadam doing Pradakshinam to Dwajasthambam. Then second bell will ring. Then the current Jeyyangar brings 6 si

Navaneetha Krishna is one of the child forms of Bhagwan Sri Krishna. In this form, Child Krishna is seen as dancing with joy on having secured a ball of butter to eat. A small ball of butter is shown in the murti of Navaneetha Krishna. In some images, Sri Krishna is depicted as a crawling baby. Navaneetha Krishnan concept is very popular in South India . In the murti form Navaneetha Krishna stands on left leg which is slightly bent at the knee joint. The right leg is lifted up and bent inwards as in dancing. The right holds a ball of butter in it. The left arm is stretched out. It is also a very common sculpture and wooden toys of Navaneetha Krishna were very prominent in South India . Prayers are offered in Navaneethakrishnan for healthy children by couples. Prayers are also offered for early cure of illness in children. Couples without children also offer prayers to the murti.

Significance of Tapas (Austerities) in Hinduism Tapas literally means heat. It is common knowledge that metals like gold become pure on heating them. Again, pure metal is extracted from ores by heating them in a blast furnace. Even so, it is said that the practice of tapas heats up our system, the mind in particular, and purifies it in the process. Sri Shankaracharya makes the idea of tapas clear in his commentary on the Taittiriya Upanishad (3.1.1) – Tapas is the best discipline, for it is known in the world that of all the means that are causally related with definite ends, tapas is the best. Tapas consists in the control of external and internal organs. In other words, anything that can be accomplished with some means is accomplished better with tapas. This is true of worldly prosperity as well as spiritual progress. Tapas means concentration of the mind by choice – mine, not the mind’s. The mind needs to be trained in concentration. Who is the trainer? The

All progress – whether in spiritual or secular matters – is actualized through self-effort. The Sanskrit word kripa, or grace, derives from kri, or do, and pa, or achieve. Nothing happens by itself; everything requires effort. A deer does not walk into the mouth of a lion. The groceries we buy do not turn themselves into dinner. The light of the sun cannot enter our rooms until we raise our window shades and let it in. Shankaracharya says: ‘As a treasure hidden underground requires (for its extraction) competent instruction, excavation, the removal of stones and other such things lying above it and (finally) grasping, but never comes out by being (merely) called out by name, so the transparent Truth of the Self, which is hidden by Maya and its effects, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, followed by reflection, meditation, and so forth.’ Intense effort is necessary to demolish the walls of our ego, our desires, attachments, and th