--> Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from January 29, 2020


Purusha Mriga - Half Human - Half Animal Sculpture In Hindu Temples

Purusha Mriga are part of South Indian temple tradition. Purusha Mirugam are half human and half animal. Images of men and women with the feet of a lion, tiger, or deer adorn the walls of many temples of Shiva and Vishnu in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana and Kerala. It is believed that Purushamriga were devotees of Shiva. They cannot be seen by normal human beings but only by true devotees of Shiva. Purushamriga serves as mounts, who carry the idols of gods and goddesses in grand procession during festivals. According to a Tamil folk story, Yudhisthira needed a purusha mriga to bless the Rajasuya ceremony. The ceremony would establish Indraprastha as a kingdom in its own right and ensure that the participating rulers accepted the sovereignty of Yudhishthira. He asked his brothers to go to neighboring kingdoms to find a purushamriga. Bhima is able to sight one in the garden of Kubera. Bhima is tested by the Purusha Mriga but he succeeds in it with the help of Hanuman

Bheemuni Kolanu In Srisailam – Water Stream Created By Bhima

Bheemuni Kolanu derives its name to an episode from the Mahabharata. It is located on the ancient path to Srisailam Temple. Pandavas were on a pilgrimage when Draupadi felt extremely thirsty. Water could not be found nearby. Exasperated Bhima, the second of the Pandava brothers, pounded the sheet rock with his mace and water jetted out. Bhima’s blow split the hillock into two, through the gap of which water flowed in torrents, as can be seen even today. Elated by the flow of water and in remembrance of the successful event, Bhima installed a Shivling which finds mention in the Skanda Purana. Two temples datable between 8 th and 9 th centuries lie in ruins nearby.

Swami Ranganathananda Thoughts On Love

Swami Ranganathananda (December 15, 1908 – April 25, 2005) of Ramakrishna Mission – 13th president of Ramakrishna Mission. This is a collection of thoughts on love by  Swami Ranganathananda. The modern world can really be redeemed if there is a little love in the heart of man. But it is very difficult to find that. How much we pray today for that integrating principle which can bring harmony in society. … this world is in a mess and the only way to clear the mess is to bring a little love into the heart of man. A little altruism, a little love. How to manufacture that love? That is a great theme with many of these writers today. And when you experience something you talk less about it. When you talk too much of a thing, that means you have little experience of it. Talk and experience are inverse in ratio. Today’s man talks so much of love, only because he does not know what it is. He has no experience of it. When you have experience you will not talk about it at all. In w