Significance of Deepavali

Deepawali or Diwali is certainly the biggest of all Hindu festivals. It's the festival of lights ( deep = light and avali = a row i.e., a row of lights) that's marked by four days of celebration, which literally illumines the country with its brilliance and dazzles all with its joy. Each of the four days in the festival of Diwali is separated by a different tradition, but what remains true and constant is the celebration of life, its enjoyment and goodness.

The Origin of Diwali:
Historically, the origin of Diwali can be traced back to ancient India, when it was probably an important harvest festival . However, there are various legends pointing to the origin of Diwali. Some believe it to be the celebration of the marriage of Lakshmi with Lord Vishnu. Whereas in Bengal the festival is dedicated to the worship of Mother Kali , the goddess of strength. Lord Ganesha , the elephant-headed God, the symbol of auspiciousness and wisdom, is also worshipped in most Hindu homes on this day. In Jainism , Deepawali has an added significance to the great event of Lord Mahavira attaining the eternal bliss of nirvana . Diwali also commemorates the return of Lord Rama along with Sita and Lakshman from his fourteen year long exile and vanquishing the demon-king Ravana. In joyous celebration of the return of their king, the people of Ayodhya, the Capital of Rama, illuminated the kingdom with earthen diyas (oil lamps) and burst crackers.

These Four Days:
Each day of Diwali has it's own tale, legend and myth to tell. The first day of the festival Naraka Chaturdasi marks the vanquishing of the demon Naraka by Lord Krishna and his wife Satyabhama. Amavasya , the second day of Deepawali, marks the worship of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth in her most benevolent mood, fulfilling the wishes of her devotees. Amavasya also tells the story of Lord Vishnu, who in his dwarf incarnation vanquished the tyrant Bali, and banished him to hell. Bali was allowed to return to earth once a year, to light millions of lamps to dispel the darkness and ignorance, and spread the radiance of love and wisdom. It is on the third day of Deepawali - Kartika Shudda Padyami that Bali steps out of hell and rules the earth according to the boon given by Lord Vishnu. The fourth day is referred to as Yama Dvitiya (also called Bhai Dooj ) and on this day sisters invite their brothers to their homes.

The Significance of Lights & Firecrackers:
All the simple rituals of Diwali have a significance and a story to tell. The illumination of homes with lights and the skies with firecrackers is an expression of obeisance to the heavens for the attainment of health, wealth, knowledge, peace and prosperity. According to one belief, the sound of fire-crackers are an indication of the joy of the people living on earth, making the gods aware of their plentiful state. Still another possible reason has a more scientific basis: the fumes produced by the crackers kill a lot of insects and mosquitoes, found in plenty after the rains.

From Darkness Unto Light:

In each legend, myth and story of Deepawali lies the significance of the victory of good over evil; and it is with each Deepawali and the lights that illuminate our homes and hearts, that this simple truth finds new reason and hope. From darkness unto light - the light that empowers us to commit ourselves to good deeds, that which brings us closer to divinity.
During Diwali, lights illuminate every corner of India and the scent of incense sticks hangs in the air, mingled with the sounds of fire-crackers, joy, togetherness and hope. Outside India, Diwali is more than a Hindu festival, it's a celebration of South-Asian identities.

If you are away from the sights and sounds of Diwali, light a diya , sit quietly, shut your eyes, withdraw the senses, concentrate on this supreme light and illuminate the soul.

Unbelivable

A Software Engineer and a Dog

Significance of NAVADURGA and Festival

Goddess Durga is worshipped in different forms . She is a form of " Shakti" .The evolution of Shri MahaSaraswati, Shri Mahalaxshmi & Shri Mahakali ( the main 3 forms of Shakti) took place from Shri Brahma , Shri Vishnu & Shri Mahesh respectively.Each of these 3 deities gave rise to 2 more forms.So , in all , these 9 forms together are known as " Navadurga ".

Long back there lived a daemon king named " Mahishasur " ( also called as Daemon with a face of buffalo) who was very strong.He harrassed God Indra , fought with him and captured his throne.He was very proud of his strength.Indra went to the almighty gods - Brahma , Vishnu , & Mahesh , for help.These gods decided to teach a lesson to Mahishasur.They unitedly created a goddess "Shakti" and offered her their weapons to fight Mahishasur, who had become untolerable.Goddess Shakti fought with Mahishasur for full 9 days and ultimately killed him with her spear.Hence Durga is also known as " Mahishasur-Mardini ".

The 9 days for which the goddess fought & Killed the evil daemon Mahishasur are celebrated as a major festival called " Navaratra".This festival is celebrated in a big way all over India in the month of " Aashwin" ( as per Hindu Calender)for the first 9 days .

9 Names of Navadurga :

Shailputri
Brahmaputri
Chandraghanta
Kushmanda
Skandamaata
Kaatyayani
Kaalratri
Mahagauri
Siddhidatri

The Navaratri festival is celebrated by establishing Kumbh ( Ghata ), devotion, recitation, homage,fast & Vratas. "Nav" means new and nine. There fore it is very proper to celebrate the festival of Nav Durga in the beginning of new year. In both the Navratris in a year ,the devotees worships "Parashakti" with face dedication.

Following are the nine forms in detail :

(1) Durga Shailputri (Daughter of Mountain)
She is a daughter of Himalaya and first among nine Durgas. In previous birth she was the daughter of Daksha. Her name was Sati - Bhavani. I.e. the wife of Lord Shiva. Once Daksha had organized a big Yagna and did not invite Shiva. But Sati being obstinate, reached there. Thereupon Daksha insulted Shiva. Sati could not tolerate the insult of husband and burnt herself in the fire of Yagna. In other birth she became the daughter of Himalaya in the name of Parvati - Hemvati and got married with Shiva. As per Upnishad she had torn and the egotism of Indra, etc. Devtas. Being ashamed they bowed and prayed that, "In fact, thou are Shakti, we all - Brahma, Vishnu and Shiv are capable by getting Shakti from you."

(2)Brahmacharini
The second Durga Shakti is Brahamcharini. Brahma that is who observes penance(tapa) and good conduct. Here "Brahma" means "Tapa". The idol of this Goddess is very gorgeous. There is rosary in her right hand and Kamandal in left hand. She is full with merriment. One story is famous about her. In previous birth she was Parvati Hemavati the daughter of Himvan. Once when she was busy in games with her friends. Naradaji came to her and predicted seeing her Palm-lines that, "You will get married with a naked-terrible 'Bhole baba' who was with you in the form of Sati, the daughter of Daksh in previous birth. But now you have to perform penance for him." There upon Parvati told her mother Menaka that she would marry none except Shambhu, otherwise she would remain unmarried. Saying this she went to observe penance . That is why her name is famous as tapacharini - Brahmacharini. From that time her name Uma became familiar.

(3)Chandraghanta
The name of third Shakti is Chandraghanta. There is a half-circular moon in her forehead. She is charmful and bright. She is Golden colour. She has three eyes and ten hands holding with ten types of swords - etc. weapons and arrows etc. missiles. She is seated on Lion and ready for going in war to fight. She is unprecedented image of bravery. The frightful sound of her bell terrifies all the villans, demons and danavas.

(4)Kushmanda
Name of fourth Durga is Kushmanda. The Shakti creates egg. I.e. Universe by mere laughing .She resides in solar systems. She shines brightly in all the ten directions like Sun. She has eight hands. Seven types of weapons are shining in her seven hands. Rosary is in her right hand. She seems brilliant riding on Lion. She likes the offerings of "Kumhde." Therefore her name "Kushmanda" has become famous.

(5) Skanda Mata
Fifth name of Durga is "Skanda Mata". The daughter of Himalaya, after observing penance got married with Shiva. She had a son named "Skanda." Skanda is a leader of the army of Gods. Skanda Mata is a deity of fire. Skanda is seated in her lap. She has three eyes and four hands. She is white and seated on a lotus.

(6) Katyayani
Sixth Durga is Katyayani. The son of "Kat" as "Katya". Rishi Katyayan born in this "Katya" linege. Katyayan had observed penance with a desire to get paramba as his daughter. As a result she took birth as a daughter of Katyayan. Therefore her name is "Katyayani" . She has three eyes and eight hands. These are eight types of weapons missiles in her seven hands. Her vehicle is Lion.

(7)Kalratri
Seventh Durga is Kalratri. She is black like night. Durga hairs are unlocked. She has put on neckles shining like lightening. She has three eyes which are round like universe. Her eyes are bright. Thousands of flames of fire come out while respiring from nose. She rides on donkey. There is sharp sword in her right hand. Her lower hand is in blessing mood. The burning torch(mashal) is in her left hand and her lower left hand is in fearless style, by which she makes her devotees fearless. Being auspicious she is called "Shubhamkari."

(8) Maha Gauri
The Eighth Durga is "Maha Gauri." She is as white as a conch, moon and Jasmine. She is of eight years old. Her clothes and ornaments are white and clean. She has three eyes. She rides on bull She has four hands. The above left hand is in "Fearless - Mudra" and lower left hand holds "Trishul." The above right hand has tambourine and lower right hand is in blessing style. She is calm and peaceful and exists in peaceful style. It is said that when the body of Gauri became dirty due to dust and earth while observing penance, Shiva makes it clean with the waters of Gangas. Then her body became bright like lightening. There fore, she is known as "Maha Gauri" .

(9) Siddhidatri
Ninth Durga us Siddhidatri. There are eight Siddhis , they are- Anima, Mahima, Garima, Laghima, Prapti, Prakamya, Iishitva & Vashitva. Maha Shakti gives all these Siddhies. It is said in "Devipuran" that the Supreme God Shiv got all these Siddhies by worshipping Maha Shakti. With her gratitude the half body of Shiv has became of Goddess and there fore his name "Ardhanarishvar" has became famous. The Goddess drives on Lion. She has four hands and looks pleased. This form of Durga is worshipped by all Gods, Rishis-Munis, Siddhas, Yogis, Sadhakas and devotees for attaining the best religious asset.

Happy Navaratri...

My Trip to JOG FALLS

On 18/09/2005 I and my classmates went on a trip to JOG Falls. We started at 6:00 am sharp towards the highest waterfalls of Asia which was 150 kms away from our source.

Early Morning 6:00 Am at Our Hostel Gate

The vehicle stopped at Bappanadu a small village after Mulki. For more information about this temple you can visit the following link: http://www.ourkarnataka.com/temples/bappanadutemple.htm. The driver dropped a coin at the temple beside the road, it is a tradition.

Bappanadu Temple Sri Durgaparameshwari

I would like to say one thing about Dakshina Karnataka (South Karnataka), its always green over here, green bushes every where. Even the walls are covered with grass or some other kind of creepers. Our first stop was at Aanegudde Vinayaka's Temple. For more information about this temple you can visit the following link: http://www.udupipages.com/home/temple/kumbashi.html.


Aanegudde Temple

At Aanegudde Temple I am Second from Right (Spotted)

Aanegudde means elephant hill, where we had our darshana so that the trip goes well. Next break was at Maravanthe beach, 50 kms from Udupi, is the sandy Maravanthe beach, this is the place where the sea is touching the road (parallel). At one side of the road we have sea, and on the other side we have a river, so if a Tsunami occurred by chance then you cannot escape.Its said that still now no damage has occurred to NH-17 across maravanthe beach. We had a nice time there. The road authorities placed some very huge rocks to restrict the sea from cutting away the road completely.


On the Rocks between NH-17 and Maravanthe beach

The endless stretch of golden sand, swaying palm trees, clear blue sky and the gush of the sea attracts a large number of tourists to this spot.The highway bordered on either side by the Arabian Sea and the Satuparnika River, with a backdrop of the Kodachadri Hills, makes the drive an out-of-the-world experience. At sunset, a crimson sky and golden rays reflected both in the sea and the river convert Maravanthe into a fairyland of scenic beauty.
Bushes converted into trees when we entered the western ghats, the ground started raising up from the sea level. I remember that western ghats started shortly after we have crossed a village called Bijur. This is one of my classmate's native place. He is very lucky to live in such a beautiful place.

Our next stop was at Murudeshwar. For more information about this temple you can visit the following link: http://www.karnatakatourism.com/coastal/murudesh/index.htm.
Here we visited lord Shiva temple. The mahagoopura of this temple is still under construction, but it is already around twenty floors. It looked like the temple almost pierced into the sky towards the heavens. That is not the end of this temple's specialty. The temple is surrounded by sea waters on all sides and it is connected to the land only by a road.


Mahagopura and Shiva Statue coming to equaility

We walked around and went to see behind the temple, there sits an enormous statue of Lord Shiva, as if it were a competition to the mahagoopura at the front of the temple. If we want to have a comparison, the toe of that statue is a lot bigger than my face. It is like we have stood before the Vishrupa of Lord Shiva. We thought to stay there for some more time, but we are already late for Jog Falls. We started again.

One of my Friend Me

Huge Lord Shiva Statue

After a while we took diversion into NH-206 from NH-17 at Honnavara. Travelling on this road is a real adventure. It has a lots and lots of turns, U-turns, S-turns, Z-turns. Trees were now much denser than before as we reached our next stop which is at Sharavati river viewpoint. This means we have almost reached the actual place Jog Falls. It is still cold and the time is already 12:20. The road is now narrow and is much curvier; the forest is thicker than ever.

Sharavati River View Point

Sharavati River Covered by Forest

At last we have seen the board which says "Welcome to the world famous Jog Falls". It took us 7 hours to reach here. But where is the water falls, we still do not see it. No sound too. Hey the water falls is 1 km away from that board, so you don’t hear any buzz, or even could not see any thing because of the thick forest around. Soon after getting down we decided to have lunch and then have a look at the water falls. But we could not stop ourselves we rushed to the viewing spot to have glance at that magnificent scene. It was really amazing to see water falling from up to 829 feet tall. And the people down seem to be like ants crawling here and there.

Group photo at Jog Falls

This is another tall waterfall that runs amok during monsoon season, exceeding even Kaieteur Falls in Guyana in terms of height and volume. We've seen the falls reported to be up to 960 feet tall, however, the figure 829 feet is known to be more accurate because that height was derived by dropping a weighted line into the gorge. The photo below shows the falls in full flood.
Image 21

Jog Falls

The four segments of the falls are named, from left to right, the Raja, the Roarer, the Rocket, and the Rani (White Lady).
We came back had our lunch and then started the real exciting part of the trip, preparing to getting down.There is a lot of crowd there that day, which is very uncommon at Jog Falls. Later we learnt that the officials have released the water from the dam only previous days. Now we too decided to go down these hills to the bottoms where the water falls on the ground.

Before our Journey to the Bottom of Jog Falls

We started getting down the hill, it is very steep, and the path is not as good to move quickly. We should also take support of the trees and the rocks so that we won't fall down.


Steping down with care

It took me 25 minutes to get down that hill. Now occasionally showers of water droplets flew over us from the water falls. As the rocks under over feet are wet they are too slippery to stand still.

85% of our Journey to the Bottom of Jog Falls

My friends couldn't balance over there bodies and started to slip and fall down. I was wearing my tracking shoes due to which I didn’t remove my shoes and never fell down even once but my friends removed there shoes and fell many times but thanks to GOD that nothing happened to any one of us. We walked slowly and slowly until we reached the lowest part.

The Ultimate Point

Now if you look up, you find as if water is directly coming from the sky, poured by some angel’s......

What a View

This is the lowest part we can reach ...

Dangerous Point

We remained there for sometime enjoyed the surroundings and at last started our journey back to the top, this was one of the toughfest part as getting down may be easy but coming back is always tough.

Terrable experience of Life


I remember many of friends where really unable to climb and where sitting now and then taking some amount of rest, but though I started late to climb back went non-stop by singing “kadam kadam badaye chal ... ”, and finally all of my friends reached the top.

Finally Succesfully reached the Top

And then we headed towards the other end of the Jog Falls and took a view from where exactly the water is coming and it was so force full that we can easily generate power with such high speed of water forcing down.

Jog Falls View from Otherside

Came to know that associated with the waterfall is the nearby Linganamakki dam across the Sharavati river, and the hydro-electric power station that it serves. The power station has been operational since 1949, and is, at 1200 MW capacity, one of the largest hydro-electric stations in India and is a significant source of power for Karnataka. The power station was previously named Krishna Rajendra Hydro-Electric project, after the King of Mysore at the time. The name was later changed to Mahatma Gandhi Hydro-Electric Project. It was served by the Hirebhaskara dam until the 1960s. At this time, a dam across the Sharavati river was built just before the river jumps into the Jog Falls, and this dam has been used for power generation since then.

And finally backed to the hostel around 23:30.

Midnight at Our Hostel Gate