There is a theory that
there was a race of humans in Southern India called Dravidians,
entirely differing from another race in Northern India called the Aryan, and
that the Southern India Brahmins are the only Aryans that came from the North,
the other men of Southern India belong to an entirely different caste and race
to those of Southern Brahmins. Now I beg your pardon, Mr. Philologist, this is
entirely unfounded. The only proof of it is that there is a difference of
language between the North and the South. I do not see any other difference. We
are so many Northern men here, and I ask my European friends to pick out the
Northern and Southern men from this assembly. Where is the difference? A little
difference of language. But the Brahmins are a race that came here speaking the
Sanskrit language! Well then, they took up the Dravidian language and
forgot their Sanskrit. Why should not the other castes have done the same? Why
should not all the other castes have come one after the other from Northern
India, taken up the Dravidian language, and so forgotten their own? That is an
argument working both ways. Do not believe in such silly things. There may have
been a Dravidian people who vanished from here, and the few who remained lived
in forests and other places. It is quite possible that the languages may have
been taken up, but all these are Aryans who came from the North. The whole of
the India is Aryan, nothing else.
Then there is the idea
that the Shudra castes are surely the aborigines. What are they? There are
slaves. They say history repeats itself. The Americans, English, Dutch and the
Portuguese got hold of the poor Africans and made them work hard while they
lived, and their children of mixed birth were born in slavery and kept in that
condition for a long period. From that wonderful example, the mind jumps back
several thousand years and fancies that the same thing happened here, and our
archaeologist dreams of India being full of dark eyed aborigines, and the
bright Aryan came from the Lord knows where. According to some, they came from
Central Tibet, others will have it that they came from Central Asia. There are
patriotic Englishmen who think that the Aryans were all red-haired. Others,
according to their idea, think that they were all black-haired. If the writer
happens to be a black-haired man, the Aryans were all black-haired. Of late,
there was an attempt made to prove that the Aryan lived on the Swiss lakes. I
should not be sorry if they had been all drowned there, theory and all.
Some say now that they
lived at the North Pole. Lord bless the Aryans and their habitations! As for
the truth of these theories, there is not one world in our scriptures, not one,
to prove that the Aryan ever came from anywhere outside of India, and in
ancient India was included Afghanistan. There it ends. And the theory that the
Shudra castes were all non-Aryan and they were a multitude, is equally
illogical and equally irrational. It could not have been possible in those days
that a few Aryans settled and lived there with a hundred thousand slaves at
their command. These slaves would have eaten them up, made “Chutney” of them in
five minutes. The only explanation is to be found in the Mahabharata, which
says that in the beginning of the Satya Yuga there was one caste, the Brahmins,
and then by difference of occupations they went on dividing themselves into
different castes, and that is the only true and rational explanation that has
been given. And in the coming Satya Yuga all the other castes will have to go
back to the same condition.
*In India and other places a giant old man made of hay, etc
and dressed in old shirt and pant is burnt at the stroke of midnight, signifying
the end of the old year and the beginning of the New Year.
*In Bolivia, Venezuela, men wear new underpants on New Year’s eve – red
underpants for love and yellow for money.
*Spaniards eat 12 grapes at midnight; each grape symbolizing one month of year.
*The Filipinos wear polka dots and arrange round fruits on the dinner table.
Polka and all things round signify coins, hence prosperity.
*In Scotland, the townsmen walk around with giant fireballs hoisted on long
poles (resembling the sun) to purify the coming year.
* The Danes break glass dishes on the doors of neighbours and friends.
*Estonians eat seven times on the first day of the year to ensure abundant food
throughout the year.
*Unmarried Irish girls place mistletoe leaves under the pillow to catch a good
husband.
The
temple has a history of over 800 years. Bappanadu simply means 'Bappa's village'. It is believed that, Bappa Beary, a Muslim merchant was responsible
for the construction of Goddess Durga Parameshwari temple here. Since then the
place is known as 'Bappanadu' and the first honorary prasadam of the annual rath festival is offered to the successors of Bappa Beary family every year.
SriDurgaParameshwariTemple at Bappanadu is
one of the important seats of Shakti worship in Dakshina Kannada district. Here
the main deity is in the form of Linga (symbolic statue). BappanaduDurgaParameshwari temple has been regarded
as a symbol of communal harmony as devotees from all faiths visit to offer prayers here.
Bappanadu's Dolu (musical drum) is well known and a large drum can be found in
the temple premises. During annual rath yatra festival, the members of the community are allowed to
participate in beating of the drums which is done with great enthusiasm and
devotion. This festival comes in the day of Meena Masa Shuddha Chathurdhashi and
celebrated for eight days with an unique feature on each day.
Location: This temple is situated on the banks of river Shambhavi at Bappanadu village inMulki town. The main
deity of this temple is Goddess Shree Durga Parameshwari. As per the legend Bappa a Muslim merchant had built the temple. Annual festival (Brahma Rathotsava) of the temple
falls in the month of April. It is located close to the highway on the way to Udupi.
Mythology: As per the folklore, there was a demon called Darigasura ruling Shonitapura. He had an enmity with
Devatas and Lord Vishnu. Antagonised and with the intention of defeating the
Devatas and Lord Vishnu, he worshipped Lord Brahma and received a boon. And with the help of
this boon he defeated Devatas and Lord Vishnu, and snatched the weapons from
Lord Vishnu and handed over it to his wife, and told her to keep it safely in their place of worship. While Lord Vishnu was mourning the loss and for his lost weapons, Goddess
Durgaparameshwari appeared before him in the form of seven women, Sapta-Durgas and promised to kill the demon. These
Sapta-Durgas went to Shonitapura accompanied by a deity called Guliga.
Bhagavathi one of the Sapta-Durgas appeared before demon Darigasura while he
was on the way to take a bath in the river; in a disguised form of a poor old woman, and begged for a meal. Darigasura suggested her to go to the palace and ask for a meal from his wife. And also told her to inform him, if she isn't given a meal there.
Accordingly Goddess Bhagavathi visits the palace of Darigasura
and meets his wife, but instead asks for the weapons of Lord Vishnu to be returned. The wife of Darigasura refuses to return the weapon as her husband had instructed her to keep in safe custody. However as told, Bhagavathi informs Darigasura about her refusal, but doesn't mention about the weapons and, that his wife is not willing to give her a meal.
Hearing this Darigasura instructs his wife to give Bhagavathi whatever she wished. Darigasura's
wife gives her the weapons of Lord Vishnu without further enquiry. Later realizing that he was deceived by Goddess Bhagavathi, Darigasura gets furious and decides to challenge the Sapta-Durgas and attacks them. He defeats deity Guliga
in a fight. But after seven days of furious fighting Darigasura is defeated by
Sapta-Durgas and ultimately he flees and seeks refuge in the underworld.
Goddess
Bhagavathi taking the form of Bhadra-Kali begins to search for him. As Darigasura arrives to perform pooja to Lord Shiva in the late evening, Bhadra-Kali
finds him and slays him. Bhagavathi then accompanied by her other sister
goddesses and deity Guliga, visit Lord Vishnu and request for a boat made of sandalwood for a journey from Vaikunta (heaven) to Bhooloka (earth) with
an intention of settling down in Bhooloka for betterment of earthly
people.
Lord Vishnu permits them to take a sandalwood tree from Vaikunta for preparing a boat. Accordingly
they make a boat and commence their journey. The boat reaches Bhooloka and crosses Kasaragod, Kumble, Uppala, Pattattur, Manjeshwara, Udyavara, Ullala and Kudroli in the coastal region, close to present day Mangaluru in Karnataka.
From there they arrive at Sasihithlu near Mulki town. Here, Bhagavathi accepts a tender
coconut from a devotee, and wishes to settle there. Goddess
Durgaparameshwari emerged symbolically in confluence of two rivers, Shambhavi and Nandini at Mulki border.
In due course, a Muslim merchant, Bappa Beary while sailing through Shambhavi river with an intention of trading in remote places; his
boat suddenly stops in the middle of the river. While examining the cause of stoppage, he
finds blood floating on the surface of the river and he fears for the worst. He is worried and suddenly he hears a divine voice ordering him to construct a temple with
the help of Mulki Sawantha (king) and to conduct regular pooja with the help of Baila Udupa
( local priest). Mulki Sawantha was a Jain and a good ruler.
Hearing about the incident and the divine command, from Bappa Beary, the king agrees and builds a temple with the
contribution of many other donors and makes Baila Udupa as the chief priest of the
temple. Hence the temple came to be known as Bappanadu Kshetra.
The temple has the features of 14th century architectural style in the main sanctum, pedestal etc. In 1333-35 AD, an African traveller Vilban Batoota who visited India
wrote that some of the Muslims in the region (Mangalore and Mallika town) were
following Hindu traditions. But the region he mentioned cannot be confirmed
with Mulki, as there is a vast difference in geographical features described by him.
As believed by
the locals, Bappa a Muslim merchant had played an important role in the
construction of the temple. But no evidence confirming the role of the Bappa Beary in the construction of the temple is documented or available. Whether Bappa was a Muslim or he was a Bapa Pai (a Saraswath Brahmin) or he was a follower of Jain faith is still a subject of research. The name Bappa also appears in one copper plate inscription (1607
AD) available in Kotageri Jain Basadi in which it is said " Moose Kavi
son-in-law offered Varaha 113 on this Kunhappagu to Bappa ".
However, we can
assume that Muslims have a major role in this temple activity as it is
mentioned in one recently found inscription of Hanjaman (Association of Muslim
merchants). Also there are two inscriptions on either side of the temple.
Though one is completely damaged, another inscription is pertaining to the era
of 1411 AD and is belongs to Tedi. While verifying the words mentioned in
this inscription, we can strongly presume that in the history of temple many non-Brahmins also participated in the activity of the temple.
Bappanadu Dolu (Drum):
Beating of the drums during annual festival of the temple is an important part of the celebration. Bappanadu Dolu is well known all over
Karnataka. One can't compare these drums with other drums of temples elsewhere in
Karnataka. Beating of the drums when local rulers and landlords are visiting the
temple during festivals is an age-old tradition. During annual festival a
certain group of people of the community are given the task to participate in beating of the drums. This is considered as a service to the deity and the persons play the drum with great enthusiasm and devotion.
Temple authorities pay a certain amount of honorarium to these drum beaters. It's a beautiful sight, of this drum beating being performed by the beaters accompanied by their family members and
community. As a symbol of the of the drums,
temple authorities have made a big size drum and hanged it near the main entrance.
Annual Festival occasions:
1. Dwajarohana (Holy Flag
hoisting) - on the day of Meena Masa Shuddha Chathurdhashi.
2. Bali
Utsava & Ayana Deepotsava - Second day
3. Pete Sawari - Third
day
4. Koppala Sawari - Fourth
day
5. Bakimaru Deepotsava -
Fifth day
6. Kere Deepotsava - Sixth
day
7. Morning Car Festival,
Night Chandra Mandala, Shayanotsava - Seventh day
8. Kawata Inauguration,
Night rather festival - Eight day
How to reach temple:
From Mangalore there are plenty of buses and taxis available for Mulki and Udupi. The distance between Mangalore to Bappanadu is about 29 km. Since the temple is situated near the Udupi
Mangalore Highway, it is very convenient for devotees and tourists to reach the temple by taking the buses or taxis and getting down at Mulki or Bappanadu. Also read:
Do you know about the new year celebration or how it came to be celebrated? I am sure most of the people around the world are not aware about it. The first recorded New Year's
celebration dates back 4,000 years to Babylon, when the first moon after the
spring equinox marked a new year. In 46 BC, Julius Caesar created a calendar
with Jan 1 as the first day of the year, partly to honour Janus, the month's
namesake. Since then 1 January is celebrated as the new year day.
If
you feel that Aneela Nike Post is making a difference to your life, do take a
minute to consider a comment or contribution. We would also value your
suggestions as how to make ourselves more relevant to you. Please write to akn929@yahoo.com to give
your valuable feedback.
Pre-monsoon lashes Mangalore and Udupi through Tuesday, 29 May and left large areas marooned. Nine hours of rain from 9 am brought the city to its knees. Mangaloreans said, they haven't seen such heavy downpour and gusty winds throwing off everything on it's path. This is the first times they have witnessed such massive flooding.
Another tragedy though of a different kind reminded us of another major tragedy that happened on 22 May 2010. The Air India Express 812 crash at Mangalore airport, which overshot the runaway, while landing, killing 158 people on board. People who lost their loved ones are still in grief after seeing the aircraft land and perish right in front of their eyes.
A couple of days ago towards end of May, Mangalore witnessed
a catastrophe, very wet and strong windy day bringing the city and surrounding
areas to a standstill. Mangalore was hit by pre-monsoon downpour for nine hours
with over 270mm of rainfall perhaps highest recorded in the past few decades in a single day.
Mangalore and Udupi faced the brunt of the
cyclone, with unprecedented flooding and damage to life and property. Luckily there
was no major loss of lives barring three deaths, due to drowning in the swollen
waters or due the falling of walls and roofs. Innocent lives were lost in the
rains.
This tragedy though of a different kind reminded us of another
major tragedy that happened on 22 May 2010. The Air India Express 812 crash at
Mangalore airport, which overshot the runaway, while landing, killing 158
people on board. The aircraft was a 3 year old 737-800 (VT-AXV).
As per the findings, Air India 737-800 was on its way from
Dubai to Mangalore. On board were 160 passengers alongwith 6 crew members. Captaining
this flight was Capt Zlatko Glusica with over 10,000 hours of flying
experience. With him was the First Officer Harbinder Singh Aluwalia from
Mumbai.
The flight decended and was given Vectoes for ILS24
approach. As they decended, the weather at Mangalore deterioted, reduced visibility.
The Captain had been sleeping during the decent. The First Officer woke him up
for the approach and landing. The aircraft was flying above the normal path,
about 2,000 feet high. The Captain ignoring the First Officier’s request to
abort landing, prepared to land. The Captain put the aircraft into a nose dive,
putting all on board in grave danger. They were decending too fast while the
First Officier insisted the Captain to go around, but again ignored him. They
were decending too fast towards the runaway. The touchdown was so hard, that
the gears burst as they landed. There was no way to stop the plane. And it
plunged downhill and burst into flames killing 158 people.
Very few people are aware about this fact.
The Bible was Sir Isaac Newton’s greatest passion – he wrote more about
religion than about science and mathematics! Indeed, Newton calculated the date
of crucifixion of Jesus Christ as April 3, AD33 and the earliest date of
Apocalypse as 2060 AD. Newton’s prediction that the Jews would return to Israel
came true. Newton was obsessed with trying to find hidden meanings in the
Bible. He learnt Hebrew, spent half his life, and devoted much more time to
this pursuit than to science.
The world now holds more than 2,200 billionaires with a combined fortune of $9.1 trillion, up 18 per cent from a year ago, according to Forbes. And Bezos’ success story along with Amazon is astonishing and record-breaking.....
Top rich list makes an interesting reading this year. A
surprise new entry, Jeff Bezos’ wealth surpasses 100 billion to top the rich
list. A 59 per cent spike in Amazon stock helped its founder overtake Bill
Gates, Warren Buffet in the Forbes ranking worldwide. His rise is all the more surprising. Jeff Bezos and the Rise of Amazon.com is a book by Richard L Brandt. It describes the history of Jeff Bezos and the founding of Amazon.com journey from the beginning. Amazon's business model is simple. Making online shopping so easy and convenient that customers won't think twice.
Mukesh Ambani
In India, Mukesh Ambani keeps his standing as the richest
Indian in 2018, with assets of $40.1 billion. He moved up to 19th
global rank up from 33rd ($23.2 billion) last year. India now has
121 billionaires – 19 more than last year, making them the third largest group
of the ultra-rich after those from the US and China. Software entrepreneur Azim
Premji moved to the second spot in 2018, passing Lakshmi Mittal, the
international steel tycoon. Premji moved up from the 72nd global
spot in 2017 with $14.9 billion, to the 58th rank with $18.8 billion
this year.
US President Donald Trump’s fortune sank during his first
year in office despite surging stock market. Bezos’ success story revealed in
the recent release of Forbes’ closely watched list, underscore the growing
clout of both Bezos and the company that he founded in 1994 as an online
bookstore.
The world now holds more than 2,200 billionaires with a
combined fortune of $9.1 trillion, up 18 per cent from a year ago, according to
Forbes. And Bezos’ success story along with Amazon is astonishing and record-breaking.
Bill Gates
Bezos seized the ranking for the first time and has added
the distinction of becoming the first person to break the $100 billion barrier
since Forbes began compiling its list in 1987. As of February 9, Bezos wealth
stood at $112 billion, up from about $73 billion last year. Most of Bezos’
fortune is tied up in Amazon stock, which soared 59 per cent during the period.
Warren Buffet
Amazon has expanded beyond its book selling origin to become
a retailer of almost everything. It even sells groceries in stores after its
$13.7 billion purchase of whole foods. More recently, it branched into
healthcare in partnership involving Berkshire Hathway and its CEO, Warren
Buffet, whose $84 billion fortune ranks third on the Forbes list.
Bill Gates, Microsoft’s co-founder ranks second on the
Forbes list with wealth of $90 billion. Though Donald Trump is part of the
elite group, he saw his fortune sink by about $400 million to 3.1 billion
during his first year in office. The decline left him as the world’s 766th
richest person, more than 200 places lower than his 544th spot on
the last year’s list.
Both Bill Gates, 62 and Warren Buffet, 87 have committed to
giving away most of their wealth while Bezos, 54 hasn’t said anything about his
philanthropic plans. May come out with it sometime later.
Hornbill Festival:
Hornbill festival is held in Nagaland during December. The festival is packed
with plenty of folk performances and rock shows by local artistes. It's also
dubbed as the Festival of Festivals. It's a ten days event where various tribes
of Nagaland come together to celebrate their colourful and rich culture. If
you're a music lover, then the Hornbill International Rock Contest hosted every
year featuring up-and-coming bands across the country. It also showcases the
rich traditions of Nagaland across various local tribes.
South Kanara and Mangalore are known for the numerous beautiful and ancient temples. And Kateel Durga Parmeshwari temple is one of the popular temples.The holy temple is situated on an islet in the middle of the sacred river Nandini amidst panoramic scenes and fascinating greenery. Devotees and followers from all over the world come to Kateel, near Mangalore every year in huge numbers to participate in Simhamaasa, Navarathri and other holy festivals and special occasions. Several educational institutions are also run through the temple's trust....
ShreeKateelDurgaParameshwariTemple in Kateel
(in Tulu) or Kateelu (in Kannada), is a temple town in Dakshina Kannada or
South Kanara district of Karnataka, close to Mangalore. Kateel
is located 30 km north of Mangalore city. Travelling to Kateel through the winding
roads amidst green hills and valleys is a very pleasant and memorable
experience. Thousands of devotees visit Kateel daily to seek the blessing of deity,
goddess Durga.
This picturesque temple abode of goddess
Durga Parameshwari located on the banks of river Nandini, a place known for its serene nature and beautiful
surroundings. The sacred temple
of Mata Durga Parameshwari
is located in the middle of the river Nandini. This holy place attracts
thousands of devotees from all over Karnataka and outside. During rainy season, the river Nandini flows in full force, flooding at times. The
natural surroundings around the temple in full bloom and greenery are a real
treat to admire during this period. Pilgrims who visit the temple during the
season love the scenic beauty and divine atmosphere in the temple vicinity.
The temple is situated on an islet in the middle of the sacred
river Nandini amidst panoramic scenes and fascinating greenery. Devotees and
followers from all over the world come to Kateel every year in huge numbers to
participate in Simhamaasa, Navarathri and other holy festivals and special occasions.
Several educational institutions are also run through the temple's trust.
The temple's trust also encourages several forms of arts. Notable among them is
the Yakshagana Dashavathara Mela which was started as an offering to the
goddess. During Dussera, Navaratri and other annual celebrations several sacred
rituals like, Chandika havana,
Thula bhaara, Veda parayana, Hari kathas are performed to appease the goddess.
History
When goddess
slew Shumbha and Nishumbha, Arunasura, one of the ministers, had fled from the
battlefield and saved his life. Later he became the leader of the Rakshasas
(demons). He began to haress the sages and disrupt their Yajnas. As a result,
the Devas stopped the rain, which resulted in drought and scarcity of
water and food grains. Moved by the pathetic conditions of the
people Maharishi Jabali, the great sage decided to perform a Yajna to appease
the Devas. He approached Devendra and requested him to send Kamadhenu (a sacred
cow) with him for the ritual. Since Kamadhenu had been to Varuna Loka, Devendra
permitted the sage to take Nandini, the daughter of Kamadhenu in order to
assist him as Homadhenu (symbolic cow for ritual) in his proposed Yajna. Jabali
went to Nandini and put forth his request. In reply Nandini was upset and abused the people there, and refused to accompany him. When the sage found that
Nandini was firm in her refusal, he cursed her to flow as a river on the earth.
As Nandini prayed to Jabali for mercy, kind hearted sage advised her to pray
Adhishakti to free herself from the curse. Accordingly she prayed to Adhishakti.
Pleased by her prayer and meditation, the goddess appeared before Nandini and told her
that she has to flow as a river as the result of the curse, as nobody could
trespass the words (Rishi vakya) of a holy sage. But she added, ‘I shall take
birth as your daughter in due course and purify you from this curse’. Satisfied
by this assurance Nandini emerged as a river from Kanakagiri on the day of
Magha Shuddha Poornima and made the earth fertile with bountiful nature once again.
Meanwhile
Arunasura acquired a boon from Brahma, which made him free from the fear of death
by Trinity, Devas, men or women or by any two-legged or four-legged animals and
creatures. Goddess Saraswati also blessed him with Gayathri Mantra (holy
chants). All these boons made him the most powerful person. He defeated the
Devatas and conquered heaven. Disheartened by the disastrous defeat, the Devatas,
along with Trinity pleaded with Adhishakti to rescue them. The Goddess said that
unless and until Arunasura is prevented from reciting Gayathri Mantra she too
would not be able to destroy him. She suggested them to send Brihaspathi (Guru
of Devatas) to distract Arunasura from his meditation of Gayathri Mantra, and
make him miss the Gayathri recitation so that she would be able to kill him.
Brihaspathi approached Arunasura, flattered him, poisoned his ears and
succeeded in diverting his attention from meditation. Now Arunasura vainly felt that
he was more than God himself. He not only ordered his subjects to worship him
but also troubled the sages and distrupted their Yajnas. As promised to the Devas,
Goddess took the shape of Mohini, a charming woman and began to wander in the garden of Arunasura. Chanda and Prachanda,
ministers of Arunasura saw her and informed the master about her beauty.
Arunasura decided to marry her and approached her. When she turned deaf ears to
his request and teased him for fleeing from the battle-field, afraid of the
lady who killed his masters Shumbha and Nishumbha, he became furious. When he
tried to take her by force, she disappeared inside a rock. Arunasura broke the
rock with his sword. Suddenly, a vast swarm of bees emerged from the rock and
stung him. Devi had taken the form of a big, furious bee that is 'Bhramara' and
stung him repeatedly till his last breath. Now the Devas and the sages led by
Jabali performed ‘Abhishekham’ (holy bath) to Devi with tender coconuts brought
from the Kalpavriksha of Devaloka, and prayed to her to bless the world with
'Soumya Roopa' (tender posture). According to this request Devi emerged in the
form of 'Linga' (symbolic holy rock) in the middle of the river Nandini and is
known as Shree Durga Parameshwari. ‘Kati’ means waist and ‘ila’ means earth. So
Kateel stands for that area of the earth, which is the Kati, or the centre of
the river Nandini. The Nandini is purified by the birth of Adhishakti in her
‘Kati’ and Durga Parameshwari is here for the good of the universe and blesses
those who come to her.
The temple's trust also encourages different forms of performing arts. Notable among them is the Yakshagaana, Dashavathara Mela which was started as an offering to
the goddess. Yakshagaana is a traditional theatre form combining dance, music,
spoken word, dramatic costumes, makeup, and stage technique with a distinct
style and form of mythological story-telling. Both the word Yakshagaana and its
world are both interesting and intriguing. It is a theatre form mainly
prevalent in the coastal districts and adjacent areas, in Karnataka. Yakshagaana
is one of the most lively folk art traditions in the world. There are about five
full fledged troupes in Kateel. They go on tour between November to May,
performing Seva shows as Parake of devotees. Usually the show starts from 9 pm and
goes on till 6 am in the morning. Some of the performers have made a name for themselves and the the Kateel trust with their performances in Karnataka, all over India and even abroad where people from South Kanara are settled.
Annadaana
Annadaana makes Shree
Kshethra a place to go. Every day about 2000
people get hot and tasty traditional Prasada Bhojan which exceeds 4000 on Fridays. During the other
festivals and Navaraathri, on Fridays of Simhamaasa, more than 8000 devotees
get Shree Devi's Bhojan Prasadam. Except on Ekaadashi, on all other days at
noon and at night free meals are served to the devotees after the Mahapooja.
Except on holidays all the students of the institutions (more than 1500) run by
the trust, are provided with free meals since the last 15 years. They have big and spacious hall near the temple where arrangements are made for the sitting and eating the hot meals, served made under under the supervision of the temple authorities, made in huge and clean kitchen with attention focused on the quality and hygiene. Devotees depart with a sense of satisfaction of being blessed by the goddess and having the prasad.
In
the western suburb of Mumbai, on the outskirts, are the Kanheri caves, which
date back to more than 2,000 years. The caves – 140 in total are in good
condition, all carved out of a single black rock, contain many ancient Buddhist
sculptures, carvings, paintings and inscriptions dating from 1st
century BCE to 10 th century CE.
The
Kanheri Caves are a group of rock-cut monuments formed from a massive basalt
rock in the forests of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park on the western outskirts
of Mumbai. They contain Buddhist sculptures and relief carvings, paintings and
inscriptions. Kanheri comes from the Sanskrit name, Krishnagiri, which means, black
mountain. Each cave has a stone plinth that functioned as a bed. A congregation
hall with huge stone pillars contains a stupa (a Buddhist shrine). Rock-cut
channels above the caves fed rainwater into cisterns, which provided the
complex with water. Once the caves were converted to permanent monasteries,
their walls were carved with intricate reliefs of Buddha and the Bodhisattvas.
Kanheri had become an important Buddhist settlement on the Konkan coast by the
3rd century CE. Most of the caves were used as the Buddhist viharas,
meant for living, studying and meditating. The larger caves, functioned as
chaitvas, or halls for congregational worship. The Avalokiteshwara is the most
distinctive figure. Tanishq
Pak
spy accuses his agency of protecting terrorists:
A
Pak intelligence officer has accused his own spy agency of protecting
terrorists and filed a petition in a court requesting for a thorough probe in
the matter. Malik Muktar Ahmed Shahzad, a serving assistant sub-inspector of
the Intelligence Bureau (IB) has accused his senior officers of not taking
action against terrorist suspects. These terrorists used to disguise themselves
as citrus dealers in Kot-Monuin and Bhalwal, Sargodha. The business was a mere
camouflage.
If
you feel that Aneela Nike Post is making a difference to your life, do take a
minute to consider a comment or contribution. We would also value your
suggestions as how to make ourselves more relevant to you. Please write to akn929@yahoo.com to give your
valuable feedback.