Vamana Avatara

Vamana Avatara
This sculpture depicts the theme of Vamanavatara or the Dwarf incarnation of Vishnu, a famous Brahmanical deity and the sustainer of the universe. The image has been identified on the basis of the physical features of the sculpture.
The suppression of evil and promotion of good have always been not only the purpose of the incarnations in Hindu religion, but also a part of the core of Indian philosophy. The concept and purpose of many incarnations have very lucidly been expressed in the Gita, "Whenever piety declines and sin prevails, I then take unto myself a form. To succour the pious to suppress evil-doers and to establish righteousness, I incarnate myself from age to age."
Though there are different number of lists pertaining to the incarnations of Vishnu, ten is the most commonly accepted number of the incarnations. The ten incarnations are named as Fish (Matsya), the Tortoise (Kurma), the Boar (Varaha), the Man-lion (Narasimha), the Dwarf (Vamana), (Parashu) Rama, (Dasharathi) Rama, (Bala) Rama, Buddha and Kalki. The Gita-Govinda, a famous work of Jaydeva (circa 1170 A.D.) also mentions the ten incarnations.
In this incarnation, Vishnu was born as a dwarf (Vamana) to chastise the demon Bali, the great grandson of Hiranyakashipu, who had become troublesome. It is also said that there was a contest between gods and asuras for a place of sacrifice, in which the asuras agreed to concede as much land as was equal to the size of the dwarf. Vishnu, the dwarf, was made to lie down; but he grew so large as to encompass the whole earth and sky which therefore, passed to the gods. Vishnu as Vaman then pushed down Bali with two of his feet to the nether regions with the remaining one.
The Dwarf Incarnation of Vishnu has been represented in different mediums and in many postures. The present one is very interesting, scarcely found either in sculpture or in painting. He is pot-bellied, standing on a pedestal and brandishing both of his hands as a winner, because he has defeated the demon Bali. The story of the Dwarf Incarnation is found in the majority of the Puranas.

The Seed

The Seed

A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business. Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together. He said, "It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you. "The young executives were Shocked, but the boss continued. "I am going to give each one of you a SEED today - one very special SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO." One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew.. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure. Six months went by -- still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, however... He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - He so wanted the seed to grow. A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful -- in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him! When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives. Jim just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown," said the CEO. "Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!" All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, "The CEO knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!" When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed - Jim told him the story. The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, "Behold your next Chief Executive Officer! His name is Jim!" Jim couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow his seed. "How could he be the new CEO?" the others said. Then the CEO said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed.. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead - it was not possible for them to grow. All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!" * If you plant honesty, you will reap trust * If you plant goodness, you will reap friends * If you plant humility, you will reap greatness * If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment * If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective * If you plant hard work, you will reap success * If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation * If you plant faith in God , you will reap a harvest So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.. "Whatever You Give To Life, Life Gives You Back"

Why Go The Temple

WHY GO TO THE TEMPLE?
If you're spiritually alive, you're going to love this! If you're spiritually dead, you won't want to read it. If you're spiritually curious, there is still hope! Why Go To The Temple ?
A 'devotee' goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to the Temple . 'I've gone for 30 years now, he wrote, and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 mantras. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the Gurus are wasting theirs by giving services at all. This started a real controversy in the 'Letters to the Editor' column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher: I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this... They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to the Temple for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today! When you are DOWN to nothing.... God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible! Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment! 'When Satan is knocking at your door, simply say, 'God , could you get that for me?!!'

Panguni Uthiram

Panguni Uthiram

Panguni Uthiram festival falls in the month 'Panguni' (March-April). This month is special because of the star 'Uthiram' and 'Pournami' occurring together. Besides, it is on "Panguni Pournami Uthiram" that the marriage of Parvati and Parameshwara, Muruga and Devasena, and Andal (also known as 'Kothai') and Rangamannar (also splet as Rangamannar) took place.
Also, Valmiki's Ramayan (also spelt as Ramayana) says it is on this day and star that Sita's marriage with Rama was celebrated. From Brahmanda Purana one learns that on Panguni Uthiram every holy water joins Thumburu Teertha (also spelt as Tirtha), one of seven sacred tanks in Tirupati Tirumala.
Its ImportanceThe ancients chose Uthiram to convey to humans that it is for underlining the glory of Grahasta Dharma (married life) that the Almighty manifests in the marital state as Uma Maheshwara, Sita Rama, and Radha Krishna - despite his changelessness, sans childhood or youth or old age. The Lord is indeed a "Nitya Kalyana Murti". It is our duty to celebrate this day when the Lord, in both Shiva and Vishnu temples, appears to devotees in his married state.
On Panguni Uthiram, in all places where Lord Subramanya has a temple, his devotees carry in a Kavadi the requisites of puja for him, in fulfilment of vows. Such vow fulfilment by devotees carrying Kavadis is a special feature of Subrahmanya temples wherever they happen to be.

Ramayana

आपदां अपहर्तारं दाताराम सर्वसम्पदाम.ह .लोकाभिरामं श्रीरामं भूयो भूयो नामाम्यहम.ह ..
aapadaam apahartaaram daataaram sarvasaMpadaam.h .lokaabhiraamam shriiraamam bhuuyo bhuuyo namaamyaham.h ..
" I bow again and again to Sree Rama who removes (all) obstacles and grants all wealth and pleases all. "
This is a salutation offered at the start of reading any scripture as per tradition. This prayer is for removing all obstacles encountered. The prefix Sri to Rama indicates that Rama is always accompanied by Sri, His consort Seetha in the form of goddess Sri Maha Lakshmi.

Ramayana is one of the great epics of India. This story of Sri Rama by the great sage Valmiki is referred to as the Adi Kavya. Other famous versions of Ramayana include Shri Ram Charit Manas in avadhii by Goswami Tulasidas and Kambar’s Kambaraamayanam in Tamil.
The Ramayana has been a perennial source of spiritual, cultural and artistic inspiration, not only to the people of India but also to the people all over the world. It has helped to mould the Hindu character and has inspired millions of people with the deepest of love and devotion.
"Rama, the ancient idol of the heroic ages, the embodiment of truth, of morality, the ideal son, the ideal husband, and above all, the ideal king, this Rama has been presented before us by the great sage Valmiki. No language can be purer, none chaster, none more beautiful, and at the same time simpler, than the language in which the great poet has depicted the life of Rama."
-- Swami Vivekananda

Attitude Of Surrender

Attitude of surrender
By Sri. N.Veezinathan

Courtesy The Hindu

A step-by-step approach to spiritual growth is advocated by the scriptures so that a seeker of liberation will be able to progress towards this goal without difficulty. This is also necessary to accommodate different levels of aspirants because Vedanta is inclusive as it posits that liberation is the birthright of every human being. After elaborating meditation on the Absolute Reality, meditation on God with form, and worship of His image form, Lord Krishna comes down to the level of those who find these practices difficult by teaching how performance of devotional practices will help evolve further.
if it was not possible even to engage in devotional acts, the Lord had advised to surrender the fruit of all the actions one performed to God after subduing the mind and intellect. This is the first step for all spiritual seekers and at first sight it will be perplexing to see Krishna hailing relinquishing the fruit of actions as superior to the other practices. The reason for this becomes apparent in the following verse in which He gives the rationale of His statement: “Knowledge is better than practice (without discernment), meditation on God is superior to knowledge, and renunciation of the fruit of actions is even superior to meditation for peace immediately follows from renunciation.” The object of spiritual life is not only liberation from rebirth but also attainment of mental tranquillity here and now, and hence dedicating the fruit of one’s actions to God pulverises the ego and also negates the accumulation of fresh Karma, which is the cause of rebirth.
Another reason why performance of action and relinquishing its fruit to God come in for approbation in the Gita is due to the human tendency to take the easy way out when given a choice. Laypeople will then give up action resulting in a systemic breakdown of values and instituions in society. While everyone has to work towards the spiritual goal it is possible to progress only from the level of one’s evolution. This is why Krishna Himself has acknowledged, “In the very last of all births the enlightened soul worships Me realising that all this is God. Such a great soul is rare

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Sri Rama Navami

Rama Navami
"Raama Raama Raameti Rame Raame Manorame.Sahasranaama Tattulyam Raamanaama Varaanane."

The festival of Ram Navami is the celebration of birthday of the Hindu God, Shri Ram. Shri Ram was the seventh incarnation (Avatar) of Lord Vishnu and born in Ayodha, an ancient Indian city. Rama Navami is celebrated on the ninth day of Hindu month of Chaitra (April). Ram Navami marks the end of nine day long festival called Chaitra Navratri or Vasanta Navratri. On this auspicious day devotees observes fasting, visits temples to offer special prayers, takes religious processions and the special readings of Ramayana are also hold. Lord Rama is revered by Hindus all over as the embodiment of truth, of morality, the ideal son, the ideal husband and above all, the ideal king. On the day of Rama Navami the birth of Rama is remembered for his prosperous and righteous reign.His Divine LifeRama, the perfect avatar of the Supreme Protector Vishnu, is an all-time favorite among Hindu deities. The most popular symbol of chivalry and virtue, Rama the embodiment of truth, of morality, the ideal son, the ideal husband and above all, the ideal king. The heroic deeds of Rama and his exciting adventures have inspired generations of people. Importance Of Fasting On Ram NavamiA Ram devotee keep a strict fast on Ram Navami, because the Ram Navami vrata is considered to be one of the five most important vratas in the ancient times. According to the ancient religious texts, it is imperative for every devotee to observe the Ram Navami vrat, as it is the only easy mean of gaining happiness in the material world and achieving salvation at the same time. Celebrations It is said that Rama fulfills the wishes of all those who pray to him on this day. On this day, temples are decorated and the image of Lord Ram is richly adorned. The holy Ramayana is read in the temples. At Ayodhya, the birthplace of Sri Rama, a big fair is held on this day. In South India the Sri Ramnavami Utsavam is celebrated for nine days with great fervour and devotion. Traditional worship begins with chanting Vedic mantras dedicated to Vishnu, and offering flowers and fruit to the god. Satsangs and public gatherings are organized to commemorate the birth of Lord Ram. Excerpts from the "Ramacharitamanas", praising Lord Ram, are recited. Lord Ram's devotees, fast for nine days with fruit and milk, whilst some fast on the ninth day only.