Being in love with God. Filled with passion for God. Having a mystical connect with God. Having communication with God that bypasses organsied relgioun. Where you stop referring to God in the terrifying patriarchal formality – and refer to him in the second person. where you fight with God, personify him – dance for him, sing for him, want to marry him … these are just some of the aspects of the bhakti movement. Bhakti goes beyond mere devotion.

Some of the best poerty – be it bhakti or sufi - is a living testament to this obsession. If you listen to saqia aur pila, for example, you will realise that the poet is not talking about alcohol, but the high from loving god.

For, Meera - Krishna was her true husband – the man she married as a young child. Chaitanya saw himself as Radha and the gopis who performed the Raas Leela with Krishna; Aandal was so in love with Ranganatha that, it is said, that the Lord absorbs her as his bride; Jayadeva, it is said, has Krishna come by to finish his poetry.

In a way, Jayadeva began the bhaktification - if one can call it that – of Hinduis, a good two centuries before the rest of them, north of the Vindhyas. His work took away faith from the hands of the priests and put the individual at the centre of the relation with God.

I grew up listening to Jayadeva’s works in bits and pieces – primarily as Carnatic Music . The ashtapadis – or 8 line verses – are fairly popular in Carnatic music ; but i have never heard the Geeta Govinda in the Hindustani Classical style.

Here is M.S.Subhalakshmi in ragamalika singing the dashavatara that forms the prelude the Geetagovinda

And, here is a different take. the music is better than teh video. Geeta Dutt and Hemant Kumar in Ananda Math – a fabulous rendition of the Dashavatar .

if you know of others drop me a line.

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Shiva . Mahadeva. Shankara. The greatest of all Gods. The God who is beyond Space and Time. The God other Gods worship and venerate. Those who dont’ understand call him the Destroyer. But, he isn’t. He ends the Universe at the end of time so that life can start again. While he may not be the Creator of the Universe, he is most likely the Divine Father, who along with the Divine Mother, Shakti, creates the God/s who create and nurture the Universe. Atleast, that is what the Shiva Mahapurana tells you.

When I visited Indonesia recently, one of the places i visited was the Prambanan Temple.

temple complex blues2

i was aware that the Ramayan was very popular in Java. But, i did not expect to discover a full fledged Shaivite Temple complex in Indonesia.

But, it shouldn’t have surprised me – the  Cholas- great Shiva worshippers and a seafaring empire – had come as far as Sumatra – and it is not suprising that they left their cultural footprints in this beautiful place. The Prambanan temple complex reminds me a lot of the temples at Mahaballipuram – which are from the Pallava Era.

temple complex speia

The Javanese word for temple is Candi – and Candi Parambanan – or th Parambanan temple (pronounce bramanan temple) is one of the two major temple complexes you will find in Yogyakarta – the other being Borabadur – which is Buddhist temple complex.

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The temple is also called the Ramayan temple, because of the number of scenes from the epic that are carved in stone – on the outer walls.

carvings Shiva temple 4

divine ones reliefs

The Shiva Temple is at the centre and flanked on either side by the Vishnu and the Brahma temples. There are temples to the vahana or divine vehicles as well . the Nandi Temple is the first temple that you see when you enter the complex.

nandi temple 1

The Nandi Temple – is just ahead of the Shiva temple – as is customary. The structure is imposing – to say the least. The Shiva temple is supposed to have two smaller chambers – one devoted to Ganesha – his son; and the other to the great Rishi Agastya . I say supposed to, becasue the temple was cordoned off.

Shiva temple

The temples to the Trinity were damaged during the earthquake of 2006. They are currently being restored, stone by stone. ANd, it is a painstaking effort

little human - big temple

I am going back to Yogyakarta (i really love that name ) and to visit Prambanan Temple . The next time, hopefully, it won’t be part of a larger shoot and i will have time to absorb the majesty of that place.

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This morning a bunch of Priests visited our house. Two of them seemed to be grihasta’s (householders), and one seemed to be a Sanyasi – he was wearing the saffron of renunciation. They said the shloka’s, blessed the family and left. They didn’t ask for dakshina, but we gave. This is a yearly routine.

Saffron connotes renounciation. The real sadhu’s and sanyasi’s – people who have renounce the world to focus on the atma (soul) and the paramatma (the translation would be God but it is an inadequate translation).

The Sanyasi
Sanyasi in Kathmandu – Pashupatinath Temple

There is a general respect towards people who wear saffron. It is assumed that they are Sadhu’s or Sadhvi’s (good people). But, in a land where religion is so much a part of everyday life, it is easy to fool people with saffron vestments. However, the act of wearing saffron means that you have renounced everything including family attachments, formal religion, including hate, including anger, including involvement in day to affairs of people ….. you belong to all, none belong to you, You have in effect renounced samsara…..

The Sadhu
Sanyasi – Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu

In most temple towns you see lots of people wearing saffron robes, not all of them are genuine. Most genuine Sanyasi’s and Sadhu’s will ask for nothing. Will not bother you. If you wish to offer food or shelter it is your prerogative. A Sanyasi and a Rishi are two different things. A Rishi is a learned person, not necessarily a Sanyasi. (s)He can just as well be a householder. A Sanyasi is not necessarily a learned person.

Both men and women can take renunciation. It is recommended that you renounce the world only after you have fulfilled all your duties and responsibilities. It is not meant to be a method of running away.

the smiling sadhvi
The Smiling Sadhvi – at Pashupatinath, Kathmandu

Sadhu’s and Sadhvi’s (sanyasi’s and Sanyansin’s ) are supposed to be calm, and even tempered. They are supposed to be at peace with themselves and the universe.

Mendicant outside the Kizhaperumpallam temple
Sadhu outside the Kizhaperumpallam temple, Tamil Nadu

And maybe that is why the involvement of sadhu’s and sadhvi’s in planting bombs causes me so much anguish…. They are desecrating the religion and the Gods by their actions….

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This from the DNA:

An enterprising NRI doctor from East Godavari district has come up with a novel idea of an all purpose and inclusive housing colony for members of the Brahmin community near Hyderabad.

Resurrecting the traditional and conservationist ambience of the Agraharam from the Brahmin predominant East Godavari district, the colony will be spread over 1,200 acres on the city’s outskirts.

Branded Dhanwatari Agraharam, the proposed site is located 90km from Hyderabad on the Nagpur highway. All its 1,000 members are, well, Brahmins bound by the sale agreement with the promoters.

This includes observing the appropriate rituals and cultural ethos while they live in the independent homes being built for them. Smoking, consumption of alcohol and meat are forbidden in the colony.

The members should also not rear cats and dogs as these animals, true to their nature, hunt for flesh around the colonies.

Apart from sounding like a singularly boring place, it is possibly also one where most of the Hindu Pantheon will not gain acceptance, as many of them have vahans (vehicles) that are not only animals but also meat eating animals…….. the irony of it…..

I wonder whether, like in olden times, those who claim to be Brahmins will go from house to house and beseech – “Bhavati, Biksham Dehi ” – those who controlled knowledge (the Brahmins) were supposed to beg for their daily meal, so that the ugly world of commerce did not interfere with their “tapas” (endeavors).

There are whole localities in Mumbai that are ghettoized – there are zones that are exclusively Gujarati Hindu and vegetarian. Friends of mine in Bangur Nagar have to go and ask surreptitiously ask the grocer for Ram Phal — at which point of time he stealthily packs up eggs for them….. there are societies that are exclusively Muslim, go to Orlem and you will find it exclusively Goan Catholic … and so on…..ghettoizing always struck me as stupid – given our propensity for violence against a community or a set of ‘different people’… and it still strikes me that way……

Of course people have the right to choice, and to live the way that they want…. but i would assume that at a very basic level it is governed by the law of the land…..and this case,  more than others, where the exclusion is not explicit but implicit ( they will simply not sell you property) — seems to be very, very, on the borderline in terms of legality….

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This from CNN IBN

Britain’s first state-funded Hindu school has come up with a unique definition of ‘practising Hindus’ as part of its admissions policy — those who pray daily, do voluntary work at temples, follow a vegetarian diet and abstain from intoxication.

My brothers and I would manage 25%. My mother , would get 75% , my dad would have been disqualified a long time ago.

I really wonder why the British taxpayer is paying for such a narrow definition of a religious school. In fact, why are they paying for religious education ?

Most Hindus, btw are non vegetarians. The vegetarian stricture primarily applies to the upper caste Hindu (read Brahmin) – and even those traditionally ate meat. I can pull out enough examples from Agastya to Vishwamitra … who were Brahmins & meat eaters….The school doesn’t seem ‘Hindu’ as much as some Gujarati Vaishnavite ISKON version of Hindu….. Trust an organisation like ISKON to take an exciting ‘God’ with an interesting personality and a colourful life — and convert him into something boring and judgmental.

Poor Kids…. they are never going to make good Hindus, and that is such a terrible thing to teach children … that you are failed ‘Hindus’

btw. The Bhagvad Purana is fairly clear that Krishna not only ate meat, but also drank Soma, Hunted, Loved, Married multiple times and was not averse to appreciating the female form…. I guess if he was born today he wouldn’t get admission in the school….:)

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Mumbai gets geared to welcome its favorite deity. Over the decades it has moved from being a Maharashtrian festival to something lots of others follow. This Ganpati is made almost in the style of Srinivasa of Tirupati – check out the tilak on the forehead, and the adornment at the back. This time last year, I took possession of the Lonavala house. This time two years ago, I was in hospital being operated for a gallstone. And the year before that SR, SK and I were running helter skelter trying to put on air our first show as a production house.

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January Second, at about 5 a.m. on a cold desert’s winter morning, we drove down from Jaipur to Pushkar. It was my unlce’s 7th death anniversary, and my aunt wanted to offer prayers for his soul. The predominant colours along the journey were earths, a smattering of green and blues. Very few other colours in sight. bleak-earth-and-blue-skies1.jpg The colours were stark, yet hypnotizingly beautiful. Everything in Pushkar – from the ‘holy’ cow to the sadhu (mendicant), the pujari’s (priests) to the camels, from the street singers to the lanurs – everyone and everything seems to be geared towards the pilgrim tourist. one-man-and-his-calf.jpg one man and his calf – a sadhu begging for alms on the streets of Pushkar – oops , trading blessings for cash. pushkar-the-holy-cow.jpg The holy cow on the steps of the temple – looking beatifically at the pilgrims who side step her to walk in. food-seller1.jpg some great street food in Pushkar. Hot fried stuff on a cold winter’s morning- just what the doctor didn’t order ! Our guide told us that since this was a holy town, there could be no petrol pump here and people had to drive down to Ajmer to fill petrol. And Ajmer is not too far away. the-car-park.jpg The car park where cycles, sumos, buses and camels jostle together for space. Pushkar is a visual treat – and if you are spiritual it is a great place to go to find solace. Even those who get after you in other temple towns, tend to leave you alone to your thoughts. I think that i would like to go back one day to Pushkar the-ghats.jpg Pushkar Lake -where the bereaved, the penitent and the faithful ask for mukti (or liberation) from the cycle of birth and death.

The pious Pushkar Lake, believed to have been created by the falling of lotus from the hand of Lord Brahma. It is considered to be as old as the creation. The lake is considered as one of the most sacred spots, and believed that one dip in the waters of lake on Kartika Poornima is equivalent to performing yagnas for several hundred years.

The Worshipper A person meditating by the banks of the Pushkar Lake. devotees.jpg Devotees at the Brahma temple, Pushkar While Rajasthan tourism claims that this is the only Brahma temple in the world, I have been to another in the southern temple town of Kumbakonnam. But the fact does remain that Brahma – the creator – is not really worshipped in the country. Pushkar Ghats With a final look at the ghats, we drove off back to Jaipur to catch the Heritage on Wheels train journey. Luxury at its best.

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