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Archive for the tag “legends”

25 Nov 2018

Bommavara-Sundareshwara Temple

“The results of action depends upon the very quality of the action” – Chinmayananda Saraswati

On the occasion of Kartika Purnami we decided to visit a Shiva Temple built by the ghosts. Yes, you heard me right!!!

Sundareshwara Shiva Temple is located just outside Bangalore in a small village called Bommavara. As per the claim of the villagers this temple was built by the ghosts itself in just one night.

This is how the story goes: Some 600 years ago the village of Bommavara was haunted by a lot of ghosts and they were creating havoc in peoples life. Finally a man named Bucchaiah thought of solving the issue and learned mantra and tantra and became a sorcerer. Bucchaiah was also an ardent Shiva devotee so he with the help of the villagers built this temple. The ghosts did not like this so they destroyed the temple. Bucchaiah got furious and then worked hard towards capturing the ghosts using his tantric energy, in which he succeeded. The ghosts then requested Bucchaiah to release them. He agreed to release them on two conditions. 1: that they rebuild the temple, and 2; they leave the village. The captured ghosts then accepted his condition built the temple overnight and left the villagers to their peace. Some years later a Shiva Lingam was found in the near by excavation site which is now the presiding deity of this temple.

Usually temples have carvings of gods\goddessess but this temple has carvings of ghosts and demons on it. The villagers says that is because it was built by them. Maybe that is their definition of beauty 🙂

OM Namah Shivaya …

Posted in Travel and tagged art2peace, bommavara, demons, ghosts, gods, incredibleindia, legends, mandir, Photography, shiva, stories, sundareshwara, temple, travel

14 Nov 2018

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Pashupatinath-Nepal

“There’s always room for a story that can transport people to another place.” – J K Rowling

We went to Nepal on 27th day of the Ashwin month, year 2075. OKAY… I didn’t time travel and visit Nepal in the future but that is what 13-October-2018 converts to, as per Nepali calendar.

So a Nepal trip during Dashain – as it is known in Nepal OR Dushera – as known in India. There is so much to share so I am going to split it into many blogs and hopefully that way I can share all I want to 🙂

A visit to the Pashupatinath Temple takes you to a different era. As you walk towards the temple the surrounding areas are bustling with shops selling items for puja and the many colorful traditional ornaments that married Nepali women wear.

Nepali women wearing Pote – glass bead necklace in red, green or yellow. Only married women wear it and it is believed to bring good luck for them and their family.

So, the existence of Pashupatinath temple dates back to 400 A.D and it was rebuilt in 17th century as the old one was destroyed by termites. The temples lies on the banks of the Bagmati river.

Interesting fact – the 2015 earthquake destroyed many things in Nepal, the temple still stands tall and unharmed. While devotees claim it’s because of the divine powers, some argue its because of the strong architectural base. Take your pick..

Anyways it is one of the oldest Hindu temples and there are many legends surrounding the origin of the temple.

Legend 1

One fine day when Shiva and Parvati were taking a stroll, they came near the banks of Bagmati river and were amazed by its beauty. Both took the form of deer and spend their time here. After a while the gods got worried and decided to bring Shiva back to Kailash to resume his duties. When Shiva refused to do so they had to use force and in the battle Shiva’s lost one of his antlers. Which became the first Lingam that Hindu’s worship here as Pashupatinath. Pashupatinath means Lord of Pashu’s or animals.

Legend 2

In continuation of the previous legend, the dropped antler of Shiva got lost\buried and was found again by a herdsman. The herdsman had a cow which used to visit this place and irrigate the place with its milk. By the time the cow reached home its udders were empty so the herdsman followed it one day and saw the whole event. On digging deeper he found the Shiva Lingam.

Legend 3 – As per Koti Rudra Samhita

The Pandavas defeated and killed their cousins — the Kauravas in the epic Kurukshetra war. To atone for the sins of committing fratricide (gotra hatya) and Brāhmanahatya (killing of Brahmins — the priest class) they went in search of God Shiva to seek his blessings. First, they went to the holy city of Varanasi (Kashi), believed to Shiva’s favourite city. But, Shiva wanted to avoid them as he was deeply incensed by the death and dishonesty at the Kurukshetra war and was, therefore, insensitive to Pandavas’ prayers. Therefore, he assumed the form of a bull (Nandi) and hid in the Garhwal region.

Not finding Shiva in Varanasi, the Pandavas went to Garhwal Himalayas. Bhima, the second of the five Pandava brothers, then standing astride two mountains started to look for Shiva. He saw a bull grazing near Guptakashi (“hidden Kashi” — the name derived from the hiding act of Shiva). After some searching Bhima recognized the bull to be Shiva and tried to catch him. Shiva trying to hide, dived into the ground but Bhima caught the bull by its tails as he was disappearing. Then Pandavas prayed to him over and over again. Following that Shiva is said to appear in parts in the following regions: – The Bulls hump – Kedarnath, The Bulls head – Pashupatinath. The Pandavas then meditated and attained salvation.
The Linga in Pashupatinath has 5 heads: east facing – Tatpurusha; north facing – Ardhanarishwara; west facing – Sadyojata; south facing – Aghora and the upward facing Nirakara.

The mesmerizing evening aarti on the banks of Bagmati river.

Open cremation on the banks of Bagmati river.

Sadhu‘s near the temple

By the time we came out it was late in the evening. On our way out we saw a marquee where a Sadhguru was telling the tales of Goddess Durga and how she killed Mahishasur. The faces are covered now, the veil will be removed on the eight day (I am yet to discover the reason for that and when I do I will let you guys know)

One thing I loved about these travels is that you uncover so many stories or legends and it make the journey all the interesting.

Time to call it a day … OM Namah Shivaya!!!

Posted in Travel and tagged aarti, art2peace, bagmati, culture, dashain, dushera, Hindu, legends, nepal, pashupatinath, pilgrim, pilgrimage, river, sadhu, shiva, stories, temples, tradition, travel, travelling

28 Sep 2018

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Ambubasi Mela – Kamakhya

“Wilderness is not a luxury but necessity of the human spirit.” – Edward Abbey

Kamakya Devi temple that we went to has a lot of legends and stories to tell.

Sati, the consort of Shiva was the daughter of Daksha Prajapati a descendant of Bramha… Sati had married Shiva against the wishes of her father. The vain Daksha performed a great yagna(with the sole aim of insulting Shiva), to which he invited all the gods and goddesses except his son-in-law Shiva. Against Shiva’s wishes, Sati attended this sacrifice and was insulted by her father. Unable to bear this insult, Sati sacrificed herself.

Enraged at the insult and the injury, Shiva through Veerabhadra, destroyed Daksha’s sacrifice, cut off Daksha’s head and later replaced it with that of a goat, as he restored him to life. Still crazed with grief, he picked up the remains of Sati’s body and did Tandav (dance of destruction) throughout the Universe. The other gods intervened to stop this, Vishnu used his Sudarshana Chakra to cut through the corpse of Sati whose various parts of the body fell at several spots all through the Indian subcontinent. These sites are known as Shakti Peethas today.

Kamakhya Devi’s shrine hosts the vulva that fell here following the destruction of Daksha’s sacrifice.

Ambubachi mela or Ambubasi festival is an annual fair celebrated for four days in Kamakhya temple, Guwahati, Assam during the Assamese month of Aahar (mid-June). It is believed that the presiding deity of the temple Devi Kamakhya (a form of Shakti) goes through her annual cycle of menstruation during this period. The temple is closed for three days during this period and the doors of the temple open on the fourth day when devotees throng in a long queue to get a glimpse of the goddess..
The deity is believed to have been there since pre-historic times. There is no man-made statue of the goddess but a stone of shape similar to vulva.

Kamarup is a very important Shakti Peeth and this place is one of the primary temples of worship for the Tantrics. Pilgrims, devotees and Tantrics throng the temple during this 4 day festival.

Om Namah Shivay!!!