Skip to main content

Featured Post

Odisha Part 11: Discovering the Jaina Heritage of Odisha at the caves of Udaygiri and Khandgiri

The Hindu and Buddhist history of Odisha , or rather, ancient Kalinga, is rather well known to everyone. Who hasn’t heard of the grand temples of Odisha – Puri, Lingaraj and Konark, or the great war of Kalinga which inspired Ashoka to convert to Buddhism? In contrast, very few know of the Jaina heritage of this region. This is quite a pity, since, just around 7 km from the city, is one of India’s most ancient inscriptions, which throws light on the Jaina heritage of Odisha. This inscription is the Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela, in the hills of Udaygiri. Udaygiri and Khandgiri are two hills located opposite each other, and both are testaments to the rich Jaina heritage of Odisha. The caves at Udaygiri are older, while Khandgiri is relatively newer, but has lasted much longer, and continues to be a place of pilgrimage for Jains even today. These hills, from inscriptions and excavations of caves, shrines and rock beds, appear to have been a haven for Jaina monks, right from the ...
1 comment

Navaratri Experiences-3

It is just the 2nd day of Navaratri, and already Samhith is looking forward to our temple visit. He is normally bored in the temple, and runs around, troubling everyone, but now, the daily decoration seems to be exciting him. He looks forward to the evening, and keeps asking whether it is time to visit the temple.

This second day of Navaratri, the temple priests had made a wonderful image of GARBARAKSHAMBIGAI, as she is seen at the Thirukkarugavur temple near Thanjavur.

From Miscellaneous



Garbharakshambigai, or Karu Kaatha Nayaki as she is known in Tamil, represents the One who protected the Womb. The story behind this temple is as follows – Nidhruva Maharshi and his wife Vedhika were ardent devotees of Shiva and by the grace of the Lord, Vedhika became pregnant. Once, when her husband was out, tired after all her household chores, she lay down to rest, and fell asleep. The rishi Urdhvapada arrived at this time, and asked for alms, which she did not hear, being fast asleep. Not understanding her situation, the rishi cursed her to be afflicted with a foul disease, which also affected the foetus. When she prayed to Parvati, the goddess appeared and transferred the foetus to a pot where she herself nurtured it till it was fully grown. When the sage returned, he was overwhelmed, and prayed that the goddess must reside at that place and protect the womb of anyone who prayed to her. Till this day, it is said that no one in the village has a miscarriage or an abortion. She is prayed to by devotees seeking a child, and also for safe childbirth.

From Miscellaneous


The temple to Garbharakshambigai is at Thirukkarugavur, 22 Kms from Kumbakonam and 7Kms from Papanasam. The main deity in this temple is Lord Shiva, known as Mullai Vana Nathar, or the Lord of the forest of Jasmines. This lingam is a swayambhu, which appeared in forest of Jasmine creepers, and was found covered with the creepers. The imprints of these creepers can be seen on the lingam.



This temple is one among the Pancha Aranya Sthalams – five temples situated amidst forests. It is considered auspicious to visit all the five temples, situated within a radius of 15Kms from this one, in one day. The Thirukkarugavur temple is the central one, to be visited early in the morning between 5:30 and 6AM. The second temple is at Avalivanallur, about 13 Kms from Alangudi (famous as one of the Navagraha Sthalams). This temple is to be visited in the morning between 9:30 and 10:00 AM. The third temple is at Haridwaramangalam, 22Kms from Kumbakonam and 10Kms West of Alangudi, and is to be visited between 11:00AM and Noon. The fourth temple is the one at Alangudi, 17Kms South of Kumbakonam, 35 Kms East of Thanjavur, and is to be visited between 5:30 and 6:00PM. The fifth and final temple is at Thirukkollambudhoor, 7Kms East of Alangudi on the road to Thiruvarur, and is to be visited between 8:30 and 9:00 PM.



Well, this brings me to the end of today’s post. Looking forward to getting back to all of you with more news of Navaratri celebrations…………..
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please leave a comment for me so that I will know you have been here....

Popular posts from this blog

Gokarna Part II – The Five Lingams

We continued our Gokarna trip by visiting four other Shiva temples in the vicinity, all connected to the same story of Gokarna. The story of Gokarna mentions the Mahabaleshwara Lingam as the one brought from Kailas by Ravana, and kept at this place on the ground by Ganesha. (See my earlier post- Gokarna – Pilgrimage and Pleasure). However, the story does not end here. It is believed that, in his anger, Ravana flung aside the materials which covered the lingam- the casket, its lid, the string around the lingam, and the cloth covering it. All these items became lingams as soon as they touched the ground. These four lingams, along with the main Mahabaleshwara lingam are collectively called the ‘ Panchalingams’ . These are: Mahabaleshwara – the main lingam Sajjeshwar – the casket carrying the lingam. This temple is about 35 Kms from Karwar, and is a 2 hour drive from Gokarna. Dhareshwar – the string covering the lingam. This temple is on NH17, about 45 Kms south of Gokarna. Gunavanteshw...
10 comments
Read more

Newasa - Encountering an unique form of Vishnu, and Sant Jnaneshwar

The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their...
9 comments
Read more

Review of Executive Lounges at New Delhi Railway Station (NDLS)

During my recent trip to Uttarakhand , I was faced with a problem I had never encountered before. We were passing through Delhi, but we had hardly any time in the city. On earlier visits when I have had to change trains/flights at Delhi, I have always arrived in the morning and left again at night, visiting relatives in between. This time, I was arriving in the city at night, and leaving again early in the morning. There was hardly any time to visit people. I would only have a couple of hours with them before I’d have to leave again. For the first time, we considered booking a hotel, but there again, we were hesitant about the actual hotels, the costs involved, and the logistics of getting from the airport to the railway station and then back again from the station to the airport.  That’s when we remembered reading something about a corporate-managed lounge at Delhi station. We soon figured out that we could book online and pay by the hour. Besides, we also learnt that there wasn’...
2 comments
Read more