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...
This was the view from the Vivekananda Rock Memorial at Kanyakumari. On one side was the ocean, and on the other, the city. We call this land's end, but if you arrive from the ocean, this would be your first view of India. And how beautiful it is, isn't it, especially with the clouds over the mountains in the background? This was in May, when summer was supposed to be at its peak. However, unseasonal rains changed everything for us, showing us views like these, and obscuring the sun for almost our entire trip! For more beautiful skies from around the world, visit the Skywatch Page. Related Posts: Kanyakumari Crabs at the Vivekananda Rock Memorial The Southern Jaunt - At our Land's end - Kanyakumari The Story of my Summer Trip The Rishikesh series Moving on... From Dharamsala to Amritsar to Rishikesh The Himachal Series The Tadoba series