“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need” – Marcus Tullius Ceciro
I have been bitten by the gardening bug lately hence soaking in a lot of Vitamin D in my small apartment garden. Some researchers say that gardening helps reduce stress and anxiety. Some others say that the more you involved with mother earth the clearer your skin gets :). I don’t mind having all of that !!!
Happy Gardening!!!
In uncertainty – lies all possibility, so embrace it and channelize the anxiety and doubt to find new possibilities.
Being uncertain is one of the best things that has happened to me 🙂. Removing the cobwebs from my DSLR and making the most of the view I have.
Happy Photography … Happy Blogging !!!
Stay Home and Stay Safe !!!
A quick getaway is what I needed after zombie-ing in and out of my laptop from 9 to 5 and making the one hour commute to vegetate in front of the TV till I drop dead only to rise and shine again and rinse and repeat.
Heading to the Nallamala forest for this short trip. Nallamala is a dense forest range in the Eastern Ghats of India with multiple tiger reserves and varied flora and fauna. Uranium deposits have been found there now, so before the whole place becomes radioactive – politically and otherwise; let me enjoy the beauty. We had a lovely monsoon season so the forest is going to be lush and alive – hoping to see some tigers on the way 🙂
The first stop is Mallela Teertham waterfalls. We go through a muddy pathway through a village and cotton fields to reach there.
Loved the monsoon clouds which made the entire trip so picturesque. Mallela Theertham is yet again a religious site\waterfall as it is believed that many saints and rishis have performed penance here and Lord Shiva content with their devotion appeared here and blessed them. Some 350 steps in the lush green forest takes you down to the waterfalls. This is also the source for Krishna river.
Meditation is definitely possible in this place. I hope I gathered some energy from here which would help restore my sanity. Next stop – Srisailam – the shrine of Lord Shiva who is in the form of Lord Mallikarjuna with his consort Goddess Bhramarambadevi.
As it was Navratri and the festivities were on. By the time we reached Srisailam it was almost evening so we decided to take a stroll in the market place rather than relax and I am glad we did that. The whole place was lit up and bustling with food and people of all sorts.
Somewhere in the distance I could hear drums rolls and was just drawn towards it. The procession had just started from the temple. Navratri is the celebration of good over evil. During these 9 nights and 10 days Goddess Durga is worshiped in all her nine forms. Each day the Devi is ornamented in the respective form and brought out for a stroll among the people along with the presiding deities of the temple.
Glimpse of the procession on Youtube
After an evening full of amusement and morning full of worship, time to move into the deeper parts of the jungle.
Some more of the countryside
I wonder what this crop is? These are infact the big leaves from a small tree which they are hanging to dry them up.
Country style homemade food…. as we were crossing villages in the forest area there were very less options for lunch. The best one however was the one below. They had transformed their veranda into a dining area and provide homemade local food 🙂
Next stop Ahobilam – an oldest Vaishnava shrine
Om Namah Shivay!!!
– The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
The DP Challenge – The Road Taken reminded me of Robert Frost’s poem – The Road Not Taken and it got me into thinking about the options we have in life and the paths we choose. I have at times wondered what my life would be only if I had taken a different path. I know, getting into the “What If” analysis is dangerous but my stupid mind gets the best of me at times. Robert Frost helped me understand that no matter what path you take you get what you are destined for so stop thinking about the road not traveled and enjoy the perks of the road you are travelling 🙂
Have a great day!!!
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!!!
A view from the Griffith Observatory, LA. Saw a cloud out there in the mountains.
Was it smoke from the volcanic mountains, first of all are there any volcanic mountains near Los Angeles??
Or some scientific experiments… shhhhh …. or maybe aliens just dropped by near Vegas desert.
Guess I will never know…. earth is a mysterious place and earthians definitely are no less
Now what is food doing on the temporary section, some people have an eternal love for food, however I noticed that once your stomach is full you don’t even feel like smelling or looking at food how much ever you love it. That is definitely the case with me, be it the homemade selections or the exotic restaurant ones ….so I feel craving is a temporary feeling. What do you say???
DP Photo Challenge: Temporary
Pic credit: Naresh Saginala
You can find yogi’s any where in India, some new bee’s, some in the process, some who might have attained higher consciousness and some just pretending to be one. Looking at this one I wondered – is he a genuine one or a fake!!! Is he meditating, contemplating or he is just tired and relaxing? What made him give up worldly pleasures and adorn saffron robes and roam the streets without shoes on his feet, a roof on his head? What could his life have been before he decided to take this path? Is he repenting his decision or is he in bliss already? Was it his true calling or just an influence?
I would never know ….!!!
DP Photo Challenge: Peek
This Diwali we went on a diversity trip – one of the destinations was Namgyal Monastery (Dalai Lama’s Temple), I came to know many wonderful things about Tibetans and their culture – and I am in the process of putting it in a blog. For now let’s talk about the Mani\Prayer wheel – these are devices for spreading spiritual blessings and well being. Rolls of thin paper, imprinted with many, many copies of the mantra(Om Mani Padme Hum), printed in an ancient Indian script(Sanskrit) or in Tibetan script, are wound around an axle in a protective container and spun around and around. Tibetan’s believe that chanting or spunning of the mantra invokes the spiritual power and blessing of Chenrezig(Tibetan name)\Avalokiteshwara. They believe that Chenrezig is within us because love and compassion are not qualities added to the mind but are inherent in our true nature. Wonderful people, place and teachings!!!
Reference: http://www.dharma-haven.org/tibetan/prayer-wheel.htm
DP Photo Challenge: Rounded
Picture of the Golden Temple: Sri Harimandir Sahib in Amritsar. It is a treat for the eyes and peace to the mind.
DP Photo Challenge: Glow
My Bachi, little creature who had\has a huge impact in our lives. It been a year since he is gone but we still miss him the same. I still wonder how he might have returned back to this world – again as a dog, a cow which stared at me, the lizard which refuses to leave my room, a human whom I might meet after some years; or is his karmic debt cleared and he is gone for good.
DP Photo Challenge: Scale
The two things I enjoy as a pedestrian in India is the simplicity around me and the colors. Even after such technological advances you can always find places where people and things move at a turtle pace and it all looks so peaceful and connected to nature.
Cattle herd returning home after leisurely grazing the whole day. BIT Mesra, Ranchi, the place where I was brought up and completed my education. Life there is so slooowww, nothing much has changed yet. All the while I was there I wanted to move to the city and to fast life and now I spend humongous amounts of money for a peaceful day or two.
Shopping market at Church Complex, Ranchi.
Love the Indian shops they are all so colorful and bright. They never fail to change my mood 🙂
DP Photo Challenge: Pedestrian
Since my childhood I had an obsession with the Rubik cube – every once in a while I would buy one and fail at it.
But in the present day (thanks to technology) I got a tutor online on Youtube. Though it took me several days to follow him, finally I solved it. Oh… I was so ecstatic as if I was the only genius in the world. Below is the picture of my achievement.
DP Photo Challenge: Satisfaction
O Fire, please wake up, please get up. And in your arising, wake us up as well. You are the one who gives us what we ask for, as well as what comes to us unasked. You are the remover of illness. In this house of fire practice, please be seated. Along with you, may all the benevolent divine forces be seated, too. May those doing this practice also be seated.
Lately I have been reading a Trilogy: Aghora by Robert E. Svobodha. There is so much overwhelming information in the book and personally I feel like believing every word of it. As per the Tantric Philosophy, Agni – fire is a visible divine energy and acts as the bridge between humans and the ethereal being, it is through fire that we can communicate with the cosmos and the ethereal being be it – gods, goddess, ghosts, demons etc.
In India Homam – fire ritual is performed during most of the auspicious ceremonies. During Homam\Havan oblations or any religious offering is made to the fire. It is believed that as the ethereal beings have no body they eat through smell so the offerings that go into the fire are consumed by them and once they are pleased you get to make a wish. There is a darker side it also but that depends on humans and not the ghosts 🙂 .
DP Photo Challenge: Bridge
Storytelling – India’s oral heritage, I remember spending evenings with my grandmother listening to the many stories and I always wondered how she remembers so many of them. Not only my grandmother but also my aunts and other elder people in the family, if you sit with them they always have a story to tell or a riddle for you to solve. I used to love those times and still cherish them.
This story board in Ujjain reminded me of those days. This is the story of King Bhatruhari and Vikramaditya as told by Late Guru Peer of Nath Sampradaya who used to live in Bharthari Caves, Ujjain. By looking at it I can tell you he tried his best to translate it from Sanskrit, the reason why the grammar is displaced but I couldn’t help appreciate his efforts to tell the story in a foreign language so that today’s generation gets reminded of their heritage.
For those who find it tough to read it and understand, below is the story in simple english;
First story (The one in BLACK ink)
Bhartruhari was so much immersed in romance and sex, that he wrote 100 stanzas on ‘the art of romance and sex‘, now famously called ‘Shrungara Shataka‘. All the stanzas are on sensuality and sexual pleasure.
King Bhartruhari was obsessed with his youngest wife Pingala, she was beautiful and charming. Once king’s brother complained to the king about the affair of queen with king’s charioteer and advised him to banish her for the sake of the kingdom. King was too obsessed with her to heed to his brother, in fact when the queen heard of this from her sources, she manipulated the king and banished his brother from the kingdom
One day a yogi came to his court and presented the king with an apple, which he said would bless one with ‘youth and longevity‘ on eating (stories say that the ascetic got the apple as a boon from the gods and that the apple was from the Kalpavruksha- ‘wish fulfilling tree’).
The king wanted queen Pingala to have the apple, so that she would always look young for him.
Queen Pingala gave the apple to the charioteer. She wanted him to be young and strong.
The charioteer was in love with a prostitute, he gave her the apple to eat.
The prostitute thought ‘it would be better if someone deserving ate this‘, she always liked the king, he was noble and pious, his long living also meant the peace and stability of her kingdom, so she took the apple to the king and give it to him.
King Bhartuhari was surprised to see the apple with her, and enquired how she got it. She told him how she got it from the charioteer, king sent men to bring the charioteer, he told the king that he got it from the queen, and confessed of his affair with the queen.
Bhartruhari realized the fleeting nature of the pleasure from worldly objects, he wrote a poem about the incident which changed him in his Niti Shataka. (100 stanzas on Moral conduct)
“(She) whom on I contemplate, is not passionate for me, she loves another;
that whom she loves, loves another;
One whom he loves, loves another.
Refuse (disdain to) that woman, that man, Cupid, me.”
Deep Vairagya (dispassion) arose in him, he gave up the desire for his wife, realizing his mistake he brought his brother back and crowned him, renouncing the world he lived rest of his life as an ascetic. Bhartruhari wrote Niti-Shataka and Vairagya Shataka during his later years.
Source: king-bhartruhari-who-became-saint-bhartuhari
Second story (The one in RED ink)
On top of this casket he had placed the replica of a man made of delicious sweetmeats. As the devis enjoyed the hearty meal and were about to leave, one of them happened to glance at the special replica. She stayed back while the others left and tasted it.
She praised the tasty food and wondered aloud as to who could have kept the tasty human replica there. At that moment, Vikramaditya showed himself. Taken aback, the goddess asked him to express a wish. He said that she should never cross to this side of the river . Pleased by his courage, she agreed. The goddess was Bhukhi Mata and the king made a temple in her honour on the other side of the river. Since then, she never came to trouble the people of Ujjain and no more young men needed to be sacrificed!
Source: Bhukthi Mata story
DP Challenge: Heritage
View from the Nahargarh Fort, Jaipur
This is a small pond in the middle of the desert land. As far as you can can see there is no vegetation, but Earth is kind enough to provide us with some life sustaining water. Mother Earth is kind and caring but we have lost respect for her.
Sometime back I came across a news that people in China are buying fresh air packets manufactured in Canada. I’d rather plant trees for the rest of my life than get into a situation like that. As Sadhguru says, “Right now we are looking at ecological concerns as an obligation to fulfill. It is not an obligation, it is our life.” So lets start caring for the other life around us.
DP Photo Challenge: Earth
Sometime back I went to this music concert to hear Dr L Subramaniam on violin but I was taken by surprise by this man; Pt Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. He plays Mohan Veena which is this own creation. His music is so mesmerizing that I have no words, you have to witness it yourself to know the power of live music; what it can do to you and your soul.
I am glad I had a chance to hear to his music and that definitely wouldn’t be the last one.
To listen to one of this mesmerizing work click here
DP Photo Challenge: Surprise
Doesn’t matter if you are from North India – South India – East or West; Rich or Poor every Hindu in India loves Lord Ganesha and performs Ganesh Puja. We do it at the beginning of any new event as he is the God for New Beginnings, Prosperity and Obstacle Remover. Only after the Ganesh Puja is performed you feel safe and secure in your mind that nothing bad will happen whatsoever and still if you face challenges Ganesha will take care……
Ganesh Chaturthi which is observed once a year, used to be the busiest time in the year when I was young. There was this huge list of items I helped my mother procure for the puja. I used to go around my colony and the gardens to get them and my mother used to say “Even though I am doing the puja, you will reap the benefits as you are working hard for it” and that alone was enough motivation year after year…
DP Photography Challenge: Security
DP Photo Challenge – It IS Easy Being Green!
This is a view atop the Murudeshwara temple entrance. This is a view of the tallest Shiva statue in India, which is 123 ft on the coast of Arabian Sea.
DP Photo Challenge: Atop
The evening aarti at the Harsiddhi Mata Mandir, Ujjain where hundreds of people gather daily to witness the 736 lamps that are lit and to pray. Harsiddhi means “Attainment of Shiva”. Some come here to pray for spiritual gains and some come for materialistic gains and some come to take selfies. The aura that is created here every evening takes you to a transcendental state and I was happy to witness it.
DP Photo Challenge: Wish
Capturing nature in its extremities can be a challenge, I got a taste of it when I tried to capture the stormy thunderous night. All drenched, I took more than a 100 shots and managed to get just one good enough one.
DP Photography Challenge: Against The Odds
Solitude is a choice that provides freedom and space from the demands and interruptions created by others. It paves the way for self-reflection, clarity and to be self-reliant.
Regularly spending time alone is good for our mind, soul, and body.
DP Photo Challenge – Solitude
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Reflections on life, the universe and everything.
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"The only source of knowledge is experience." - Albert Einstein
Travel adventures and tips from someone who likes going off the beaten track.
Images of Nature from Western New England
Life on the Big Island of Hawaii
Sharing unique images that I have captured from around the world. All images are copyrighted by Ravi Patel.
Faith saved us from the savages that we were, losing faith makes us savages again
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