Connecting To BHARAT.!

  Chaitra Navratri marks the beginning of Hindu New Year which is celebrated with a lot of pomp and grandeur across India. It is a 9 day-long festival that celebrates 9 avatars of Goddess Durga. As part of the festivities, people visit Devi temples, observe fasts and recite mantras to elevate themselves spiritually.It is well known that Hindu festivals are an amalgam of rituals, rites, processions, fasting, feeding the poor, music and dance, religious ceremonies, and many other activities of traditional character. We can not imagine Hindu festivals without the inbuilt components like rituals, muhrats (auspicious beginnings), and Panchang (Vedic Hindu Calendar).   This article attempts to provide basic concepts of this 5000-year-old science called Panchang which is based on traditional astronomical knowledge whose calculations are awe-inspiring!! In a layman’s language Panchang is nothing but a “mirror of the sky”, in the form of ink and paper which tabulates the position and m...

We live in a Scientific Age where we try to justify everything based solely on science. But we must remember that the world is full of mysteries and miracles which are beyond our understanding and that science shall never be able to justify. So sometimes it is always better to suspend our learnings and pre-conceived notions, accept an alternate reality, and enjoy the divine bliss. Sri Jagannath Puri temple (one of the Char Dhams) is an enigma in itself. It is mysterious..!! It is intriguing !! Hence attracts historians, scientists, and common flock from all over the world. Scientists and historians have put up enormous efforts to unravel and justify the temple’s unbelievable phenomenon for years but with little success. It is interesting to note that Odia people accept miracles as “Kalia Ra Leela” or “The wonders of Bhagwan Jagannath” and never look for explanations and logic behind its mysteries. In this article, we shall try to unravel some interesting mysteries of Bhagwan Jagannath...

After a lot of efforts, Lord Rama learns about Sita’s abduction by Ravana and that she is been held captive in Ashok Vatika (Lanka). Rama reaches the island (now called Rameshwaram) and stands at the shores of the sea, in despair, and looks at the unending vastness of the sea, with angst and helplessness, wondering how can this giant blue be crossed? He then fasts, meditates, and prays to Lord of Sea, Varuna continuously for three days. Infuriated by the unbearable silence of the sea, Rama picks up his fierce Brahmastra and shoots the arrow into the sea. After all, it was not an ordinary arrow and Rama was not an ordinary hero. The firing of the arrow caused the water to burn and the earth to explode. Hundreds of meteorites ignited in the sky, mountains rose and the strong winds swayed and toppled the trees. तिर्यक् च सह नक्षत्रैः सम्गतौ चन्द्रभास्करौ | भास्करांशुभिरादीप्तम् तमसा च समावृतम् || २ - २२ - ८ प्रचकाशे तदाकाशमुल्काशतविदीपितम् | अन्तरिक्षाच्च निर्घाता निर्जग...