How did he manage to feed?

The war is declared. Both the parties are busy wooing supporters from all over the country. Every ruler was aware that this war will bring nothing but destruction. Whether you like it or not, they were forced to support either of the parties.

Mahabharata as such has many short stories with morals but as usual, we hung on to the main story & not the morals.

two sides call for armies to their help and lined up at Kurukshetra. The Kingdoms of Panchala, Dwaraka, Kasi, Kekaya, Magadha, Matsya, Chedi, Pandya (Malayadwaj) and the Yadus and some other clans like the Parama Kambojas were allied with the Pandavas.

The allies of the Kauravas included the kings of Pragjyotisha, Anga, Kekaya, Sindhudesa, Mahishmati, Avanti in Madhyadesa, Madra, Gandhara, Bahlikas, Kambojas and many others.

Udayan Cheraladan, the Chera King did not want war. He wanted to support neither Pandavas nor Kauravas. He came out with an amicable option that was acceptable to both Duryodana and Yudishtir.

Today Panguni Uththiram🙏😇🥰
Panguni Uthiram and Serthi Sevai:
On the day of Panguni Uthiram, Ranganathar starts to Ranganayaki Thayar sannidhi to wish on her birthday and he doesn't know what is waiting for him.

On the way he remembers that he left his ring at Uraiyur and buy another ring by collecting funds from his devotees.
When he reaches the Thayar sannidhi and attempts to go inside, the doors are shut and the Lord is not allowed inside.

Lord fails in repetitive attempts to enter into the sannidhi. Mean while, butter, fruits and garlands are thrown on to the lord by Thayar parivaram from other sides in anger. There will be almost 2 hours aggressive debate between both.

Seeing all this, Namazhwar requests Ranganayaki Thayar to allow her husband inside sannidhi. Listening to Namazhwar, Thayar allows Ranganathar to meet her. There after they both gives darshan together for the devotees.

Saint Ramanujar who was overwhelmed to see the couple together, wrote three gadhyas called "Gadhya Thraya" praising them. Thousands of devotees visit Sreerangam and Uraiyur for being part of these festivals🙏‍

SRI THYAGARAJASWAMI TEMPLE CHARIOT FESTIVAL

The annual chariot festival of the Thyagarajaswami Temple is celebrated during April-may as per the Tamil month of Chitrai. On the day of the chariot festival the Utsava Moorthy (The Lord who comes out from his abode for procession)...

...is gorgeously decorated and brought out of the temple along with his consort to the Great Car and the procession goes whole day long. The Chariot is the biggest in its type, size & height. It is 96ft tall and weighs more than 300 tons.

Besides, this grand chariot, there are 4 more cars for the Lord's consort. All these chariots are big in size but comparitively smaller than the Great Chariot. Grand Chariot is intricately decorated with wooden carvings and framework.

Almost 10000 people r required to pull the chariot around the 4 surrounding streets of temple.Iron wheels fitted to car make the movement fast &easy.Event is attended by lacs of people from across #TamilNadu.The Chariot festival is followed by the Float Festival named 'Theppam'.

Sri Vanamutti Perumal, Kozhikuthi, Mayiladuthurai, TN.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Idol of Lord is made of Athi wood (15 feet tall in the Athi tree with its roots and is more than 800 years old).

King Serfoji of Thanjavur prayed to Lord to save him from Yuddha dosha (trouble of wars).

Perumal granted darshan to the king in this tree.

The king desired that every one should have this benefit and made the idol of this tree wood scaling 15 feet.

Lord appears standing majestically with His discus, conch, Mother Mahalakshmi on His chest and Abhaya Hastha-hand promising boons to devotees.

As the posture is tall, He is named Van-Sky, Mutti-Hitting, Perumal – Van Mutti Perumal.

No abishek is performed on Perumal as the idol is of wood, only Thaila Kappu is done.

TILAK:AN AGE OLD PRACTICE OF HINDUS

The beautiful Matribhumi of Bharat is the land of many religions &cultures but its Hinduism with which the world identifies this great Nation. Hinduism is the religion with science at its heart &its also a religion of many rituals &traditions.

Today we will talk about a very prominent and noticeable Mark on the foreheads of #Hindus called 'Tilak'. Tilaks are of different designs and colors. It symbolizes different meanings for different people such as religious expression, spiritual symbol, marital status etc.

Tilak is a very alluring design that is made in between the eyebrows. Vermilion, Chandan, Turmeric, Kumkum, Rice and Rice water, Vibhuti etc can all be used as Tilaks.
Why this particular spot is used for Tilak? Bcoz, it is mentioned as 'Ajna Chakra' in terms of yoga.

This chakra is the sixth & most important chakra of the human body. It's the junction where the highest number of neurons meet & is described as most important and sensitive spot in the human body.Different #Hindu traditions use different shapes and ingredients to make the Tilak.

SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE

Various Hindu Scriptures mention the importance of Tilak in Sanatan Dharma. It is believed that energy, strength and divinity comes to those who apply Tilak. It is also regarded as a welcoming expression and to honour the guests when they arrive.

Story of Vararachi and Ramayana
#storytime

Vararuchi was a great scholar in the  Raja Vikramaditya's court. One day king asked Vararuchi which is the best verse in Ramayana.

Vararuchi was worried as each sloka was important to him. King told him to find answer within 41 days.

Vararuchi traveled many places  and asked about this question to many, but couldn't find the answer. Thus 40 days passed and without an answer he cannot visit King too
That night he fell asleep under a tree Vanadevatas who were residing at that tree were talking about a child's

Birth.
A girl child in a pariah (low caste) family. They also spoke that this same child will be married by the one who is sleeping under this tree,
MAMVIDHI.
Vararuchi was hearing this conversation, was shocked but also happy that

he got the answer. He immediately went to the King and recited this sloka which is considered to be very important in whole Ramayana.

रामम् दशरथम् विद्धि माम् विद्धि  जनकात्मजाम्
अयोध्यामटवीम् विद्धि गच्छ तात यथा सुखम्
Mata Sumitra tells this to Lakshmana

before leaving for the forest with Shri Ram and Mata Seetha.

My son: Treat your brother Rama as  Dasaratha himself, Seetha, the daughter of Janaka as myself( sumitra). Consider the forest as Ayodhya and depart happily.
🙏

🌺Vande Maatharam....🇮🇳🌺

*When a terrorist, Yasir Arafat, declared the nation of Palestine against Israel, who was the first country to recognize Palestine?*

*Saudi Arabia? - No!*
*Pakistan ? - No!*
*Afghanistan - No, no!*
*Iraq? - No!*
*Turkey? - No!*

*Think, then which country would have recognized Palestine first??*

*Secular India! Yes!*

*Indira Gandhi first recognized Palestine for Muslim appeasement, and also "Nehru Peace Prize" to a terrorist like Yasir Arafat, and

Rajiv Gandhi gave him "Indira Gandhi International Peace Prize"!*

More astounding
*Rajiv Gandhi had given him a Boeing as gift to roam around the world!*

*Now know further*

*The same Khurafat, sorry Arafat, described Kashmir as "an integral part of Pakistan" in the OIC

(Organization of Islamic Countries), and the terrorist said that "whenever Pakistan wants, my fighters will fight for the freedom of Kashmir!"*

*And yes, not only that, this person who was declared as terrorist in 103 countries of the world, and who had hijacked 6 planes,

and who had killed two thousand innocent people, this Yasir Arafat was the first to get an Indian international award! Yes!*

*Indira Gandhi gave him "Nehru Shanti Puraskar", which consists of one crore rupees in cash, and a shield made of two hundred grams of gold!*

The Srimad Bhagavatham- birth of Lord Krishna

Veda Vyasa did not get a sense of elation with the Puranas, and hence wrote Srimad Bhagavatham. It’s essentially a bhakti granthA to ensure audiences are hooked to the leela of bhagawan.

Birth of Krishna is described so 1

beautifully with the following sloka

Tam aDButam bAlakaM amBujEkSanaM catur bujaM Sanka GadAryuDayuDam
Srivatsa lakSmam GalasOBi kaustuBam pitAmBaram sAnDra bayOda sauBakam
MahA vaiDUrya kirIta kundala dwiSa pariSvakta sahasra kundalam
UDAmA kAnchyank Gada kanganADhibi: 2

virOcamAnam vaudEva aikSada:

தம் அத்புதம் பாலகம் அம்புசேகக்ஷனம் சதுர்புஜம் ஷங்க கதார்யதாயும்
ஶ்ரீவத்ஸ லக்‌ஷ்மம் கலசோபி கௌஸ்துபம் பீதாம்பரம் சார்ந்த பயோத சௌபகம்
மஹார்ஹ வைடூர்ய கிரீடகுண்டலம் த்விஷா பரிஷ்வக்த ஸஹஸ்ர குந்தளம்
உத்தாம காஞ்சயங்கத கங்கநாதிபி: விரோசமானம் வஸுதேவ ஐக்‌ஷத3

3

அத்புதம் aDButam is a word described to express a surprise due to variety of things

1.The child is born with four shoulders unlike a regular baby so aDButam

2. AmbujA means Lakshmi. The child looks at Lakshmi and prompts her to be born as Rukmini so aDButam 4

4

3. AmbujA also means bUdEvi, so the child is prompting her to be born as SathyabAmA so it’s aDButam

4. AmbujEkSanam - has piercing eyes for a child that is just born so aDButam

5. The child has brought all the play things with it knowing it may not get any- chakram 5

Rock-cut architecture –

The below is a rock-cut Hindu temple of Ravana Phadi in Aihole, Karnataka Supposed to be made during 550 AD. Aihole, used to be the capital during the rule of Chalukya dynasty, with around 125 temples, and mostly rock cut one’s.

Ravana Phadi temple is cut in rock, and Lord Shiva is worshipped in the temple. Wide-ranging artwork of Lord Shiva, Parvathi, Ganesha and Vishnu can be seen inside the cave.

We have two compartments on the sides of the Mandapa.

To the left, we have stairs that lead to one of the chambers that contains a stunning artwork of Lord Shiva in Nataraja incarnation. There are also reliefs (sculptural technique) of Ganesh, Parvati, etc...  We have Shiv holding snake in his hands and one more in his neck,

Ganesha appears with only 2 arms. And, finally to the right we have another chamber which does not possess any carvings.

The thread about Lord Venkateshwara Perumal who borrowed money from Kuberan.

Lord borrowed money for his marriage with Maa Padmavati. The loan amount was about 1.4 Millions in Ramamudra coins.

The loan was given under the condition that the borrower must make an own promissory note all by himself.

This is the promissory note. The words in this note are dictated by Lord Brahma and Lord Venkateshwara wrote this by himself.

Following is the meaning of the text in promissory note : -

" This, the 7th day of the bright-fortnight of the month of Vyshaka in Kali Yug. The debtor is Lord Srinivasa, the creditor is Dhaneshwara. Purpose : Marriage of the loanee.

Amount of Loan fourteen lakhs in Ramamudra coins. The loanee should repay it with interest in one thousand years after the loanee’s marriage.”

Here, this one thousand years is mentioned in Deva Loka time and not in Bhuloka time.

Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva attested this note.

After accepting this note, Kubera paid the amount in Ramamudra coins.

Also, Lord Srinivasa requested Kubera to purchase and get all the articles and material required for the marriage.

THE LESSER KNOWN MAHARANA OF MEWAR:RANA KUMBHA
Kumbalgarh Fort is one of most spectacular sites of India,atop a hill abt 3600ft above sea lvl in the https://t.co/LkjmzzBhE2's second largest wall is surrounding it.A fort wall second only to Great wall of China,still not so famous.

This longest wall of India stretches to almost 36Km and encompasses a few hills, many step wells and over 360 temples and palaces. Birth place of the Great Maharana Pratap, this fort is named after another Great Maharana of Mewar, who is not given his due in the History.

Builder of many architectural marvels like the Kumbhalgarh Fort, an erudite scholar, a patron of arts, music, culture & a great warrior was the Great Maharana Kumbha. Yet we don't know much about him. Let's get to know him a little.

Maharana Kumbha was the undefeated King of Mewar from 1433-1468CE.He never lost any battles &kept Mewar out of the reach of Islamic Invaders till the time he was alive. Born on Makar Sakranti to Maharana Mokal & Saubhagya Devi, Rana Kumbha was only 13 when he ascended the throne.

His father was killed by his own relatives in a political conspiracy. He was a powerful King about 8ft tall &charismatic personality,a hardcore Hindu Rajput who could shed his life for Hindu honour without thinking twice.He was an ardent skillful warrior who never lost a battle.

VILLOONDI TEERTHAM, #TamilNadu

Situated at 6 kms from #Rameshwaram, is a sacred fresh water spring in the sea. Yes, you heard me right. There is a fresh water body inside the saline sea. This place is called Villoondi Teertham and is the main attraction of this place.

A beautiful beach of #TamilNadu and one of the 64 teerthas(sacred water bodies) of Hindus in #Rameshwaram .There is a small Shiva shrine nearby and the Shiva linga here is named Thrayambakeshwara. The reason for this fresh water body in the sea is stated in #Ramayana.

It states that, After rescuing Mata Sita from Ravana, Rama together with Lakshmana, Sita, Hanumana and some of his other friends flew from Sri Lanka to Rameswaram on Pushpak Vimana, where he performed some rituals, Yajna and poojas by making a Shiva Linga.

After rituals Rama &his friends started their journey towards #Ayodhya ,when Mata Sita &his friends felt thirsty, Rama took his bow &arrow and shot it in the sea. The place where arrow pierced into sea emerged a fresh water spring, its believed Villoondi Teertham is that spring.

Villoondi literally means, one that is pierced through an arrow.
After the spring emanated, Rama and all his friends quenched their thirst and restarted their journey.

It is believed that a Trip to #Rameshwaram is incomplete unless you visit this place.

Jai Sri Ram 💕🙏

We are not done yet, Covid-19 is striking again, courtesy, lack of discipline among the people, the election crowd adds to the woes. However, this post is not about Covid-19 but a worse virus than that - politics and politicians.

For the first time, it seems that, there is a consolidation happening as far as Hindus & Hindu votes are concerned. All along, the perception in Tamil Nadu is, if someone hurts the sentiments of SanatanDharm (read Hindus), it was an attack on Brahmins & not the rest of the Hindus

Anti-Hindu statements and actions were treated as anit-Brahmin activities. Others accepted perhaps due to the green-eyed monster existed in them or an inferiority complex they nurtured all along.

Why attack Brahmins? Because they are the soft-targets. They are the easy-punching-bags who would never retaliate. It was tried to throttle the growth of Brahmins with reservation to the tune of 70%, however, that opened another growth path for the Brahmins.

They did not flee but they pursued their career and flourished. Still, there are many, glued to their roots.

THE DULL PRINCE- A SHORT STORY WHICH YOU ALL SHOULD READ

#storytimethread

Once, the king was in the forest with his four sons on a hunt. The king was an ace shooter. Arrows flew from his bow like bolts of lightning, and they hardly missed their mark.

1/15

The first three princes were as good as their father.
But it was quite different with the youngest prince.

He did not share their enthusiasm for hunting.

In the evening, the king relaxed and took stock of his sons’ achievements.

2/15

He was proud of his eldest son, quite happy with the next two sons, but disappointed with the fourth.

“I am ashamed of him,” he murmured.**

The king bade the members of his party to proceed to the palace, carrying their game with them.

3/15

He wanted to spend some time in the company of a hermit who lived in the forest. A little after sunset, the king and his sons reached the hermit’s dwelling.

The hermit’s disciples entertained the royal party. Soon, the king was alone with the hermit.

4/15

“Why do you look so pensive, dear king?” asked the hermit.

“Well,” answered the king, “I ‘m worried about my youngest son.

He is so dull!

I wonder what I’m going to do with a good-for-nothing boy like him.”

5/15

Upanishads and Scientists.

The Upanishads are a collection of Sanskrit texts transmitted orally from teacher to student over thousands of years.

Upanishads are concerned with the nature of reality, mind and the self.

Some of the more well-known among the physicists who brought about a major change in Quantum Physics were Einstein, Niels Bohr, Erwin Schrödinger and Werner Heisenberg.

Schrödinger was first exposed to Indian philosophy around 1918, through the writings of the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer.

An ardent student of the Upanishads, Schopenhauer had declared, “In the whole world there is no study so beneficial and so elevating as that of the Upanishads. It has been the solace of my life. It will be the solace of my death.”

The Isha Upanishad states, “the Brahman forms everything that is living or non-living … the wise man knows that all beings are identical with his self, and his self is the self of all beings.”

Schrödinger was fascinated by this thought.

1) Krishna’s *mirror* is named *Saradindu*

2) His *fan* is named *Marumaruta*.

3) His *toy lotus flower* is named *Sadasmera*

4) His *toy ball* is named *Citrakoraka*.

4) Krishna’s *golden bow* is named *Vilasakarmana*.

5) The two ends of this bow are studded with jewels and it has a *bowstring* named *Manjulasara*.

6) His glistening jewel-handled *scissors* are named *Tustida*.

7) His *buffalo-horn bugle* is named *Mandraghosa* and

*.

8) His *flute* is named *Bhuvanamohini
9) Krishna has another *flute* named *Mahananda*, which is like a fishhook that captures the fish of Srimati Radharani’s heart and mind.

10) Another *flute*, which has six holes is known as *Madanajhankrti*.

11) Krishna’s *flute* named *Sarala* makes a low, soft tone like the sound of a softly singing cuckoo.

Krishna is very fond of playing this flute in the ragas gaudi and garjari.

The wonderful sacred mantra He chants is the name of His dearmost Radharani

12) His *cane* is named *Mandana*,

13) His *vina* is named *Tarangini*,

14) The *two ropes* He carries are named *Pasuvasikara*

15) His *milk bucket* is named *Amrtadohani*.

16) His two *armlets* are named *Rangada*,

LET'S TALK ABOUT CAUSES OF PROPAGANDA AGAINST HINDUISM

A 🧵 you must read

Hindu society and Hindus suffer from many problems. For example, Christianity appears to be simple because it has given the Bible for its members. Similarly the Muslims use the Quran all over the world

But Hindus have to use many scriptures such as the four Vedas, hundreds of Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Puranas, Agamas, Tantras, Ramayana, Mahabharata, etc

Most Hindus do not know which scripture they should consult if they were to learn what Hinduism stands for the fundamental teachings of Hinduism and how they are supposed to lead Hindu way of life.

Hindu Swamis and Gurus are a source of great strength to the Hindu society. But they all interpret the Hindu scriptures in their own way. If a person listens to different Swamis he would not know which version he should follow.

The situation is even more confusing to those who would like to follow Hinduism outside India.

Hinduism is not a missionary religion. Unlike other religions, it does not have an evangelical wing to proselytise members of other religions.