IS THE GREEK HERCULES, INDIAN BALRAMA:The Symbolical and Historical context.

Around 305 BC, the Greek explorer Megasthenes arrived at the court of Indian Emperor Chandragupt Maurya at Pataliputra(present Patna).He came as an ambassador of Seleucus Nicator of Seleucid Dynasty.

During his stay in India, Megasthenes compiled a book Indica on the Geography, social traditions &religious customs of India.There were some very important observations made by him in this book.He wrote,"Hercules penetrated so far,Indians tell us, was a native of their country..

..He is particularly worshipped by the Suraseni(Shurasena), who have 2 great cities, Methora(Mathura) & Cleisoborus(Surapura) & the navigable river Jobares(Yamuna), passes through their territories".
Some scholars mentioned that Hercules mentioned by him is indeed Lord Krishna.

The parallels r quite remarkable.Krishna was born in Mathura at banks of Yamuna &he also belonged to Shurasena tribe of Yadu dynasty. But he was dark skinned & Balrama was fair skinned. Therefore, Megasthenes' description of Indian Hercules is strongly suggestive of Balrama.

In Indian tradition, Balrama is credited with wrestling &unarmed warfare. Like Hercules, Balrama is also depicted holding a club or a mace. Hercules used lion skin as his armour &Balrama also is sometimes shown with tiger's skin wrapped around his shoulders.

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'.

THE EPITOME OF COURAGE, VALOUR AND SACRIFICE:RANI DURGAVATI

I am sure,many of us don't even know who Rani #Durgavati was 'coz our #History textbooks don't tell us this. Today, let us learn something about this great warrior queen.

Rani Durgavati was a #Gondwana Queen who fought 51 battles, out of them 3 were against Mughals and she never lost. She was an exemplary woman who got married at 18 and was widowed at 24. At 24, she became Queen of a vast kingdom of mainly tribal people and fought 51 gallant wars.

She was a great war tactician &an exemplary young ruler who never lost any battle.She was born on Oct 5th,1524 in the family of Gurjar Chandela's Rajput ruler Keerat Pal Singh in fort of Kalinjar,Banda,UP. Her family built #Khajuraho temples which r a #UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE

She was married to Gondi King Dalpati Shah in 1542.This brought an alliance between the Gonda family &the Chandelas of Bundelkhand so that they could resist the onslaught of Sher Shah Suri who attacked Kalinjar in 1545.
Same year Durgavati gave birth to Vir Narayan, her only son.

After the death of her husband in 1548, she reluctantly took up throne on the insistence of her ministers who were aware of her abilities &wanted the Kingdom to remain independent.She was only 24 and took up the reign on behalf of her son who was only 5 by that time.

It was the time when Alauddin Khilji became the Sultan of Delhi after murdering his own uncle. To fulfil his expansionist ambitions Khilji was on a conquering and annexing spree. He tried to annex all the neighbouring Kingdoms. The ones which couldn't be annexed, he conquered.

Among those many Kingdoms was a small but significant Kingdom of Jalore in Rajasthan which he could'nt append to his growing empire. It was during this time when Khilji was planning an attack on the King Karnade of Gujrat for Plundering,Looting his Kingdom&destroying the temples.

Khilji asked all Kingdoms in the path from Delhi to Gujarat to let his Army through the safe passage,to which all the Kingdoms agreed but one.
King Kanhadadev of Jalore didn't trust Khilji &he refused the safe passage anticipating the treacherous attack of Khilji on his Kingdom.

Out of desperation and disappointment Alauddin Khilji invited Kanhadadev to his court.
Kanhadadev however, sent his son Biram Dev. The Rajput Prince had a striking physique and features and a beautiful charismatic personality, who was famous for his valour and wrestling skills.

Khilji provoked Biram Dev for a wrestling match with the best of his fighters, to which the Prince agreed. However, more than a wrestling match, it was a conspiracy to kill him as Khilji had ordered his fighter to Kill Biram Dev during the fight.

क्या आपको पता है कि भृगु ऋषिकौन थे और भृगु संहिता क्या है?

भृगु संहिता में भृगु जी ने अपने ज्ञान द्वारा ग्रहों, नक्षत्रों की गति को देख कर उनका पृथ्वी और मनुष्यों पर पड़ने वाला प्रभाव जाना और अपने सिद्धांतो को प्रतिपादित किया।

शोध एवं खोज के उपरांत उन्होंने ग्रहों और नक्षत्रों की गति तथा उनके पारस्परिक सम्बंधों के आधार पर कालगणना को निर्धारित किया।

पौराणिक कथानुसार जब भृगु ऋषि को ब्रह्मा ऋषि मंडल में स्थान नहीं मिला तो वे क्रोधित होकर भगवान विष्णु जी के पास पहुंचे।परंतु विष्णु जी निद्रामग्न थे अत: ऋषि के आने का उन्हें पता न चला। अपनी अवहेलना देख भृगु जी ने क्रोधित होकर विष्णु जी के वक्षस्थल...

...पर लात से प्रहार किया जिससे विष्णु जी जाग उठे और उठते ही ऋषि से पूछते हैं कि कहीं उन्हें उनके वक्षस्थल पर लात मारने से चोट तो नहीं लगी। प्रभु का ये आचरण देख भृगु ऋषि को अपनी गलती पर बड़ा पश्चाताप होता है, वे रोने लगते हैं और प्रभु से क्षमा-याचना करते हैं।

दीनदयालु प्रभु विष्णु उन्हें तुरंत क्षमा कर देते हैं। परंतु प्रभु के चरणों पे विराजमान माता लक्ष्मी अपने स्वामी की ये अवहेलना नहीं देख पाती और भृगु ऋषि को श्राप दे देती हैं कि वे कभी भी ब्राह्मण के घर निवास नहीं करेंगी और ज्ञानी एवं सरस्वती के उपासक दरिद्र ही रहेंगे।

Brahma temple in Pushkar is the only temple dedicated to God Brahma in the whole world. It is a pilgrimage site that is frequently visited by thousands of devotees every year. Located in the district of Ajmer, Pushkar is a small and serene town that hosts the world’s only...

...Brahma temple where Brahma Ji, the god of creation, is worshipped.
Brahma, despite being one of the most powerful gods and the creator of the universe, has only one temple dedicated to him in the world, and this is what makes the Brahma temple in Pushkar so unique among...

...several other pilgrimage sites and shrines in Rajasthan.
Located close to the sacred lake of Pushkar, the Brahma temple pretty much reflects the Rajasthani architectural style. The fact that it finds a place in several Rajasthan tour packages doesn’t come as a surprise.

Although the current structure dates back to the 14th century,the core structure of the Brahma temple is about 2000 yrs old.

Built on a high platform,there r a number of marble steps that lead to entrance of the holy Brahma Pushkar temple which is adorned with pillared canopies.

After the entry gate comes the pillared outdoor hall called Mandapa and then the main sanctum sanctorum called Garbhagriha which is dedicated to Brahma and his second wife, Gayatri.

भगवान अपने भक्तों की यश वृद्धि करने के लिए अनेक प्रकार की लीलाएं करते हैं।इस तरह के अनेकों उदाहरण आपको हमारे पुराणों में मिल जाएंगे।ऐसी ही एक भक्त थी सती अनुसुइया जिसकी कथा हम आज सुनेंगे।
त्रिदेवियां माताएं लक्ष्मी,पार्वती और सरस्वती सोचती थीं कि उनसे बड़ी पतिव्रताएं कोई नहीं ।

एक बार त्रिदेवों ने त्रिदेवियों का ये भ्रम तोड़ने का और साथ ही अपनी परम भक्त अनुसुइया का मान बढ़ाने का सोचा।
इसी कार्य को संपन्न करने के लिए भगवान नारायण ने देवर्षि नारद के मन में जिज्ञासा उत्पन्न की। इसके फलस्वरूप वे लक्ष्मी जी के पास पहुंचे। लक्ष्मी माता देवर्षि को देख...

...बड़ी प्रसन्न हुईं और उनसे कहा,"देवर्षि! आप बड़े दिनो के बाद आए हैं।कहिए कैसे हैं?" नारद जी बोले,"माता! क्या बताऊँ? कुछ बताते नहीं बन रहा।अब की बार मैं घूमता हुआ चित्रकूट की ओर चला गया था।वहां महर्षि अत्रि के आश्रम जाने का सौभाग्य मुझे प्राप्त हुआ। माता! मैं तो महर्षि अत्रि ...

..जी की पत्नी माता अनुसुइया के दर्शन करके कृतार्थ हो गया।तीनों लोकों में उनके समान पवित्र व पतिव्रता स्त्री कोई नहीं है।"
माता अनुसुइया का यही गुणगान देवर्षि नारद ने जाकर माता पार्वती और माता सरस्वती से भी किया।ये सुनकर त्रिदेवियों ने जिज्ञासावश अनुसुइया की परीक्षा लेने की सोची।

तब त्रिदेवियों ने अपने पतियों-ब्रह्मा,विष्णु और महेश से अनुसुइया के सतीत्व की परीक्षा लेने का हठ किया।त्रिदेवों ने बहुत समझाने की कोशिश की परंतु अपनी पत्नियों के हठ के कारण अन्ततः वे अनुसुइया की परीक्षा लेने को तैयार हो गए।

तीनों देव साधुवेष धारण कर महर्षि अत्रि के आश्रम पहुंचे।

Do you know?

The constitution of India is the longest written constitution of any sovereign country in the world and it was written by a man named Prem Behari Narain Raizada in his own handwriting.

The constitution has always been associated with Dr Ambedkar,chairman of the drafting committee,who was its architect,but very little is known about the man who penned it down.

The first draft of Indian Constitution was completed on 26th Nov 1949 is no less than a masterpiece.

While Nandalal Bose and his students designed the borders of every page and adorned it with beautiful art pieces, it was the singlehanded effort of Prem Behari Narain Raizada (Saxena) that brought the primary contents and the preamble to the Constitution, to life.

Shri Prem Behari was born on 17 December 1901, in a family of traditional calligraphists. He lost his parents when he was very young and was brought up by his grandfather Master Ram Parshadji Saxena and uncle Mahashya Chatur Behari Narayan Saxena.

Prem Behari’s grandfather was a scholar in Persian & English. He even taught Persian to British officials.
When the draft of the Constitution was ready to be printed,the then PM Jawaharlal Nehru approached Shri Behari with the proposal of handwriting it in a flowing italic style.

🌺श्रीरामचरितमानस घर में रखने का महत्व और पाठ करने के लाभ 🌺

जिस घर में प्रतिमाह पूर्णिमा को रामायण का पाठ होता है, उस घर में अकाल मृत्यु नहीं होती है।

जिस घर में श्री रामचरितमानस रखी होती है वहां कभी भूत, पिशाच, प्रेतों का
वास नहीं होता।

जिस घर में रामायण के पास शाम के समय
देशी गाय के घी का दीपक जलाया जाता है ,उस घर में अन्न की कमी कभी नहीं होती है।

जिस घर में श्री रामचरितमानस के पास
सुबह शाम गौ माता के घी का दीपक
प्रतिदिन जलाया जाता है ,
उस घर में आरोग्य बढ़ता है।
बीमारियां कम होती हैं।

जिस घर में श्री रामचरितमानस की
शाम के समय देशी गाय के घी का दीपक जलाकर श्री रामचरितमानस की आरती
प्रतिदिन होती है उस घर पर श्रीराम जी की
कृपा सदैव रहती है, और घर में शांति का वातावरण रहता है। प्रभु की कृपा रहती है।

जिस घर में प्रति सप्ताह रामायण पाठ होता है,उस घर पर प्रभु श्रीराम और माता सीता की कृपा हमेशा बनी रहती है।बच्चों की बलबुद्धि में वृद्धि होती है।

जिस घर में प्रतिदिन रामायण पाठ होता है, उस पर श्रीराम,माता सीता,महादेव, हनुमानजी,शनि-देव,नव-ग्रह व सभी देवी-देवताओं की कृपा रहती है ।

जिस घर में प्रतिदिन रामायण पाठ होता है,उस घर से दरिद्रता भाग जाती है, उस परिवार की यशवृद्धि होती है, उस घर पर मां लक्ष्मी की कृपा सदैव बनी रहती है। बच्चों को कभी भय नहीं लगता। भूत, प्रेत, पिशाच वहां कभी प्रवेश नहीं कर सकते। वह घर सुख, समृद्धि, शन्ति, धन,अन्न,सन्तान,मित्र...

Did you know?

Rig-Veda (estimated to be composed around 23720 BCE), is the first recorded document about a prosthesis.

The anatomy,physiology, embryology etc. r discussed very clearly in Vedas.
The surgery is the most amazing science found in RigVeda over thousands of yrs ago.

It mentions the concept of Artificial Limbs in history of prosthesis.

“Sodao janghamaysing vishapalaoi dhana hite sterba pratyadhattyam” Rig-Veda- 1:116:15

Meaning," The foot of Vispala, the wife of Khela, was cut off, like the wing of a bird, in an engagement by night.

Immediately you gave her a metallic leg, so that she might walk".

Khela was a King and Agastya was his Kul Purohit. Through his prayers the Aswins gave Vispala a metallic leg.

In Vedic Times, surgery was practiced including major operations like amputation, laparotomy...

...and trephining of Skull.
Medical science was surprisingly advanced in ancient Vedic Indian times.Particularly in the fields of plastic surgery, extraction of cataracts, dental surgery etc.
And, there is documentary evidence to support these claims.

Aitreya Upanishad states..

...about how the organs develop in the foetus.
The Bhagwata states that the head of foetus is formed at the end of first month and heart starts functioning in the second month of pregnancy.
Statements recorded in these scriptures are found to be true by modern science.

THE TRUTH OF QUTUB MINAR( DHRUV STAMBHA): An ancient #Vedic observatory ie another wonder of our Vedic #Astronomers & #Mathematicians.

#QutubMinar was the observation tower of an observatory set up by the noted astronomist Varah Mihir much before the birth of Islam.

It is estimated that this observatory was set up during 4th.-6th. Century AD.The observatory provided major research in the field of Astronomy and was the place where many calculations about the movement of planets and stars were performed and #Vedic theories were validated.

The Muslim invaders were never famous for creating the #historical monuments of scientific utility but they were out to wipe off the #History and #culture of places they invaded, including #India.Their only concern was to loot the wealth and destroy the culture.

There was no Indo Islamic Architecture but only #Indian Architecture. Islam born only 400 years before Qutubudin Aibak had no architectural history but only destruction and annihilation.The #Historians of those times were all but hired slaves of Mughal Rulers.

Unfortunately, the English had access to only those false preserved records of Muslim invaders that were fabricated only to sing their praises.They tried to systematically wipe off the 8000 year old #Sanatan culture.

Do you know?

Bajiprabhu Deshpande was a great Maratha warrior who lead an Army of just 300 maratha warriors against an army of 10,000 plus Adil Shahi forces in the narrow Ghod Kind pass which was later renamed as Paavan Kind by Shivaji Maharaj.

This is his story.

Bajiprabhu Deshpande, born in a Marathi Chandrasainya Kayastha Prabhu family on 1615 CE.The Great Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was deeply impressed by him and appointed him as the military commander of south Maharashtra around the Kohlapur region.

Maratha infantry soldiers were trained to fight with their traditional sword known as Dandpatta, also know as Gauntlet sword in English. The patta has a long straight blade ranging in length from 10 to 44 inches with the gauntlet integrated in the sword as the hand gun.

Both Sivaji Maharaj & Bajiprabhu were master in using dandpatta.Maratha soldiers especially infantrymen used to fight with dandpatta against heavy cavalry.
After killing treacherous Afzal Khan in the battle of Pratapgarh,Marathas were able to capture Panhala fort near Kolhapur.

The marathas under Netaji Palkar then attacked Bijapur but the Bijapur forces resisted the attack.Shivaji maharaj then set their base at Panhala fort.
Under Siddhi Johar,the Adilshahi forces laid siege of the Panhala fort and were able to trap Shivaji Maharaj for almost 5 months.

SARASWATI is an ancient river that used to flow in the ancient Vedic Era, although the river does not have any existence today. The Triveni Sangam in Allahabad is a confluence of the three rivers ie Ganga, Jamuna and Saraswati.

Of these three rivers the Legendary Saraswati river is invisible which is believed to flow underground and join the other two rivers from below and the point of confluence is a sacred place for Hindus called Triveni Sangam.

Rig-Veda mentions a mighty, snow-fed river Saraswati on whose banks the literature was supposed to be derived.
Was this then a description of the Paleo Ghaggar,making it the most ancient and holy Saraswati River itself?

These questions are sought to be answered in a paper published in Scientific Reports.
The Saraswati river was revered and considered important for Hindus because it is said that it was on this river's banks,alongwith its tributary Drishadwati,in the Vedic state of Brahmavarta,..

...that Vedic Sanskrit had its genesis and important Vedic scriptures like initial part of Rigveda and several Upanishads were supposed to have been composed by Vedic seers. In the Manusmriti, Brahmavarta is portrayed as the pure centre of Vedic Culture.

🌺A Very Interesting Comparison🌺

Till some time ago, religion and science were considered to be opposites, but now many similarities are coming out from the conclusions drawn from the analysis of scientists and scholars. But whenever it comes to Bhagwan Shiv, science..

..automatically associates with him.For example,u can understand by comparing Shivling&nuclear reactor itself.
Nuclear reactors and Shivling r often compared among themselves.There r many similarities between the two in appearance. So can these 2 really be considered the same?

It is important to know here that both are related to energy somewhere.There is a rule to flow water continuously on Shivling. Most of the Shivlings are found in the country where there is sufficient reservoir of water, such as rivers, ponds, lakes etc.

Similarly, all the nuclear plants around the world are also built around big rivers or seas.
The water that is used to keep the nuclear reactor cool is not used for any other use. Similarly, the water that is offered on Shivling is also not accepted as prasad.

The complete circumambulation of Shivling is not done. It is forbidden to cross from where the water is coming out. It is believed that this water is charged. Similarly, the water coming out of the nuclear reactor is also kept away from humans.

Sri Yaganti Uma Maheshwari Temple is dedicated to Bhagwan Shiva and is located in the Kurnool distt of Andhra Pradesh. Temple houses combined idol of Shiva and Mata Parvati.
It's believed that Sage Agastya wanted to build a temple for Venkateswara here.

But the Idol couldn't be installed as its toenail was broken.Agastya got upset&performed Tapaa. Shiva appeared to him&told him dat site is suitable for a Shiva temple as the region resembled Kailasha. Rishi then requested Shiva to grant him combined Idol of Shiva&Mata Parvati.

Bhagwan Shiv gifted him the Idol as he wished.
Yaganti Temple is one of the most famous temples of Shiva in Andhra Pradesh.Temple dates back to 5th-6th centuries with the contributions from the Kingdoms of Pallavas, Cholas, Chalukyas.

However, some of the major and valuable contributions came from Vijaynagara Kings Harihara and Bukka Raya who completed the construction of quite a lot of structures in and around the temple during the 15th century.
Main idols in the temple are of Shiva, Parvati and Nandi.

Size of Nandi sitting in front of the temple is believed to be growing continuously due to which the temple staff had to remove one pillar.
Temple has caves in &around the vicinity named on Rishi Agastya and Bhagwan Venkateswara.
The temple has a small Pushkarini in the premises.

रावण जब सीता माता के पास विवाह प्रस्ताव लेकर गया तो माता ने द्रुवा के एक टुकड़े को अपने और रावण के बीच रखा व कहा,'हे रावण!सूरज और किरण की तरह राम-सीता अभिन्न हैं।राम व लक्ष्मण की अनुपस्थिति में मेरा अपहरण कर तुमने कायरता का परिचय दिया व राक्षस जा‍ति के विनाश को आमंत्रित किया है।

तुम्हारा श्रीरामजी की शरण में जाना ही इस विनाश से बचने का एकमात्र उपाय है अन्यथा लंका का विनाश निश्चित है।'
सीता माता की इस बात से निराश रावण ने राम को लंका आकर सीता को मुक्त करने को दो माह की अवधि दी। इसके बाद रावण या तो सीता से विवाह करेगा या उसका अंत।

रावण ने सीता को हर तरह के प्रलोभन दिए।यदि वह उसकी पत्नी बन जाए तो वह अपनी सभी पत्नियों को उसकी दासी बना देगा और उसे लंका की राजरानी। लेकिन सीता माता रावण के किसी भी तरह के प्रलोभन में नहीं आईं। तब रावण ने सीता को जान से मारने की धमकी दी लेकिन यह धमकी भी काम नहीं कर पाई।

इसके बाद रावण के पास सीता माता की हां के इंतज़ार के अलावा और कोई विकल्प नहीं बचा क्योंकि ज़ोर-जबरदस्ती वो कर नहीं सकता था।
आखिर क्यों रावण सीता माता के साथ जबरदस्ती नहीं कर सकता था? आइए जानते हैं।

रावण के भाई कुबेर द्वारा निर्मित सोने की लंका अद्भुत,अगम्य,भव्य और दिव्य थी, जिसकी सुंदरता देखते ही बनती थी। उसी कुबेर के पुत्र नलकुबेर की होनेवाली पत्नी थी अप्सरा रंभा जिसके सौंदर्य पर रावण मोहित हो गया था।
एक बार जब विश्व-विजय करने के लिए रावण स्वर्गलोक पहुंचा तो उसे वहां...

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 💕🙏

Do you know?

Rajaram Jat was a great Jat leader,who plundered the tomb of emperor Akbar and burnt his remains.

Rajaram Jat was the son of Bhajja Singh who was the chief of Sinsani in princely state of Bharatpur in India.Rajaram Jat also grew up to be the Chieftain of Sinsani.

He militarized the Jat, trained and organised them to form a proper standing Army.He was aware of the fact that his enemy ie the Mughals had advanced weapons in their arsenals&therefore decided to train his fellow Jat soldiers in firearms&made them capable to take on the Mughals.

He also built the small forts known as 'Garhi' in forest areas for raiding the Mughals. These Garhis were surrounded by the solid mud walls. These small forts played a very significant role in Jat Mobilization. They were used as Military bases and also their treasury.

Rajaram Jat organised a network of outposts & spies in such a manner that no Mughal convoy could pass unchallenged.
When Aurangzeb went towards Deccan to suppress the Marathas, the northern region of the Mughal Empire started crumbling.Jats took full advantage of this situation.

Under the powerful leadership of Rajaram, the Jats successfully raided several Mughal Dominions.
The path of Mughals to reach Deccan passed through the Jat territories and the Jats never missed an opportunity to raid them which made Mughals scared to take those paths.