BC RELIGION
Saved by @CodyyyGardner

A THREAD detailing the daily routine of Hindu emperors of the past during peace time. Once we are done through with the thread, one will realize what a contrast the present day secular state is to the Hindu Samrajyas of the past. As to how far we've moved away from tradition (1)

 As an example we'll have a look at the life of Vijayanagara samrat Vira Narasimharaya. He was the elder brother of the great Shri Krishnadevaraya. Each aspect of Narasimharaya's life has been chronicled in detail in the Raayavacakam (2)
The day of Narasimharaya started with him waking up during the auspicious Brahma muhurta time (between 4:30 am to 6 am). First thing in the morning he'd listen to reading of books both on Dharma & statecraft. He'd then proceed to look at his own reflection in the mirror (3)
He'd then proceed to the gau-shala & touch a cow to seek her blessings. This is followed by performing of daily ablutions. He'd then put the the urdhva pundra (tilak) on his forehead. Before proceeding to the audience hall, he'd have a darshan of learned Brahmanas. (4)
While seated on the throne in the audience hall, the very first thing Narasimharaya would receive is the tirtha and the prasada of 108 Vishnu temples (divya desams), the sacred vibhuti, sandal paste and prasada of the 72 Shiva temples of the empire. (5)
Narasimharaya would receive the tirtha & prasada with great respect. He'd then request the Iyengars(Vaishnavas) & Aradhyas(Shaivas) to take their respective positions in the court. (6)
Narasimharaya would then go on to inquire from the Vaishnavas the state of functioning of 8 of the most important Vaishnava temples at Srirangam, Srimushnam, Venkatachalam (Tirumala), Saligramam, Thothadri, Naimisaranyam, Pushkarakshetram & Badarikashramam. (7)
The inquiry would include knowing from the Vaishnavas if the officials (mudrakarta) of all the Temples are conducting the worship of the deity without any deficiency; and the daily festivals are being celebrated properly in all the 108 Divya Desams (8)
Similarly Narasimharaya would inquire from the Shaivas the state of functioning of all 72 Shiva Temples, including the most auspicious Panchabhoota temples i.e. Ekamranatha(Kanchi), Jambunatha(Thiruvanaikaval), Arunachaleswara(Tiruvannamalai), Kalahastisvara & Chidambaresvara (9)
Narasimharaya would also inquire about the state of functioning of the 18 Shaktipeetas from the Aradhyas. To know if they received their proper allowances; and
that the daily festivals were being celebrated regularly. (10)
Narasimharaya would then present the Vaishnavas & Shaivas with Tambula following which they'd take leave of the audience. Next the king would summon Dharmasanam Dharmayya, a minister to inquire on the state of the Agraharas(dwellings) in each of the major regions.. (11)
In Andhra, Hoysala, Morasunad, Melnad, Karnataka, Ghattasimha, Chera, Chola, Magadha, Pandya & Malaya. The inquiry would mainly be regarding Brahmanas & their well being. That if they are performing their daily rites; learning the 4 Vedas, 6 Shastras etc (12)
Samrat Narasimharaya would then summon the Dandanayakas (Army commanders) to inquire from them the state of security of the all the durgas (forts). The Dandanayaka would present a report on security arrangements on all the different types of forts (13)
Different forts : giri-durgas, sthala-durgas, jala-durgas and vana-durgas. Satisfied with the state of security at the forts, the Dandanayaka would then call for the chief Talaari (Watchman) of the capital city (Vijayanagara). The Talaari would present his report (14)
The talaari during the reign of Narasimharaya was a person by the name Jangamayya. He'd then report to the Dandanayaka the general state of affairs of the citizens of Vijayanagara city. (15)
The Talaari's report would go like this :

"The talaaris are always actively vigilant in watching
Vidyanagara and its outer suburbs day and night. Therefore,
the people of the eighteen castes (who inhabit the city) are
enjoying happiness and great prosperity" (16)
The Dandanayaka would in turn report this information to Narasimharaya. Next in line to report to the king are the 9 Sampratis(accountants) who present to the king an account of the 18 ports of the empire. (17)
The account would usually involve reading of letters & other dispatches that came to Vijayanagara from different places.
When that was over, he'd summoned his ministers & Dalapati (Commander in the military) and took counsel with them privately for sometime. (18)
The king would follow this up with a Durbar where a variety of folks would be invited to participate. They are :

72 niyogas, palaiyagars (military governers), amaranayakas (nobles), purohits, acharyas, jiyangars, jyothishyas, Vaidyanathas(physicians), cavaliers, mahuts (19)
Police officers, tributary chiefs, Vaitalikas (bards), Vaijjaniks(scientists), Vainikas( Veena players), Gayakas(singers), playwrights, well wishers & a lot more. The king would give all of them an audience. (20)
For anyone who is interest to know more about the lives of Vijayanagara emperors in detail, the book is called Further sources of Vijayanagara history by Nilakanta Sastri.

/end

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Guru Sitaram Goel explains away the mindset & psyche of the "beef eating Hindu" types in his own unique & distinctive style in his book "Hindu Society Under Siege". No one puts it across with such piercing clarity as guru SRG does. I'll just quote him in the next few tweets (1)

"The Hindu who is addicted to Macaulayism lives in a world of his own which has hardly any contact with the traditional Hindu society. He looks forward to the day when India will become a society like societies in the West where the rate of growth, the gross national product..(2)

...and the standard of living are the only criteria of progress. He is tolerant towards religion to the extent that it remains a matter of private indulgence and does not interfere with the smooth unfoldment of the socio-political scene... (3)

..Personally for him, religion is irrelevant, though some of its rituals and festivities can occasionally add some colour to life. For the rest, religion is so much obscurantism, primitive superstition and, in the Indian context at present, a creator of communal riots" (4)

"It should not, therefore, be surprising if this self-forgetful, self-alienated Hindu who often suffers from an incurable anti-Hindu animus, turns his back upon Hindu society and culture and becomes indifferent to their fate... (5)
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THREAD on Hindu Architecture.

Recently when the 3D renders for the new Parliament building was was made public, it was mostly met with criticism here on twitter. Criticized for failing to incorporate elements of architecture which represent splendour of our Hindu civilization(1)


While many may say it is unfair to criticize a design just based on 3D renders, there is a reason why this criticism holds good in this case. It is the same reason why we haven't been able to construct... (2)

..any noteworthy public building since 1947 reflective of our ancient & classical culture(rare exceptions exist though).

The reason being the complete abandonment a huge vast ocean of literature on Hindu architecture. (3)

Coming back to the new Parliament building, its design & why it lacks traditional aesthetics. The problem is far more fundamental. The Central Vista & Lutyens was designed & constructed to serve the British Crown. (4)


The fundamental flaw isn't with the new Parliament building, rather the flaw is in the design of Lutyens itself (which is basically a mini township)

The new parliament building is just a continuation of this flaw which we have failed to remedy till now (5)
HINDU ARCHITECTURE
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THREAD on ancient Hindu system of measurement(मानापकरणविधानम्)

The Shilpa shastras give much insight into how dimensions such as length,width,height etc were measured. It is using this system that the smallest of murthis to the biggest of buildings were planned & constructed (1)


Before defining the different units of measurement, the Shilpa shastra makes a brief reference to the prerequisites of those who must be well versed in this subject in order to carry out the task of planning & construction. i.e the Architects. (2)

The Architects are classified into 4 different categories. They are:

1) Sthapati
2) Sutragrahin
3) Vardhaki
4) Takshaka

Each one of the above have a specific role in the process of planning & construction (3)

स्थपतिः सर्वशास्त्रज्ञः सूत्रपाहीति सूत्रधृत्
वर्धकी(किर्) मानकर्मज्ञः तक्षणात्तक्षकः स्मृतः

Shastras say Sthapati must be well versed in all Shastras, Sutragrahin holds the Sutra(measuring rope), Vardhaki is well versed in measuring & Takshaka is well versed in carpentry (4)

In the hierarchy of architects; the Sthapati holds the highest of positions. He is the master builder. He is the guide of the other 3. The Sutragrahin is required to be an expert in architectural drawing, the Vardhaki in the area of painting & Takshaka with wood work (5)
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Ugra
Ugra
@_ugra_
THREAD ---->>

Today is Vaikuntha Chaturdashi. A day dedicated to both Lord Shiva & Maha Vishnu. The significance of this day and the vratha to be observed is described in a very detailed manner in the Kartikamasa mahatmya of the Vaishnava khanda in the Skanda puranam. (1)


On this very day during the Sathya yuga Lord Maha Vishnu went to Kashi to have a darshana of Mahadeva. Before proceeding for the darshana he took a bath at the Manikarnika ghat & in the process took a 1000 golden Lotus with him to worship Shiva. (2)


Vishnu took a 1000 lotuses to perform the Sahasranama for Shiva (1 lotus for 1 name). In order to test Vishnu's devotion, Shiva secretly takes away 1 lotus before the worship. Nearing the end of the Sahasranama, Vishnu realizes he is short by 1 lotus (3)


Vishnu wondered if the shortfall in the lotuses was due to a error in counting of the lotuses or error in reciting of the 1000 names.

He concluded there has been no mistake in reciting the 1000 names. The mistake must've been the in counting the lotuses. (4)

Vishnu had resolved at the outset for a worship with a 1000 lotuses.

"How shall Mahadeva be worshiped when lotuses are short by one. If I go to fetch one, I will have to break the rule of continuous sitting. Now what should be done?"

Vishnu was worried with this thought (5)
RELIGION
Ugra
Ugra
@_ugra_
A THREAD on the principles of Hindu iconography & iconometry. In order to fully be able to appreciate our ancient art,one must have a rudimentary knowledge of the various terminologies & methodologies employed by ancient artisans & builders. We'll dwell on that in this thread (1)


Before we proceed any further, I'd like you to have a look at the below THREAD on the ancient Hindu system of measurement. A lot of terminologies from there will be used here too. Get yourself acquainted with the different units of Hindu measurement


The ancient Temple builders i.e. the Sthapatis, have consulted various Shastras in order to execute all their wondrous workmanship. The Shastras are many, yet there is much commonality than differences in them. (3)

This vast ocean of knowledge revealed by the Devas to the ancient Rishis has resulted in the various different styles of Temple building, image making, rock sculpturing etc (4)

Some of the important Shastras consulted by the Sthapatis:

1) Vishnudharmotthara purana
2) Agni Purana
3) Matsya Purana
4) Brihat Samhita

Above texts contain a vast ocean of info on Temple building. Ancient Temples of Northern Bharat were built according to this tradition (5)
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Ms K G Dhouhithri
Ms K G Dhouhithri
@kgdhouhithri
#SanathanaDharma

Dear Friends, a few points to share regarding the Varna Ashrama Dharma.

Vested interests take advantage of our lack of awareness of this particular Dharma and project it as discriminatory.

1

More often than not, our own people give defensive replies to the accusations.

For example, when someone says "Hinduism is the worst religion as it discriminates based on birth" many of us reply like say "Isn't it there in faith Y?" or "It's based on profession" & such.

2

Varnashrama Dharma cannot be interpreted in isolation i.e. one has to understand & accept (at least) what the following mean to understand it in full:

1. Paramathma & Jivathma Thathvam
2. Karma-based Jananam, life events & Maranam
3. Narakam, Swargam & Moksham

3

The primary purpose of everyone's birth is to get out of the cycle of birth-death so that we can eternally serve Bhagawan and His Adiyaars.

Where has it ever been said that only Archakas & Yagnyopaveethadhaaris can get Gnanam & reach Moksham?? All are most welcome!!

4

Every Jivathma has been through loads & loads of janmas and has taken loads & loads of Karmic shareerams.

So, one being a Brahmana or Shudra in this birth doesn't mean anything. The same Jiva could've been a tree / animal in previous birth or may become one in the next!!

5
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Beth Moore
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“So Moses finished the work.” (Exodus 40:33) I came to the end of my reading in Exodus this morning. To fully appreciate those 5 words, you really need to read the 39 preceding chapters. The whole thing had been such an ordeal, drama from the time God called out to Moses from

the burning bush to the moment he “inspected all the work they had accomplished” in the building of the tabernacle. For starters, Moses wasn’t looking to lead anything but sheep to pasture. He was hiding when God found him. Moses was no volunteer. And even after God called him,

he insisted God find someone else. But the force of the divine call is hard to resist. The people he served nearly drove him nuts. He was supposed to lead a group of worshippers and what he mostly got was whiners. He’d lost his temper over & over. Even thrown the stone tablets

inscribed by the finger of God. Nope. Moses couldn’t say it had gone well. What the whole thing had been was WORK. Unrelenting, frustrating work so detailed that it had to match the divine instructions down to every clasp on endless yards of curtains. There had been some great

moments like the time the people were invited to contribute any personal possessions to the makings of the tabernacle furnishings. They had given so freely, Moses had to tell them to stop. There was that. But overall, what he’d done, what they’d all done, was WORK. Lo & behold,
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Arya Samaj Exposed ( A Thread)


Today I'm going to expose these so called reviver of Sanatan dharma.

Arya samaj's main book which they treat as their bible is Satyarth Prakasha. Which was written by "Maharishi" Dayanand Saraswati.

Dayanand Condemned Idol worship and blamed it on jains . like really??


The book peddles hate against several Hindu sects.

here is hate against Vaishnavas
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Don't act smart with Shankaracharya, you will get roasted...

This is a very interesting story from ShankarDigvijaya where Mandan Mishra tries to insult Shankaracharya but gets insulted in return.


The fun lies in the twisting of meanings of Sanskrit words by Shankaracharya.I will try my best to translate while preserving the real meaning.

Shankaracharya went to house of Mandan Mishra to debate with him, but he found the door locked so he took alternate way and went in

The conversation that followed went somewhat like this...

On seeing Shankaracharya

Mandan(angrily)- From where did you come, you bald fellow?

Shankar - I am bald till neck.

(He said कुतो मुण्ड्य Shankar took meaning as, 'How far are you shaven?' so he replied till neck. )

Mandan - I did not ask this, I asked your way

Shankar - Then what did the way reply?

(Mandan ment "I asked about your way" (From where did you come?) Shankar twisted meaning as 'I asked your way' so he said "What did the way reply?")

Mandan (frustrated) - It said, your mother is bald.

Shankar - But you asked it, it must be talking about your mother not mine.
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GunduHuduga| \u0c97\u0cc1\u0c82\u0ca1\u0cc1 \u0cb9\u0cc1\u0ca1\u0cc1\u0c97|\U0001f549
GunduHuduga| ಗುಂಡು ಹುಡ...
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#Ramayana #LecturesOnTheRamayana

In today's thread and perhaps some subsequent threads, we will start looking into Rama as a person. The author clearly tries to bring out the human aspect of Rama captured beautifully in some of the verses.

1/


Please note, the discussion is NEVER challenging the supreme divinity of the person, but tries to capture the nuances or the finer points of the Bhagwan.

Sri Rama had extra-ordinary merit - Unequalled, Unmatched merit. He always remained at his own highest level.

2/

He seldom fell below it at times, wherein one can spot the conditions that led to the decline. In these conditions, he did & said things that his own higher nature would never approve.

Sri Rama was indeed the guardian and embodiment in himself of Dharma.

3/

Some incidents bring out the very best in him where he is able to uphold his own moral ideal.

For ex, when Vibhishina sought asylum, he held a council of war with all eminent counsellors. Except Hanuman whose advice was considered weak, rest all including Lakshmana ..

4/

recommended him to reject Vibhishina, with a few even ordering killing him.

He listened to this charged conversation (a skill where we humans utterly lack today) & said the famous words:
" No man shall seek my protection in vain. No matter who, how undeserving, how wicked..

5/
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Agama Shastra is a Sanskrit word that means the manual for worship, temple building, rituals etc in Hindu Tradition.From Sanskrit,agama means handed down by tradition and Shastra means a commentary or treatise.


Therefore, Agama Shastra is a collection of ideas that drafts the rules for worship, temple construction, spirituality and rituals. It has been a guideline for many Hindus from ancient times. It's a collection of Sanskrit, Tamil and Grantha scriptures that mostly contains...


...methods of temple construction, idol creation, philosophical doctrines and meditative practices. It came into being after years of assimiliation and from a variety of sources. Some parts of it are pre-vedic while some are post-vedic.


Hindu Temples are not just temples, they are the pride and identity of Hindus. They are the symbols of Hindu unity and their religious aspirations. Temples are the places of spiritual healing and are our connection with the creator almighty.


Temples are the priceless treasure of our History, Heritage ,Art & Architecture. Architecture that mesmerises and spell bounds you. And Agama Shastra is that very text which is responsible for such a mesmerising and spell binding quality and beauty of our Hindu Temples.
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You want to know something about how bullshit insane our brains are?
OK, so there's a physical problem with our eyes: We move them in short fast bursts called "saccades", right? very quick, synchronized movements.
The only problem is: they go all blurry and useless during this

having your vision turn into a blurry mess every time you move your eyes is obviously not a good idea, so our brains hide it from us. Now, imagine you're an engineer and you have this problem.

You've got some obvious solutions you could do.
1. make the vision go black during movement. (Some VR games do this!)
2. just keep showing the last thing we saw prior to movement

both are good options with different downsides, but OH NO. this is assuming everything makes sense and is chronological and (regular) logical.
Your brain does neither of these options, really.

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SK
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#DoYouKnow -The place where
Lalitha Sahasranamam -1000 names of Devi originated.

It is in Lalithambigai temple -Thirumeeyachur,Near Mayiladuthurai,TN

There is a Legend #story & it is related to this beautiful #sculpture of Kshetrapuraneswarar & Ambal Lalithambigai #Thread 👇


#Legend #story
It is believed that this is birth place of Kashyapa Maharishi’s sons, Arunan& Garudan. Arunan(charioteer of Surya)was physically handicapped.He was a Shiva devotee.Arunan wanted to visit Kailash to have Shiva Darshan,but Surya Dev denied permission.

So Arunan disguised as a girl & was on his way to Kailash.On the way Surya Dev saw this girl & outraged her modesty.Shiva was very angry with Suryan for misbehaviour & cursed him to get darkened. Whole world plunged into darkness.Surya Dev pleaded to Bhagwan Shiv to forgive him.

Shiva Bhagwan asked him to go to Thirumiyachur & worship him there. As advised, Surya Dev performed rigorous penance, placed murthi of Shiva& Parvathy on an elephant & took them to the clouds.Shiva in this temple is known as Meganathaswamy,Devi is known as Lalithambigai


Even after severe penance,Shiva does appear,so Surya Dev cries out in agony.Disturbed by his call, Parvathy protests.Siva pacifies her & offers relief to Surya Dev.The sculpture of Shiva pacifying Ambal shows her sullen from one angle &smiling from another.
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raina douris
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