Varahi Amman, Madurai, Tamilnadu

Vaarahi is one of the Saivite Shakti deities with the group of goddesses known as SAPTAMATAS.
They are: Brahmi, Maheshwari, Kaumari, Vaishnavi, Vaarahi, Mahendri and Chamundi. 1/n

They are the Shakti (female) equivalents of their male counterparts. Vaarahi is the Shakti of Bhairavar who is one of the Amsam of Bhairavar.Created from the boar avatara of Vishnu, Vaarahi is often associated with Goddess Kamala (one of the Mahavidyas). 2/n

She is also called Dandini (Lady Commander of the forces of the Mother-Goddess, symbolizing the might of SriVidya). As Vaarahi ("hog-faced" or "the great consumer") she destroys evil forces that obstructs the devotees' progress, paralyses the enemies 3/n

and led the devotees ultimately to SriVidyas. She is also called Panchami). With Kurukalla, she is accorded the parental status to Sri-Chakra (Lalita Tripura-Sundari). While Kurukalla represents the full moon, Vaarahi represents the new-moon. 4/4

Jai Maa Varahi 🙏

Tag for 📷 credit

Did you know?
Ahilyabai Holkar was one of India's
greatest women rulers of all time.

Ahilyabai was Born on May 31,1725 in the village of Chondi,Jamkhed distt,Maharashtra to a man named Mankoji Shinde,who was the Patil(Chief) of a village and a member of proud Dhangar Community.

Despite the fact that girls' education was a farther dream in those days, Ahilyabai was homeschooled by her father.
Ahilya didn't belong to any royal family but in a twist of fate she is still remembered as one of the most revered Queen in the history.

While they were living their humdrum lives, one day Malhar Rao Holkar, commander of the Peshwa Bajirao & Lord of the Malwa stopped in Chondi on his way to Pune, where he couldn't help but notice a young 8yrs old Ahilyabai in the temple service feeding the poor & hungry.

He was so impressed by the sheer innocence&beauty with simplicity character of Ahilyabai dat he asked her hand in marriage for his son Khanderao Holkar.Just like that she got married to Khanderao in 1733 at a tender age of 8&became a bride of esteemed Maratha community of Holkars

But destiny had something else in store for her as her husband died in the Battle of Kumbher in 1754 leaving her widow at 29.Distressed Ahilyabai was to commit Sati when her father-in-law Malhar Rao refused to let it happen.

Chennimalai Murugan Kovil
#Erode
#TamilNaduTemples 🚩

Chennimalai Murugan Temple is located  near Perunthurai in Erode District. Murugan is worshipped here as Dandayudapani. Temple is situated on the banks of Noyyal river also called Kanchima Nadhi. Temple is situated in a hill

Sthala Puranam says that, there lived a Landlord who had many cows in his farm. One among them was a Black Cow, which didn't give milk. Land lord observed that evening time, when all the cows came back after grazing, this cow used to go to a particular spot and gave all  the milk

by itself. He decided to dig the spot where the cow gave its milk

On digging a beautiful Vigraham of Murugan was found, but lower portion was very rough. So he called a great sculptor to soften it. Everyone was shocked to see that on the first chisel the vigraham bleeded.

Land lord realized that Murugan wanted the Vigraham the way it was.

Thus Prathishta was done on Chennimalai hill. It is believed that Sivalaya Chola got relieved from his Brahmahatti Dosha here. Kanda Shasti Kavacham was first offered here.

Muruganukku Haro Hara
🙏🕉🙏

Adi Kumbeswarar Kovil
#Kumbakonam
#TamilNaduTemples 🚩

Adi Kumbeswarar Temple is located in Kumbakonam District of Tamil Nadu. Paramashiva is Adi Kumbeswarar and Paravathi Devi  as Mangalambigai Amman. Temple is one among the Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalams.

Sthala Puranam says that, during Maha Pralaya, Bhrama Deva filled a Kumbha ( pot) with sand from sacred places and Amritam to revive the creation. This Kumbha was floating and Kumbakonam is the place where it stopped. Paramashiva came as Kirathamoorthy and pierced the pot with

an arrow and Amritham flowed here. Amritham mixed with sand and became Shivalingam which is Kumbeswarar.

Amritam is believed to have fallen in Mahamagha kulam and the Potramarai
kulam( temple pond).

Mahamagham festival which is held every 12 years is related to this temple. Shivalingam is narrow at top and broad at bottom. It is because of this temple, the city got it's name Kumbakonam

Om Nama Shivaya
🙏🕉🙏

MA VINDHYAVASINI, MIRZAPUR (UP)
#bharatmandir

Vindhyachal is the only place in the world where all the three forms of Devi-Lakshmi, Kali and Saraswati have specific mandirs dedicated to them.
All Shaktipeeth have body parts of Sati but in Vindhyachal, Devi resides herself.

When Sri Vishnu took birth as Krishna to Devaki- Vasudev, at the same time a girl was born to Yashoda-Nand.
The infants were inter-changed and Kansa tried to kill the girl. The girl escaped from his hands and took the form of Devi.
She, then, made Vindhyachal mountain her abode.

The war between Devi Durga and Mahishasur is said to have occurred at Vindhyachal. Ma Vindhyavasini is also called Mahishasur Mardini.
Vindhyachal is unique because Devi is worshipped as per tenets of Vaam maarg as also Dakshina Maarg of Shakti cult of our Dharma.
@GunduHuDuGa

Nearby, there is Ashtbhuja Mandir dedicated to Mahasaraswati and Kali Khoh Mandir dedicated to Ma Kali.
Bhaktas visit these three Mandirs in one journey to complete the ritual pilgrimage called Trilokan Parikrama.

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Bhoga Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple
#Devarayanadurga
#Karnatakatemples 🚩

Bhoga Yoga Narasimha Swamy Temple, Devarayanadurga is located near Tumkur of Karnataka. There are two temples are here for Narasimha Swamy, one is at the base of the hill which is Bhoga Narasimhar and 👇

the other on the top of  hill which is Yoga Narasimhar.

Bhoga Narasimha swamy Temple Prathista is said to be done by Maharshi Durvasa who did tapasya here. While doing tapasya Muni wished to bath in river Ganga and decided to travel to Ganga river bank,

At that time Ganga Devi appeared here and said she will remain here in the temple pond.

Yoga Narasimha swamy Prathista is believed to be done by Bhrama Deva who did tapasya here for many years.

Narasimhar appeared with Lakshmi Devi here to give darshan to Bhrama Deva here.

उग्रं वीरं महाविष्णुं ज्वलन्तं सर्वतोमुखम्।
नृसिंहं भीषणं भद्रं मृत्युमृत्युं नमाम्यहम् ॥

Om Shri Narasimha Murthaye Namah
🙏🕉🙏

#Guruvayur_Krishna_Bhakthi  🕉
#Guruvayur
#Storytime
Beautiful Story of Guruvayurappan

Poonathanam Namboothiri was a great devotee of Guruvayurappan. One day Poonthanam was going to Guruvayur Kshetram. It was night time and eventhough Namboothiri was tired he continued to walk

Suddenly some thieves came and blocked his way. Poonthanam cried for Shri Krishna to help. Thieves snatched all valuables from him, but Namboothiri holding his Bhaghavatam book called Shri Krishna to help. That time a man came in a horse back and fought with thieves and protected

Namboothiri. Poonthanam thanked Krishna for helping him from danger and said to the man that "Shri Krishna has send you here and I don't know how to thank you".  The man smiled and told that he is Mangattachan, minister of  samoodhiris. Poonthanam once again thanked him and

gave his ring to Mangattachan as a token of thanks and continued his journey. He reached Guruvayur early morning for Nirmalya Darshan. Temple poojari came near him and told that Guruvayurappan came in his dreams and asked to hand over the ring to poonthanam.

When he opened Kshetra Nada poonthanam was surprised to see his ring on Guruvayurappan, which he gifted to Mangattachan. He understood that it was Guruvayurappan who came as Mangattachan to protect him. This is how Bhagwan treat his devotees.

Hare Krishna
🙏🕉🙏

Krishna & Paarijaata apaharana #sculpture #story #Thread

Parijata tree was in Indraloka which was one of gifts he received from churning of Ocean to obtain Amrit.

This beautiful #sculpture depicts Indra Dev chasing Shri Krishna for stealing parijatha tree branch from Indralok

📸- sculpture on outer walls of Hoysaleswara temple, Halebeedu,Karnataka

Krishna has 4hands with Shankha,Chakra,Mace&Lotus holding Satyabhama tightly,mounted on Garuda. Garuda has a beautifully carved Parijata tree trunk in left hand& a weapon in his right hand, attacking Indra.

Other side is Indra,riding on Airavata.Indra can be seen attacking Krishna with his Vajrayutham.Airavata is charging towards Garuda.Wife of Indra can be seen in pillion seat.Just look at the Detailing of Garuda & Airavat sculptures.

So what led Krishna to steal parijatha tree👇

Narada Rishi once returning from Indralok collected few Parijatha flowers&reached Dwaraka.There he met Bhagwan Krishna&gave the heavenly flowers to him.Narada explained the greatness of Parijatha flowers & also said that these flowers must be given to the most loved ones.

Despite knowing Satyabhama’s anger,Krishna gave it to Rukmani Devi.Narada Rishi then went to palace of Satyabhama. He narrated whole incident that had happened.Satyabhama turned furious on hearing that Krishna gave Parijatha to Rukmini.Then Satyabhama shows her anger to Krishna.

AGAMA SHASTRA:THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE MARVELS OF HINDU ARCHITECTURE

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.

Sri Devi Karumariamman mandir, Chennai, Tamilnadu

Sri Devi Karumariamman mandir is in Thiruverkadu, a suburb of Chennai. It is said that God Muruga came here and obtained the 'Vel' (spear) from His mother, Goddess Karumari (an avatar of Parvathi) 1/n

to fight the demon Suran and hence this place was called as 'Vel kadu' and became as Verkadu. As per legend Devi Karumariamman once disguised as a soothsayer visited Bhagwan Surya, the Sun God, to predict His future. 2/n

Not realising that the soothsayer is none other than Sakthi Matha, Surya ignored Her. Angered by his indifference, Devi Karumariamman immediately retreated. Bhagwan Surya lost His glory and the earth plunged into darkness. 3/n

Bhagwan Surya then realised His folly and pleaded forgiveness from Devi Karumariamman. In order to pacify mother Karumariamman, Suryadev said that His rays would fall on Her directly twice in a year and touch her feet. (in the month of Panguni (March- April) & during (Sep - Oct)

Mother Karumari Amman is worshipped here in two forms.A swayambu (self manifested) with only head visible above the ground and another one in a graceful sitting posture with all Parasakthi features,with four arms holding skull, sword, trishul, udukkai (damru). 5/n

Thrikkur Mahadeva Kshetram
#Thrissur
#Keralatemples 🚩

Thrikkur Mahadeva Temple is located in Thrissur District of Kerala. Garbagriham is within a cave on a hillock. Paramashiva is Swayambhoo here. Upadevas are Parvathi Devi and Ganapathi.

Sthala Puranam says that👇

Prathista of Vigraham was done by Agni Deva. It is also believed that in this temple, Agni resides with Paramashiva. Therefore Ezhunallath is not done on rainy days or cloudy overcast situations.

It is also believed that this temple was first found by a cowherd. A man had been

searching for his cow that went grazing and thus came to this cave. He found the cow in the cave along with the Shivalingam. He immediately informed this to a Namboothiri who started doing poojas. Trikkur Mahadeva Kshetram gives relief to those who are suffering from Asthma and

Other breathing difficulties. Kayar Vazhipaadu(The Rope Offering) is  offered to Paramshiva. Kayar Vazhipadu is said to have divine powers to heal Asthma. Dhaara is also very important here.

Om Nama Shivaya
🙏🕉🙏

#guruvayur_krishna_bhakthi  🕉
#story
#guruvayur

There lived a poor old man who wished to worship Guruvayurappan. He reached Guruvayur and did pratakshinam of temple but couldn't enter inside as temple door was closed. So with hunger and tiredness he slept there itself.

Early morning after bathing, he wore the same torn dress and decided to worship Guruvayurappan. He was not allowed inside the temple because of his dressings. With sadness and hunger he sat there. At that time a small kid came near him and gave paal payasam and banana. Old man

asked the boy who he was,  and the boy replied that he was staying there only and went away. After having food, he tried to enter temple again but still he was not allowed.

That night the old man had a dream, the boy whom is saw in the morning was Shri Krishna himself.

He woke up and went for bathing. At that time  he saw the same boy and told about his dream.

The boy Laughed and asked " Is that how you saw me". The old man understood that the boy in the dream was Sri Krishna himself. With utmost devotion old man fell at Shri Krishna's feet.

Krishna asked the man to stay at Guruvayur itself and disappeared.

That time temple poojari came to the pond enquiring the old man. He too had a dream that when temple opens the next day old man should be infront of temple wearing new dress. He handed over new dress to the

Srimad Ramayanam - nuances of certain episodes

In my earlier articles, I have mentioned how Srimad Ramayanam is a guide to brahma vidya. This means that there must be nuances in certain episodes.

Whilst there are many are strewn all over the epic, I would like to cover two 1

such instances from Ayodhya Kandam.

Scene 1: Rama is about to be sent to the forest, and King Dasaradha’s minister, Sumantra comes to fetch Rama.

Valmiki says in the following verse

Anuliptam parErDyEna candanEna parantapam

அநுலிப்தம் பரார்த்தேன சந்தனென பரண்தபம் 2

Upon entering Rama’s palace, Sumantra is overwhelmed with grand view of Rama on a swing with Sita standing beside him. Rama’s hair was being dried with Sita had applied ground sandalwood paste applied liberally on his chest and she was also using a fan at the same time. 3

As the fan dried the paste on Rama’s chest, it was being replenished by Sita thayar.

The nuance is that Sita, being Mahalakshmi, knows the upcoming events and Rama would get angry at the loss of Sita. The nuance is that in order to maintain His composure and cool His 4

heart, she had applied sandalwood paste.

Scene 2:

King Dasaradha had informed Rama about people of Ayodhya had unanimously agreed to former being crowned a prince.

Sage Vasista informed Rama to follow austerity practices before the function. Therefore, Rama had spent 5

पूर्वांचल के महान क्रान्तिवीर शम्भुधन फूंगलो

भारत में सब ओर स्वतन्त्रता के लिए प्राण देने वाले वीर हुए हैं। ग्राम लंकर (उत्तर कछार, असम) में शम्भुधन फूंगलो का जन्म फागुन पूर्णिमा, 1850 ई0 में हुआ। डिमासा जाति की कासादीं इनकी माता तथा देप्रेन्दाओ फूंगलो पिता थे।

शम्भुधन के पिता काम की तलाश में घूमते रहते थे। अन्ततः वे माहुर के पास सेमदिकर गाँव में बस गये। यहीं शम्भुधन का विवाह नासादी से हुआ।

शम्भु बचपन से ही शिवभक्त थे। एक बार वह दियूंग नदी के किनारे कई दिन तक ध्यानस्थ रहे। लोगों के शोर मचाने पर उन्होंने आँखें खोलीं और कहा

कि मैं भगवान शिव के दर्शन करके ही लौटूँगा। इसके बाद तो दूर-दूर से लोग उनसे मिलने आने लगे। वह उनकी समस्या सुनते और उन्हें जड़ी-बूटियों की दवा भी देते। उन दिनों पूर्वांचल में अंग्रेज अपनी जड़ें जमा रहे थे। शम्भुधन को इनसे बहुत घृणा थी। वह लोगों को दवा देने के साथ-साथ देश और धर्म

पर आ रहे संकट से भी सावधान करते रहते थे। धीरे-धीरे उनके विचारों से प्रभावित लोगों की संख्या बढ़ने लगी।

एक समय डिमासा काछारी एक सबल राज्य था। इसकी राजधानी डिमापुर थी। पहले अहोम राजाओं ने और फिर अंग्रेजों ने 1832 ई0 में इसे नष्ट कर दिया। उस समय तुलाराम सेनापति राजा थे।

वे अंग्रेजों के प्रबल विरोधी थे। 1854 ई0 में उनका देहान्त हो गया। अब अंग्रेजों ने इस क्षेत्र में फैले विद्रोह को दबाने के लिए राज्य को विभाजित कर दिया।

शम्भुधन ने इससे नाराज होकर एक क्रान्तिकारी दल बनाया और उसमें उत्साही युवाओं को भर्ती किया।

Nanganallur Anjaneya Temple
#Chennai
#Tamilnadutemples 🚩

Bhaktha Anjaneya temple at Nanganallur in Chennai is one among tallest Anjaneyar Vigraham. Here Anjaneyar blesses with relief to all illness. Vigraham is about 32 feet height made of single  stone.
Anjaneyar here is 👇

Sri Vishwaroopa Aadhivyathihara Baktha Anjaneya Swamy.

Sthala Puranam says that, this is the place where Indra Deva hit Hanuman on the cheek by his Vajrastram. Sri Raghavendra Swami and Sri Kanchi Paramacharyar were behind in building this temple. Temple is constructed to

Realize power of Anjaneyar who is seen both in Ramayana and Mahabharatha.
Vadamalai is important offering to Anjaneyar here. It is believed that vigraham contain powers to heal any disease. Shri Ramanavami is celebrated here.

Jai Sri Ram
Jai Hanuman
🙏🕉🙏

Sita Ramachandraswamy Mandir, Bhadrachalam, Telangana

Bhadrachalam mandir is the abode of Shri Sita Ramachandra Swamy. This mandir is in honor of Prabhu Shri Rama. This mandir is on the banks of the Godavari river. 1/n

It also relates to the life events of Sage Kancharla Gopanna, who was a great devotee of Prabhu Rama.
According to the history of Bhadrachalam mandir Gopanna the Tahasildar of Bhadrachalam (second half of 17th century), used money from government treasury to build this mandir 2/n

and hence faced imprisonment in a dungeon at Golconda. Prabhu Rama miraculously gave the Sultan the money spent by Gopanna, after which he released him.Gopanna then became Bhadrachala Ramadasa and went on to compose innumerable songs in praise of Rama. 3/n

Ramadasa heard the news that the villagers of palvoncha paragana were proceeding to witness Jatara at Bhadrachalam. He found the deities in an amazing appearance; and Ramadas then asked the villagers to contribute liberally for the construction of mandir. 4/n

So, the villagers appealed to him to spend the revenue collections for the construction of mandir with a promise to repay the amount after harvesting the crops.The Golconda king Tanishah realized the devotional spirit of Ramadas. 5/n

SOME UNKNOWN PEOPLE OF INDIA - PART 1

Bipin Ganatara - Fire Chaser

Meet Bipin Ganatara, a volunteer fireman from kolkata, also called the Fire Chaser.

A humble man of around 64 years, who is a small time electrician , Bipin lives in a one room accommodation in Kolkata.

He is not a professional fireman, but has been instrumental in saving hundreds of lives in fire accidents in the city of Kolkata.

When Bipin was 12 years old, his elder brother Narendra died in a fire accident. This tragedy shocked him completely. He had to drop out of school.

And compelled to do some odd jobs. Whenever he use to see a fire engine nearby, he would chase it and reach the spot of fire and would see the firemen working.

Since five decades, he has been helping firemen in saving people involved in fire, removing the dead from debris and even cleaning the debris. Fire department of the city had offered him job many times but he is willing to serve voluntarily.

He relies on TV and radio news or information from his friends. As soon as he gets news, he rings up the fire department and reaches there himself in his old fire boots and yellow helmet donated by someone. Even fire people trust him and take his help .

Agastya Muni & Kaveri River
#story
This is a story which describes how River Kaveri was brought on earth by Agastya muni. There was a king named Kavera lived in the Brahmagiri hills who prayed to Brahma for a child. He was blessed with a daughter whom he named Kaveri.

Agastya muni married her. A demon, named Shoorapadma, wanted to trouble people so he prevented rain from reaching South India. As a result famine occurred in South India.
Agastya Muni who came that way was very sad seeing this. He started to pray Mahadeva for a solution.

Shiva gave him small amount of Ganga water in his Kamandalu (small pot) and said wherever you spill this water the river will flow from there. Agastya Muni travelled lot of places to find a suitable place to pour water. Feeling tired he kept his Kamandalu and took rest.

At that time Ganesha took a form of crow and perched on the Kamadalu and made a hole that water began to flow as river Kaveri. This place is now called as Talakaveri (Karnataka), located in the Brahmagiri hill.

Tala Kaveri has temple for Agastheeswara, which denotes the story between Kaveri and Agasthya muni. Kaveri is a part of Ganga, thus, also called Dakshina Ganga.
🙏🕉🙏

Sri Parasurameswara Swamy Mandir, Gudimallam, Andhrapradesh

Gudimallam is a small village located in Chittoor district. It is seven miles away from Tirupati. This small village came to significance,due to it's very beautiful Shiva Mandir with history of thousands of years. 1/n

The main importance of the mandir lies in the Linga which is housed in the Garbhagriha of the temple & considered as the only one of such type. It is the earliest Linga discovered so far and it has been assigned to the 3rd century BCE.(Satavahana period) 2/n

Sri Kalyanasundareswarar Temple, #Thirumanancheri
#Tamilnadutemples 🚩

Kalyana Sundareswarar temple in Thirumanancheri is located in Nagapattinam district of Tamilnadu. Paramashiva is Kalyanasundarar and Parvati Devi as Kokilambal. Temple is very famous for removing obstacles

Relating to marriages, and one of the important parihara Sthalam. Kovil is one among Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalam.

Sthala Puranam says that, this is the place where Parvathi  Devi and Paramashiva got married. Shiva and Parvathi once had a fight. Parvati Devi then took the form of

A cow and stayed here. Mahavishnu took the form of a cowherd and stayed with his sister. From the Homagni of Bharata Muni, Parvati Devi relieved from the curse at Thiruvaaduthurai and became her original form. Paramashiva arrived here and married Parvati Devi at Thirumanancheri.

Paramashiva and Parvathi Devi are in Kalyanakolam here.
Those who face obstacles in marriages come here to do Pariharam.

Om Nama Shivaya
Om Shri Mahadevyai Namah
🙏🕉🙏