DIVINEINFORMATION PART 3 Dear friends,
While going through one of my externalmemory device, I came across some good information stored from awebsite (not availablenow). I thought of sharinginteresting ones from them as a series. These are short information. Inpart 2 I have covered four items. So Iam starting with 11th item in this posting. Sincerely, Gopala Krishnan 12-05-2021 11 HANUMAN Hanuman, the monkey god, is a verypopular deity and is worshipped all over India, specially in villages. Hisimage is found in many forms, often with one head, two arms and a long taillooped over his head. He normally has a monkey's face on a very well built andstrong human body. There are several other forms also including one with tenarms and five heads. Apart from his own, the other heads are of a garuda (halfman, half bird), a boar, a horse and a man-Lion, representing the five mostimportant avataras of Vishnu. Hanumanis an important character in the Ramayana which depicts him as the epitome ofdevoted service and loyalty. His search for the heroine Sita,captured by Ravana, illustrates his superhuman powers and zealous performanceof the tasks assigned to him. When he came to know that she was held captive inLanka, Hanuman crossed the channel between India and Lanka with a giant leap. On being captured, he set Lanka on fire withhis flaming tail and returned to Rama and helped him in many miraculous ways tobesiege Lanka, Twice heflew to the Himalayas to collect medicinal herbs for his wounded companions. After the war, his wish to remain asRama's faithful servant was granted. Every Rama temple has an idol of Hanumanas a minor deity. His worship is believed to destroy all evil. Festival:Hanuman Jayanti Held in March-April, Hanuman Jayanti (birth anniversary) iscelebrated all over the country. People visit the temples where the idol isgiven a new coat of vermilion mixed with clarified butter and then richlydecorated. Fasting is done and apart from the Hanuman Chalisa (hymn's ofHanuman), the Ramayana also is read. Tales of Hanuman's love for Rama are readaloud. My note- There is a famous Hanuman temple at Namakkal near Salem. Another famous one in Sucheendram nearNagerkovil as sub deity. In Trivandrum at Vikas bhavan though small, a famous Hanuman temple is there. 12 KARTIKEYA Kartikeya, the god of war and generalof the army of the gods, is known for his extraordinary strength. He is yellow skinned and usually hassix heads. Depending on the number of arms depicted, he holds in hishands, a spear, a bow, an arrow, a noose, a discus, a cock, a shield, aconch-shell, a plough and a sword. He has one hand in a charitable and theother in a protective pose. In many idols found in the Southern part of India,he is shown as having twelve arms. His vehicle is the peacock. Hisorigin may have resulted from the assimilation of a deity from the Southernparts of India. In ancienttimes his worship was very widespread and there are references about his imagesin homes and temples. With the adventof Shiva, Kartikeya started losing his importance in Northern India where hewas sometimes relegated to the position of a guardian deity in Shaivitetemples. In theSouth he is still popular, and is also having names like Murugan, Velam andSeyyan. In some texts he is regarded as the sonof Shiva and Parvati and is therefore the brother of Ganesha. The reason forhis having six heads can be found in one of the stories relating to his birth. A passage inthe Mahabharata mentions Agni's adulterous relationship with six wives of theRishis(ascetics), who represent the six stars that form the Indian Pleidaes inthe constellation of Taurus. The relationship resulted in the birth ofKartikeya. Because of his having six heads, all his six mothers were able tosuckle him at the same time. My note-This information is new to me Festival In the Hindu month of Kartik (October-November), the clayimage of Kartikeya is worshipped and then immersed in the river. At thefestival associated with the goddess Durga, his image is set up by her side. Many women worship Kartikeya so thatthey may be blessed with a male offspring. My note- The famoustemple at Pazhani was constructed by Cheraman Perumal who was a devotee of Muruga. The deity is placed in such a manner he could worship from Kerala. I have readthere are inscriptions to this in the temple. Just like sabarimalaithere are a number of devotees to Palani from Kerala 13 PARVATI Parvati, the consort of Shiva, is represented as a fair andbeautiful woman, with no superfluity of limbs. Few miraculous deeds are claimedfor her. It is only when sheappears as Durga, Kali, etc., that she manifests divine powers and exhibits avery different spirit. As Kali she became an ascetic whose severe penances wereintended to attract the attention of Shiva. When Shiva teased herabout her black skin, through penances she had her colour changed to that ofgold and was then called Gauri. Parvati is notimportant enough to be worshipped alone but only as a minor deity in a Shivatemple. Between the 5thand the 13th centuries, from being merely the consorts of the maledeities, and their active partners, female deities (shakti) became independentand objects of worship in their own right having a temple in which they werethe main icons. It was aroundthis time that Parvati, from a minor deity as a consort of Shiva, became amajor deity as Durga and Kali. When Parvati is shown alone, she may hold a javelin and amirror in her two hands. If she is four handed, two of her hands exhibit theprotection and boon-giving attitudes and two carry a javelin and achisel. My note- There was acontradiction while writing about Durga, the author mentioned Paravati as another wife ofLord Siva. Here he himselfcorrect Durga and Parvatiare one. Durga takes the form of Parvati. This was pointed in response by Sri Narayanaswamy 14SARASWATI Saraswati, the goddess of learning andknowledge, is represented as an extremely beautiful woman with a milk-whitecomplexion. She normally wears white clothes, sits or stands on a water lilyand has four arms. With one of her hands she is presenting a lotus to herhusband, by whose side she constantly stands, and in the other she holds a bookof palm leaves indicating learning. In one of her left hands she has a stringof pearls and in the other she may hold a small vase or the hand may be in aboon giving pose. She is also represented with two arms, playing a stringed musicalinstrument called the Veena. She may also hold a conch, a wheel, anoose, a skull cap, a cup of ambrosia, a goad and a mace. Shepresides over and protects the arts and is credited with the invention ofwriting. She is also the goddess of speech, thepower through which knowledge expresses itself. In the Vedas Saraswati is primarily a river but inthe hymns she is celebrated as both a river and a deity. Herorigins are obscure but it is possible that she once had something to do withthe river Saraswati in Rajasthan or with water in some other way. At allevents, she seems to have been associated with the creative properties thatwater has for seeds and vegetation. Being the goddess of learning, she is worshippedwhen a child is given instructions for the first time in reading and writing.Many schools in India start classes with a mass prayer to thegoddess. Festival:Saraswati Puja-Vasant Panchami Saraswati is worshipped inJanuary-February when musical instruments, pens, paint brushes and books arecleaned and placed on an altar. These are devoutly worshipped as being theabode of the goddess. In the absence of an image, sometimes an ink pot orflowers are placed on a book and prayers from the scriptures are chanted. Iwill continue in next posting -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/136770327.1573326.1620801938755%40mail.yahoo.com.
