Amavasya falling on Monday is Somvati Amavasya. It is said that if a man is suffering from a prolonged disease, his wife can fast on this day n circumambulate a peepal tree as a ritual, praying for his recovery and prolonged life. @GunduHuDuGa
Once a Rishi told a brahmin that his daughter did not have the line of marriage in her hand. So she should try to please Sona, a washerwoman, of nearby village. If Sona applies Sindoor from her head on the head of the Brahmin’s daughter, her problem would be solved.
The girl started going to Sona’s house early morning and finish all household work before Sona got up. One day, Sona found out the truth and pleased by her humility, she applied sindoor on the girl’s head. That very moment, Sona’s husband died. That day was Somvati Amavasya.
Panchbhootasthalam representing vayu element, also called Dakshin Kailasha.
As per Shiva’s boon, Vayu is incarnated here as Shiva and worshipped as Kalahasteeswara.
The kshetram is also associated with Rahu and Ketu.
The Kshetram is named after 3 devotees of Shiva- a snake, spider and elephant who worshipped a lingam in the forest. Elephant did jal abhishek with water from its trunk, spider protected it from dust by weaving a web on it and snake adorned it with his jewel. @GunduHuDuGa
Once, the web and jewel got washed away when elephant sprayed water on the lingam. Angered snake entered elephant’s trunk and bit him but died in the process. The agitated elephant trampled the spider accidentally. Shiva gave moksha to all three.
Once, Muruga lost to Ganesha in a contest on divine fruit; he left Kailasha and came here in anger.
Shiva tried to pacify him by saying that he (Muruga) himself was the divine fruit (pazaham nee). So the place became Palani.
Meanwhile, Maharishi Agastya asked his disciple, Idumban, to move the hills of Sivagiri and Shaktigiri further South. Idumban bore the hills slung across his shoulders, in the form of a kavadi one on either side. When he was tired, he placed the kavadi near Palani to take rest.
Sri Muruga tested him by making the hills so heavy that Idumban could not lift them. When he challenged Muruga, he was killed in the battle. Muruga restored his life again and make him dwarapalaka of the hill. Also, he promised to bless all who came bearing a kavadi here.
SRI KOTHANDARAMAR KSHETRAM, VADUVUR (TN) #bharatmandir
This is one of the Abhimana Kshetram of Sri Vishnu and is also known as Vakulaaranya Kshetram. Here Sri Kodhandaramar along with Sri Seetha, Lakshmana and Hanuman appear in Thirukalyana kolam. @GunduHuDuGa
When Rama completed Vanvaas and was preparing to return to Ayodhya, the Rishis prayed to him to stay with them. Torn between duty to return to his kingdom and love towards the Rishis, Rama created His own enchanting divine form as a murti, left it with them and went to Ayodhya.
Centuries later when king Sarabhoji ruled Thanjavur, he had a dream. In the dream, Rama asked him to unearth the vigraha from Thalai Gnayiru (near Thiruthuraipoondi). The King unearthed the murtis and on his way back, he rested at Vaduvur.
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
Papmochani is made of Paap or sin and mochani meaning remover.
So observing vrata on this Ekadashi removes the misdeeds committed knowingly or unknowingly.
This Ekadasi happens between Holi and Chaitra Navratri. @RatanSharda55
Medhavi, the son of Rishi Chyavana, was always engaged in meditation and lived a austere life. This made Devraaj Indra insecure. He sent Manjughosha, an apsara, to break his meditation.
She succeeded in making him lose his concentration. @GunduHuDuGa
Medhavi got immersed in worldly pleasures and time passed on.
Years later, Manjughosha asked him to let her go back. It was then that Medhavi realised his downfall. In anger, he cursed her to become the ugliest woman on Earth.
Medhavi returned to his father and sought his help.
Panchmukhi Hanuman is located at a distance of about 2 km from Rameshwaram.
Outside the Kshetram there is a tank with floating stones in it. It is said that these stones were used to make Ram Setu Bridge.
When Ram-Ravana battle was going on, Ravana asked Ahiravana, the king of Patala, to take Rama and Lakshmana to Patala.
Hanuman entered Patala in search of Ram-Lakshman. He discovered that the life of Ahiravana was hidden in five lamps kept in five directions. @GunduHuDuGa
Ahiravana could only be killed by extinguishing these five lamps at the same time. To accomplish this, Hanuman took the form of Panchamukha Hanuman and blew out the five lamps at the same time.
It is believed that this is the place where he revealed Panchmukh form.
One of the oldest and largest Shiva kshetram of Kerela and first among 108 Shiva Mandirs set up by Parashurama.
Adi Shankaracharya is said to have been born to Devi Aryamba and Shivaguru after years of prayer to Vadakunnathan.
It is believed that Shiva and Parvati came here at the request of Parashurama but disappeared suddenly.
Parashurama saw a radiant light emanating from a Lingam at the base of a huge banyan tree. This place is the Mula sthana where Shiva manifested himself in the form of a lingam
The daily Abhisheka of Shiva with Ghee covers the shivlingam making it invisible.
The ghee doesn't melt even in scorching summers. A portion of the ghee, after Abhisheka is given back to the devotees as it is believed to have miraculous power to kill all the diseases.
Presided by Surya Dev and his consorts- Ushadevi and Pratyusha Devi.
It is one of the 9 revered Navagraha Kshetram in Tamil Nadu and the only one with separate shrines for all planetary Devas. @GunduHuDuGa
Once Rishi Kalava was suffering from leprosy. He prayed to Navagrahas. The planets were pleased by his devotion and granted his wish.
Brahma was furious because nobody had the right to change the destiny of a person. He cursed the nine planets to suffer from leprosy.
On being cursed, all the nine planets performed severe penance to please Shiva here. Shiva was pleased with their penance and appeared before them. He blessed the planets and told them to do good to all those who pray to them with full faith and devotion at this place.
Siddhivinayak is called Navasacha Ganapati or Navasala Pavanara Ganapati (meaning- Ganapati bestows whenever one humbly and genuinely prays) among Bhaktas.
The mandir was built by generous donations from Smt. Deubai Patil. She had the belief that Ganesha would answer the prayers of childless women.
Therefore it is a predominant belief that those without a child can get their prayers answered here. @GunduHuDuGa
It is said that Ramakrishna Jambhekar Maharaj (follower of Akkalkot Swami Samarth) buried two murtis in front of Siddhivinayak as instructed by his guru.
As was foretold by Swami Samarth, 21 years later, a Mandar tree grew at the spot where these two murtis were buried.
Here, on a hill near Tungabhadra River, the image of Sri Hanuman is enclosed in a hexagonal amulet in prayer mudra.
It is said that the shrine is built where Hanuman met Sri Ram for the 1st time.
Other belief is that Sri Vyasaraja used to pray to Hanuman in this place by drawing his image on the rocks. By the time he finished his prayers, the picture used to disappear. When this happened for 12 days in a row, he pleaded with Sri Hanuman to appear before him.
Hanuman appeared and asked Sri Vyasaraja to constrain him in a six-sided amulet and build a shrine.
12 monkeys are carved around this amulet. They represent the 12 days Sri Vyasaraja prayed to Hanuman. Each monkey holds the tail of the monkey in front of him but faces backward.
Annapoorneshwari is the Devi of nutrition and food. The literal meaning of Annapoorneshwari is “Feeding one and all”. Anyone who comes here is offered meals and shelter within the premises. @LostTemple7
Maharshi Agastya is believed to have done pratishtha here.
Once, Shiva and Parvati had an argument. Shiva declared everything in the world including food to be Maya or illusion. To prove him wrong, Devi Parvati disappeared resulting in entire Earth becoming still.
Taking pity, Devi appeared as Annapoorna and relieved everyone.
Another belief is that once Shiva beheaded Brahma and his skull got stuck in Shiva’s hand. He was cursed that till the skull is not full of food or grains, it will remain stuck to his hands.
SIGNIFICANCE OF EATING CURD (DAHI) #food
Milk and milk products are a vital part of our Dharma.
Sri Krishna’s association with butter and worship of Kamdhenu underline the importance attached to milk.
Dahi/ curd/ Yogurt is a form of milk and a wonder drug for body. @LostTemple7
Curd aids digestion and acts as a natural laxative. It has many vital nutrients like calcium, vitamin B-2, vitamin B-12, potassium, and magnesium. It is easier to digest so those who have problem in having milk due to lactose intolerance can eat curd.
The tradition of giving curd-sugar (दही चीनी) to a student before going to give exams is because this combination cools the body and helps to check stress.
Curd is rich in calcium, which triggers less production of cortisol and helps in losing weight.
Ma Kanakadurgeswari is the supreme Goddess of Andhra Pradesh, seated atop the Indrakilaparvatha at Vijayawada.
This area is called Bezawada as Shiva made a bejjam (hole) in the rocks so that Krishna river could flow freely.
Once, a Rishi Indra Keela prayed to Devi and asked her to reside on his head forever. Devi told him to wait in the form of a mountain in the holy plains of River Krishna.
Later, when Devi killed all demons, she settled on Keeladri as Mahishasura Mardini and fulfilled his wish.
In this place, Arjuna performed penance and fought with Shiva, who had appeared in the guise of Kiratha to win Pasupathastra, the most powerful weapon. So this place is also called phalguna theertha and Vijaywada on account of Arjun’s victory.
Ekadashi is the day when devotees observe vrata to please Sri Vishnu. On Amalaki Ekadashi, the Amla tree (gooseberry) is worshipped along with Sri Vishnu as amla is his favourite.
The origin of amla is said to have been from Brahma’s tears.
After emerging from Sri Vishnu's navel, Brahma wondered who created him and wanted to know the purpose of his birth. He performed intense penance to know the answer. When Sri Vishnu appeared before him after a long time, Brahma had tears of joy in his eyes @JumbuTweeple@keveeyes
Vishnu said that the tears would transform into Amla trees and the Amla fruits would be dear to him. He also said that those who worship the Amla tree on the Phalguna Shukla Paksha Ekadashi Tithi would get blessed by him.
Then onwards, people worship Amla along with Sri Vishnu.
Kani means wetland and Pakam means flow of water into wetland.
Kanipakam Vinayaka is swayambhu (self-manifested). The murti is in a well which is always full of water.
Once, there were three brothers. Each one had a handicap- Dumb, Deaf and Blind. They had a small piece of land for livelihood. For their field, they drew water from a well. One day, they found that the well had dried up so one of them started digging in the well.
His tool hit something and blood oozed out. They found a swayambhu murti of Ganesha here.
Villagers started offering coconut water which overflew into a channel. Hence the name Kanipakam.
Sri Anjaneya/Hanuman murti at Namakkal is 18ft tall and holds a japmala in hand and sword in waist.
Here, Anjaneya is closely associated with Narasimha and Ma Lakshmi.
Once, Anjaneya was bathing in Gandaki river of Nepal. He found a huge shaligram shaped like Sri Vishnu. He carried it with him. When he was passing over this place, he wished to bathe but shaligram cannot be placed on ground.
He, then, saw Mahalakshmi doing penance.
She wanted to see Prabhu as Narasimha, hence the penance. She agreed to hold the shaligram for some specified time. When Anjaneya could not come back within the given time, she placed it down. The shaligram became a huge mountain.
Vishnu appeared as Narasimha before Ma Lakshmi.
Pancha Bhoota Sthalam representing the element - Earth.
Also one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams, where all 4 most revered Nayanars- Sambandhar, Appar, Sundarar n Manikkavasakar sang the glories of this kshetram.
Once, to relieve herself from Shiva’s curse, Parvati came here and prayed to a Shivlinga made of sand under a mango tree. Shiva sent fire to test her. She took Sri Vishnu’s help who calmed the fire by using the moon rays on Shiva’s head.
Shiva, then, sent Ganga to flood the area
Parvati requested her to calm down as Ganga was her sister.
It is also said that when river Vegavati flooded, Devi embraced the sand Shivlinga so that it would not melt. Her immense devotion pleased Shiva and she was reunited with him. Ekambareswarar is thus Lord of mango tree.
The biggest and exclusive shrine dedicated to Nandi.
The massive Nandi is carved out of a single rock of granite. Kempe Gowda, the founder of Bengaluru, built the shrine in 1586.
Years back, groundnut was grown in this area. Every full moon night, farmers found their fields plundered. So farmers waited in their fields one full moon night. When they heard noise, one farmer threw his crowbar in that direction. To their horror, they found a huge golden bull.
The farmers fled away. When they returned next day, they found a huge stone bull in that same place. When the matter was reported to Kempe Gowda, he built a Nandi shrine there.
The farmers started the practice of a groundnut fare, kadalekai parishe, every year in Karthika.
Dodda in Kannada means big. Sri Ganesha here is 18 ft tall in height and 16 ft wide. Dodda Ganesha is also known as Shakthi Ganapathi and Satya Ganapathi.
It is said that Kempe Gowda, the founder of Bengaluru, saw a rock here.
The rock had engravings of Ganesha. His sculptors cut the Ganesha murti from that single rock. Later, a shrine was built around the Ganesh murti.
It is believed that Dodda Ganapathi is the protector of Bengaluru. All auspicious events start by praying to Him.
Benne Alankara is the most famous festival here when about 100 kg of butter is coated over Ganapathi every four years and the rich prasad is offered to the worshippers.
Ganesha is also covered in cream colour and is decorated with golden laces and buttons @GampaSD
Ahobilam is the place where Prabhu appears in his fierce form, called Ugra Narasimha, who is Svayambhu (self-manifest).
Ahobilam is one of the 108 Divya Desams. It has 9 shrines for different forms of Narsimha.
Ahobilam was the exact place where Sri Narasimha appeared and tore apart Hiranyakashipu to save Prahlad. At that moment, all the Devas appeared and praised him as Ahobala (Aho is mighty and bala is strength). So the place came to be called Ahobilam.
Out of the 9 shrines, most famous is the Ahobila Narasimha Swamy where Prabhu is seen as Ugra Narasimha.
In another shrine, Prabhu appears as Malola Narasimha Swamy. Malola means beloved of Lakshmi. Here Prabhu is in peaceful mudra with his consort Ma ChenchuLakshmi.
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