Up until two decades ago, when I was still in Jammu, Diwali for me was a simple, one-day celebration.

It involved a bit of cracker bursting, a Puja, and some sweets. I wasn't aware of the diverse ways this festival is celebrated across Bharat. 1. Uttar Pradesh - Ganga Aarti & "Deepotsav," illuminating the entire city with millions of diyas and reenacting scenes from the Ramayana.

https://x.com/aaraynsh/status/1851845090345390168

#100templesofindia

79. Kamakhya Devi Temple (Guwahati - Assam).

It is one of the most important pilgrimage sites for followers of the Tantric tradition and one of the 51 Shakti Peethas.

Built in Nilachal style (Nangra + Local Assamese).
The main sanctum houses a rock fissure instead of an idol, from which a natural spring flows, representing the yoni of the goddess

The temple is known for its unique worship of the goddess’s yoni (female generative organ), symbolizing fertility and power

The temple celebrates the goddess's menstruation period, symbolizing fertility.


The current structure of the temple was rebuilt by King Naranarayan of the Koch dynasty in the 16th century after it was destroyed by Kalapahad, a Muslim general under the Bengal Sultanate.

However, it is believed that a temple had existed on the site much earlier, with its roots in pre-Vedic times.

#100templesofindia

78. NeelKanth Temple (Kalinjar - Bundhelkhand -UP).

Part 3- Main Neelkanth Temple.

Once a multi story Mandapa
Carvings on the door
Neelkantheshwar
Shiv Kartikaye Parvati


Garbha Grah

#100templesofindia

78. NeelKanth Temple (Kalinjar - Bundhelkhand -UP).

Neelakantha Temple, a millennia-old temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, is renowned for its unique 'Ekmukhi Shivalinga' and ancient rock carvings.

Built over 1000 years ago, it stands as one of India's oldest temples.

Primary object of worship for over a millennium was bluestone Shivalingam with silver eyes.

As per the mythology Lord Shiva came to Kalinjar to quench his thirst after consuming poison after the Samudra Manthan. Even today throat of the shiva lingam is always moist with water source inside the temple.

Hence the name Kaal + Jara destroyer of time Built by the Chandela ruler Parmardi Dev in the 10th century.
The main temple, once a multi floor structure is now reduced to only one floor.

Kashmir under Afghan (Pathan) rulers
(1752AD - 1819 AD)

The Pathan rule is the darkest period in the history of Kashmir

The people of Kashmir could no longer tolerate the misrule of Moghul satraps, and accordingly, when Ahmad Shah Abdali of Kabul was at Lahore in 1752,

Two Kashmir noblemen Mir Muquim Kant and Khwaj'a Zahir Didmari, waited upon him at Lahore and requested him to bring Kashmir under his control.

Little did they know what was in store for Kashmir post that

This was the time when Afghans ruled Kashmir and unleashed a reign of terror on the Kashmiri people, especially the Kashmiri Pandits.
Under persecution, most of the KPs migrated to places outside Kashmir.
Those who stayed back were either forcibly converted to Islam or ruthlessly killed. Killing & Conversions continued till a time when

It is said that only 11 KP families survived death.

Pursidam az kharabiye gulshan zi baghban, Afghan kashid guft ki Afghan kharab kard (I enquired of the gardener the cause of the destruction of the garden

Drawing a deep sigh he replied, “It is the Afghans who did it”)

The Afghan behaviour was beautifully summarised in a Persian couplet which read as "Sar buridan pesh in sangin dilan qul chidan ast" (These stone-hearted people thought no more of cutting of heads than of plucking a flower)

More on this in the coming days......... Abdullah Khan Isk Aquasi 1753-1754 - first Afghan chief

1. He lined up all the well-to-do noblemen of Kashmir and asked them to surrender their wealth or face the worst possible death.

2. He extracted one crore rupees from local merchants, and some traders committed suicide.

3. Houses of the poor and rich were plundered.

4. All the prosperity of the valley was gone, and the people could not even move on the streets, for fear of being robbed of even their scanty clothing.

5. Mass migration of people particularly Kashmiri Pandits also took place in this era.

6. Huge fines were imposed on people even living in poverty.

7. Any displeasure resulted in brutal death.

8. Pandits started a custom of "pot maharaz" during this period, an additional boy would join the groom, in case anything happened to groom "pot maharaz" would take place, In this period it became a mandatory custom because the invariable groom was killed by Pathans.

9. They showed the worst possible inhumane behaviour to the Pandits, Shias & Bombas of Jhelum Valley.

10. Pandits & Shias were tied up in grass \ leather bags and then sunk in Dal Lake for mere pleasure.

11. There is even a location which is still called "Bata Mazar " - Graveyard of Pandits

12. Red hot iron bars were applied to the body of a rich Muslim nobleman, Jalil by name.

13. Another, Qazi Khan had to pay an enormous fine of a lakh of rupees, but suspecting that he had not surrendered his all, his son was put to such physical torture that he ended his life by drowning himself in the river.

14. Pandit parents shaved the heads of their daughters & cut the noses of their daughters to destroy their beauty to avoid the wrath of Afghans as much as possible.

15. The Jazia poll tax on Pandits was revived.

16. Kashmiris wear pheran ( long cloak). Afghans made it mandatory to have two pockets on either side. It was for Afghan soldiers to mount on their shoulders and keep their feet in these pockets for ease, particularly during crossing rivers.

17. Faqir Ullah Kanth wanted to avenge his father's death, For a week, the furious Bombas, the traditional enemies of Kashmiris, satiated their thirst for murder and arson on the poor citizens.

18. Shrieks of orphaned children and the wailing of old and infirm women rent the sky.

19. For weeks, the streets of Srinagar emitted nauseating odour from putrefied bodies

20. Faqir Ullah Khan who ruled the Valley for one year (1767), slew a large number of leading Hindus and forcibly converted 2000 Hindus to Islam.

21. To escape Khan's fury, many left Kashmir leading to a fresh mass exodus of Pandits to the plains of India

Day 2 - begins with shaving hair

Shaving hair has significance in most religions Jainism Buddhism & even Islam

#KashmiriPanditYagonopavitCeremonies

#100templesofindia

Must Visit Temples of Vidisha
#GemsofVidisha

1. Neelkanteshwar Temple

https://x.com/MonaADhar/status/1731886215232630890?s=20

2. Gadarmal 42 Yogini Temple

https://x.com/MonaADhar/status/1730475902708973755?s=20

There is mention of temples & murtis in Ramayan & Mahabharat.

There is enough historical evidence to suggest that Idol worshipping wasn't unknown to Vedic Indians.

They were worshipping their gods in micro forms too.

Earlier temples might have been made of wood & bamboo which didn't survive with time.

And later on, they started carving them in rocks, to leave them till eternity.

They wanted us to remember or maybe were teasing us by saying - can you build something this wonderful ?😊.

Here I will cover the first (maybe among the surviving ones) Hindu Cave temple.

#Udayagiri caves in #Vidisha, have not only religious significance by a historic one too.

These were built by the Guptas between the 3rd century CE to the 5th century CE.

They are one of the most significant archaeological sites.

65. #100templesofindia #Udayagiri Cave Temple (#Vidisha - MP).
19. #Indianrockcuttemples
Udayagiri Caves (mountain of the sunrise)

Some historians suggest that the Iron Pillar at Delhi originally stood at Udayagiri.
As per the inscriptions, Udayagiri was called Vaishnupadagiri - the hill of Vishnu's footprints.

In Kalidasas Meghdoot he quotes Udayagiri as Nichairgiri

Udayagiri consists of 20 rock-cut caves on a sandstone hill.
Out of 20 - 18 are related to Hindu & 2 to Jains.

#100templesofindia

59. #Hindola Toran & #Chaukhamba (#Gyaraspur - MP).

This is what remains of a 10th-century Vishnu temple in Gyaraspur.

Hindola-Toran: The pillars are beautifully carved with 10 incarnations of Vishnu: Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vaman, Parshuram, Ram, Krishna, Buddha & Kalki.

Char-Khamba: 4 pillars near Hindola toran, they look like part Mahamadapa of an ancient temple which doesn't exist now.
1. Matsya 🐟

2. Kurma 🐢

#100templesofindia
#KhajurahoTemples

57. #Bijamandal (Vijay Mandal) Temple #Vidisha.

This 1100-year-old temple is now in complete ruins.
In its prime, this was one of the largest temple complexes in Central India.

Mahmud of Ghazni, after vandalising Somnath temple headed to Vidisha to reduce the grandest temple of that period to rubble.

After he left it was rebuilt by Paramara Kings.

Then in 1682 Aurangzeb desecrating this temple and broke its idols & used them to build a mosque over it.

Only base of this temple is left now.
Aurangzeb was a religious fanatic.

When the King of Vidisha lost to him & he offered Aurangzeb his wealth and requested him not to destroy the temple.

King even offered his eldest son to Islam in exchange for leaving the temple as it is.

Aurangzeb converted the eldest prince and after that started attacking the temple with special canons from every corner to maximize the damage.

#100templesofindia

55. #GarudaStambha Heliodorus pillar #Vidisha.

One of the oldest temples dedicated to Baghwan Vishnu (Vasudeva) dates back to the 2nd century BC.

Heliodorus, a Vishnu Bhakt came from Takshila during the reign of great king Antalkidas ~ 135 BCE & he set up Garuda-Dhvaj in honour of Vasudev.

Next to the pillar are ruins of one of the oldest temples of Vishnu.






The Inscriptions
In Sanskrit with some influence of Prakrit and script is Brahmi of 2nd BCE

1.
Devadevsa Vasudevasa Garudadhvajo ayam
karito i Heliodorena bhaga
vatena Diyasa puterna takshilakena
Yonadatena agatena maharajasa
kasiputrasa Bhagabhadrasa tratarasa
vasena chatudasena rajena vadhamanasa

2.
Trini amutapadanisu anuthitani
nayamti svaga samo chago apramado

#100templesofindia
#KhajurahoTemples

51. #Chaturbhuj Temple #Khajuraho
5. #KhajurahoTemples - Southern GOT.

Built in 1100 CE by Chandelas, temple is famous for its unique main diety of Shiv which is 10.3 feet.

He has gentle face of Buddha & stance of Krishna (tribhanga).

Tip - Please visit it 45min before sunset, the last rays of sun on the main pratima create magic.
Shiv in tribhanga

5 Sati Pillars

Location - #Sanchi Museum

Dating back to the 13th century, these 5 pillars were found in the area around Sanchi, they depict Chasity in Hindu society during that period.

4 significant scenes are depicted in all these Pillars

1) Shivling puja by the couple






2) Wife massaging feet of her husband.

Devi Abodes Outside India

#Devitemples.

1. Manāt (pre-Islamic Arabian goddess) - Arab

The attack on Somnath temple by Mahmud of Ghazni may have been inspired by the belief that an idol of Manat had been secretly transferred to the temple,
he wanted to destroy the idol.

pic: wiki
2. al-Lat / Allat (pre-Islamic Arabian goddess) - Arab

pic src: wiki

In these 9 days of #navratri, I will try to cover must-visit Devi Temples.

#Devitemples

1. Maa Mundeshwari Devi (Bihar) dating back to 108 CE, is the oldest functional Hindu temple in the World

https://x.com/LostTemple7/status/1249603477736570880?s=20

2. 64 Yogini Temple Morena (Madhya Pradesh)
The 11th-century temple dedicated to 64 manifestations of Maa Parvati\Durga

https://x.com/MonaADhar/status/1644329406037471233?s=20

16. #Tulja lena\caves Junnar (Maharashtra).

It dates back to somewhere between 2nd-1st BCE, the first of the Junnar rock cut series.

The highlight of these caves is the unique Chaitya, a huge stupa surrounded by 12 octagonal columns.



Simple in design but has traces of Polish, called Mauryan Polish found in imperial columns & caves of the Mauryan era.

Is Buddhism really lost from Bharat?

If as a Hindu you are visiting your religious sites you will definitely visit a Jain\ Buddhist or even a Gurudwara in the vicinity.
You pay your respects.
It comes naturally to us.
Your head bows down
Hands fold in gratitude
Eyes closed
&
You feel a deep internal connection & peace with the divine energy.

Buddhism might have declined but Buddha has found a special place in almost every home & every heart in India. Some claim Buddhist temples were taken over by Hindus, well some of it is true but taking over feels like throwing the Buddhist monks & murtis out and then controlling them.

This isn't true in most of the cases barring a few.

#100templesofindia

43. #Chausath Yogini Temple, #Morena ( Near Gwalior)

Also called #Ekattarso Mahadeva Temple, since not a single Yogini pratima is present in this temple now.
Shivlings have been installed in all small temples.

This temple is worshiped & visited on a daily basis.

This 64 Yogini temple was built by the #Kachchhapaghata dynasty in 1055 CE.


Built on a hill, circular in shape, with a radius of 170 feet.

This temple was used to provide education on topics of Astrology & Mathematics on the basis of the transit of the Sun

#Indianrockcuttemples

13. #Bedse Caves near Lonavala (Maharashtra).
Rock-cut caves date back to the 1st century BCE.

The entrance of Chaitya is adored with 4 massive pillars which are adored with pairs of animals & couples.

#Indianrockcuttemples

12. #Bhaja Caves near Lonavala (Maharashtra)

Rock cut caves dating back to 2nd century BC.

Main chaitya (prayer hall) is perfect example of early development of this kind of wooden architecture, supporting the main structure.

https://twitter.com/MonaADhar/status/1685177028503564288?s=20

We are #Brahmins because our ancestors dedicated their lives to exploring knowledge.

They shared & documented it for centuries.

Today we have so many mediums to share information, yet what we see & read is 90% trash.

Whatever small contribution we can make to this ocean of… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…