I caught this procession of folks in the distance, on the way back from a visiting a remote rural temple. They are going to the local Kali temple. Usually this is done on every powarnami (full moon day). But this one is special, as it comes right after Navaratri celebrations. They’re carrying mulai-paari (முளை பாரி; [...]
Mahavira means the “Great Warrior”. That is the name given by the Samanars to the accomplished ones. Samanars were one of the many precursor aboriginal cultures that later contributed significantly to Jainism in Tamil Nadu around 1st century AD; see article on Samanars. While common society endows the title of “great warrior” on war heroes, [...]
About a year ago, while we were walking back to our car my dad had casually pointed in a direction along a dirt path and said that there is supposedly a bat cave somewhere beyond that. Never passing up an opportunity to visit caves and ancient relics I took up a little trek through an [...]
Late last night just before winding down to sleep, I thought I’d take on the challenge in drawing a Sri Chakra (and god knows why, as I’m totally artistically challenged, not even doodling!), and ended up doing just that. Constructed the outline using Inkscape, then color-filled, and texturized using Gimp. Color combination is not as [...]
This is the main song from the film Kaaka Kaaka — a film that I haven’t seen (just not into Tamil/Bollywood films). I am told this is sung by the hero for his girl. But why not go for yet another kind of passionate love, the desire for God? This song can be treated as [...]
**PLEASE VOTE (at n7w)** There are only six weeks to January 1, 2006 when the 21 finalists will be announced for the New “Seven Wonders of the World”. Right now Meenakshi Temple is at #24 on the list of nominees. One of the most beautiful of the ancient temples of India is the Madurai Meenakshi [...]
The Krittika (also known as Pleiades or M45) is a brilliant cluster of six stars in the Vrishabha (also known as Taurus) constellation, representing the six Krittika dieties (the six mothers, the wives of six of the seven sages (sapta rishis)). They are known for nursing Lord Murugan (aka Karthikeya). Whether this is true or [...]
The Matrix Trilogy The Matrix Trilogy is a beautiful, almost divinely inspired, film. It is the epic spiritual journey of one individual (that of Neo) all the way to his enlightenment (Self-Realization). The Trilogy borrows a lot from Hinduism, but nevertheless it’s got so much originality, it holds its ground as Purana in its own [...]
The picture above is the base of the vimanam of Periya kovil, the people in the picture give you an idea of the relative size of the temple and also the detail of artwork. Periya kovil (also known as Brihadeswara Temple), is located in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. The temple was built around 1000 CE by [...]
Spirituality, a constant unconditioning of your soul, slowly pushes you to your true identity, the Self — which is genderless. So it doesn’t come as surprise that there will be some reckoning regarding the feminine and masculine principles (“the Siva and Sakthi”) that operate within you, as well as in the world. Sometimes it just [...]