Desi Colours » Spiritual

2012 Tarot Reading by Inseeya Khambati

Aditya — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 05:00:15 +0000

Aries: 2012 is going to be a bearer of good news, a desire of knowledge, a yearning for growth, along with excellent opportunities to achieve this.

Download Vinayaka Chavithi Pooja Vidhanam & Katha

Aditya — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:11:44 +0000

Download Vinayaka Chavithi Pooja Vidhanam & Katha by Pandithulu Brahmasri Shankaramanchi Ramakrishna Shastry

Lord Ganesha Splendid Paintings by Kashinath Bose

Aditya — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 09:14:45 +0000

About Kashinath Bose
Date of Birth: May 3, 1965
Educational Qualification:
Studied from prestigious Govt. College of Arts & Crafts, Kolkata and he had painted on wide range of subjects in diverse mediums such as acrylic, oil, water colors, oil pastels, charcoal & mixed medium. His art is as realistic as it is abstract, the vibrant colors, the bold fluidity of distinctive strokes all endeavor to capture the complexity of traditionalism with the pulsating energy of modernism. He also worked as an Animator for the India’s first Animation Serial “Gayab Aaya” for Doordarshan – DD1, and as Creative Designer for Swiss Embassy & short Cartoon Film maker for Jain TV. He completed several murals including one at Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Participated in various solo & group exhibitions.

Exhibitions: Participated in several solo and group exhibitions.
Collection: USA, Bangalore, Kerala, Kolkata and Delhi
Address: D-196, Shyam Park Extension, Sahibabad
Contact No: 9810205112, 9810567704
Email: knbose@yahoo.co.in

In Pictures: Srirangapatna

Aditya — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 22:09:38 +0000

Srirangapatnam or Srirangapatna is a small town 19 Km from Mysore city in Mandya district of Karnataka state of South India. It has got religious, historic and cultural importance. The entire city is enclosed by Kaveri River to form as an island. Once it was the capital for the King Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan popular as ‘Tiger of Mysore’. The town can be reached from Bangalore or from Mysore and well connected by Trains and buses. The town got its name after the famous temple located at this place Sri Ranganathaswamy.

Important places to visit in Sriragapatnam:

Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple: This an oldest temple of Sri Ranganathaswamy Swamy (Vishnu) constructed by Ganga dynasty in 9th century and later improvements were done by Hoysala and Vijayanagar kings architecturally about three centuries later. It has been dedicated at three places as Adi Ranga at Srirangapatna, Madhya Ranga at Shivasamudra and Antya Ranga at Srirangam. The Pachima vahini of Kaveri Srirangapatna is very pious and the people immerse the ashes of the departed in the Kaveri River and perform the last religious rights and pray for an eternal peace of the souls.

Images of Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangapatnam

Fort of Tipu Sultan: The legendary capital of Tipu Sultan the ‘Tiger of Mysore’ is located here it recollect the history. It is said to be one of the strongest fort in India and an important monument. It is from here Tipu attacked the British soldiers with his legendary sword. Betrayed by his own men Tipu died within the fort (Tipu’s Palace). An obelisk stands in the fort to mark the place where he was killed. After defeating Tipu the British captured the fort. Tipu’s residence was also constructed within the palace but the British after capturing the fort completely demolished it. Now barely we can see only few remains to remember there was a palace once upon a time. There are also four dungeons in the fort to captivate the prisoners. A launch pad for launching missiles during wars can also be seen here.

Images of Tippu Fort, Srirangapatnam

Daria Daulat Bagh: It is the favorite summer palace of Tipu Sultan constructed in the year 1784. It contains paintings, engraving, arms that depict the glorious victories and the conflicts of Tipu Sultan. The structure was constructed with teak wood with beautiful wall paintings. But it is sad to note that most of the paintings are not maintained at all and totally neglected. The Government should take responsibility to maintain them to preserve for generations to recollect the glorious victories of Tipu.

Images of Daria Daulat Bagh, Srirangapatnam

Museum: A museum with famous paintings depicting the victories of Tipu painted by well known painters, Tipu’s turban, a striped shirt, a necklace and a belt studded with precious stones with a sword attached can be seen in the museum. Various medals made up of bronze, silver and copper released by British to commemorate the victory over Tipu are also can be seen in the museum.

Gumbaz: These are tombs constructed beautifully between 1782- 1784 for burial of Tipu sultan, his father Hyder Ali and his mother Fatima Begum in the midst of Lalbagh garden with a wide platform, verandah and well polished pillars all round. Gumbaz was constructed with fine workmen ship in a great artistic way with ivory inlaid doors, carved stone windows and inscriptions. The walls are covered with Tipu’s favorite tiger stripes. In the verandah some more tombs were laid to the family members of Hyder.

Images of Gumbaz, Srirangapatnam

Srirangapatna – Places of Interest High Resolution Photos

Beautiful Quotes of Nithya Shanti

Aditya — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 21:56:08 +0000

Saying “I love you!” never goes out of style.
“I love everyone. Everyone loves me.” – install this software upgrade, if you haven’t already.
Everything has a pulse, if we listen well.
Our arms may not be big enough, but our heart can grow big enough to embrace the world.
Key chains keep our keys together. Gratitude keeps our feelings together. Awareness keeps our life together.
Carefully listen to what everyone has to say. Then follow your heart.
Like any sensible parent, the universe does not grant our every request. Yet there is great love always.
Life is a freebie. Priceless.
When your beliefs are perfect, your life is perfect.
Everyone is perfect for someone.
Happiness is not later.
Some people need to learn to do more for others. Some people need to learn to do more for themselves.
If you can’t reach their cell phone, call people from your heart. You will be amazed.
It is impossible to waste food. It is impossible to waste anything in this universe. Matter recycles. Energy flows. Life inter-meshes.
Instead of saying “I got it (or) earned it”, say “It’s come (or) I received it”. Instead of saying “I have it (or) It’s mine”, say “It’s here (or) I’m looking after it”. Instead of saying “I lost it”, say “I returned it”.
The sooner you drop comparing yourself with yourself (how you were or could be) and others, the more peaceful and meaningful your life is.
Once you take care of yourself, you realise the world is also taking care of itself. All anxiety and restlessness fades away.
Why raise your voice, when you can raise the volume of your love. Why lose your temper, when you can raise the temperature of your love.
If you like someone, chances are they’ll like you. If you doubt someone, chances are they’ll doubt you. If you really listen to someone, chances are they’ll really listen to you.
A good friend is like a good mirror. Reflects, without reacting.
Massage is peaceful from the outside in. Meditation is peaceful from the inside out.
Love everyone equally. Love everyone differently.
This journey of life will take unexpected turns. Hold on light.

Get More Nithya Shanti Quotes

Swami Vivekananda Rare Photos

Aditya — Thu, 26 May 2011 08:07:04 +0000

These photos were taken at Vivekananda Express 2011, Vizag.
Images Copyright: Ramakrishna Mission

How Colours Affect Us Spiritually

Aditya — Sun, 15 May 2011 21:28:31 +0000

Introduction to how colours affect us spiritually

We all make choices on a daily basis with regard to colour. An example is choosing the colour of the clothes that we will wear for the day. From time to time we may need to choose the colour of the next set of bed linen that we purchase. Sometimes we have to choose the colour of paint for the walls in our home.

Through spiritual research, we have found that depending on the colour we choose (be it clothes or our surroundings), we will be affected accordingly at a spiritual level. In this article, we share some of our spiritual research on the many ways colours affect us so that our readers are better equipped to make decisions that will enhance their lives. Read More »

A tribute to Sathya Sai Baba

Radhika — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 21:37:44 +0000

Love all, Serve all, Help Ever, Hurt Never – Sathya Sai Baba

Eswaramma and Ratnakaram Peddavenkama Raju were living in a remote village called Puttaparthi in Andrapradesh. Least they knew then that the child they will give birth to will one day claim to be the reincarnation of God.

It was Sathyanarayana Raju, born to this couple on 23rd of November 1926 who after 14 years of his birth declared that he was the reincarnation of Shridi Sai Baba who in turn Siva was born in Gothra of a Sage, Siva gave boon to.

Claiming the conception itself to be miraculous, his mother described him to be intelligent beyond standard measurements and charitable from the bottom of his heart. Satyanarayana also displayed his talent in different aspects like composing poems, writing plays, dancing and participating in Dramas. But, the best of all, he had a special reputation for materializing objects out of thin air.

It was in March 1940, that the real Sai Baba was born. Sathyanarayana was stung by a deadly scorpion and was unconscious for a few hours. The following days, he went into a kind of silence displaying an entirely different behavior much to the surprise of the entire family members and the ones living nearby. Though not educated in Sanskrit, he was able to sing the verses in Sanskrit. His sudden change and silence worried the family members and hence were visits to doctors, priests and sometimes tantriks. All these visits could not bring in any changes.

Worrying parents got the final answer when on the 23rd of May 1940; he created out of thin air, a candy and other items which angered his father. He felt that his son was influenced by ghosts and hence with a weapon, he approached the agitated Sathya and enquired who sole it was in him. He got the answer as “I am Sai Baba”.

Sai Baba was a saint who lived in Shirdi, Maharastra and passed away (attained Samadhi) in the year 1932. He was known for his teaching, bringing together the beliefs of Hindu and Muslims.

Sathya, who declared himself as reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba walked out declaring his detachment to worldly association. Like a sage he set out on visits to other places and soon started attracting large crowd with his speech. Thus followers have gathered wherever he went.

Four years later, in 1944, he returned to Puttaparthi and his followers built a temple for him which is even now called as old mandir. Sai Baba stayed in the mandir and continued his services. As the funds from devotees accumulated, he decided to enlarge the ashram and hence built “Prashanthi Nilayam” in 1950. From there on it is just one way for this saint who took to public service and built an empire around him. The name and fame of Sai Baba now fondly addressed as Puttaparthi Sai Baba or Sathya Sai Baba. Spread across the world and by 2002 someone took up a study to reveal that his followers numbering more than 10 million were spread across 178 countries with 1200 plus Sathya Sai Baba centers active in around 114 countries. The followers range from poor to rich including the powerful like President and Prime minister of India.

Sathya Sai Baba, made it clear to the world that the service to human is service to God. His prayers and preaching always led towards spreading love and peace. With the funds he received, the first thing did was to construct a hospital for free medical support to the villagers of Puttaparthi in 1954. Later, a super specialty hospital was built in the same premises equipped with the latest of equipment to carryout any kind of medical treatment.

His project of bringing drinking water to the entire Anantapur district was an exercise even the Govt. was thinking twice to venture on. But, now the 1.5 million people in that area could vouch for the benefits the project brought to the place and people. It was mooted and funded by Sathya Sai Baba.

He also ventured on to build Sathyam, Shivam and Sundaram temples in different parts of India. The Sathyam is in Mumbai which was built in 1968 followed by Shivam in Hyderabad in 1973 and Sundaram in Chennai in 1985.

The poor in Bangalore also are indebted to him where he built his second super specialty hospital in 2001.

Thus he was continuously busy in the public service in India that he never felt like visiting countries abroad. However, there was only one trip to Uganda, an African country, which did not have any agenda except preaching Love to the people.

In the year 1963, Sathya Sai Baba suffered a stroke. It was then, he announced the worried followers that he would be re-born as Prema Sai Baba in the neighouring state Karnataka. He claimed that a sage was given a boon by Siva-Sakthi and thus Siva was born as Sai Baba of Shirdi and later created Sathya Sai Baba in the same lineage. It is in this chain that the next will be Sakthi’s incarnation as Prema Sai Baba.

So, as he passed away today (April 24, 2011 at 7:40 AM IST), while the millions of hearts pray for his soul to rest in peace, there is also sincere hope from the same millions of devotees around the world that one day they will be able to see Prema Sai Baba.

All the images used are copyright of International Sri Sathya Sai Organization

Farewell to Ganpati Bappa at Navi Mumbai

Radhika — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 19:33:28 +0000

The Ganpati festival spans for 11 days, the 11th day being the immersion day. The balance ten days are very active days with arthi being performed inviting the near and dear ones including dinner. The Ganesh idols kept at mandals attract large number of devotees for darshan as well as arthi daily. In some mandals like Lal Bhageecha in Mumbai, the contributions from the devotees exceed the imaginations. The devotees numbering nearer to a million exhibit high restraint in waiting for hours in the queue for a momentary darshan of the Lal Bhageecha Raja. The contributions from these devotees are used for certain welfare schemes like building hospitals, education to children, etc.

In other parts of the city, there is a kind of indirect competition in decorating the pandals as well as the streets with generous donations from traders and the societies/residents. There are societies which use this season to conduct some competitions among children and encourage them to display their abilities/talents. There are many cultural programmes also.

Well, having spent 10 full days, the devotees prepare their idols for the immersion. They carry the idols weighing in tons on motorised vehicles and take them on a procession in the colony before immersing either in the sea or in a lake whichever is nearby. The bands on the day are busiest with very advanced booking as the devotees like to dance to their tunes all the way to the immersion point. There are devotees who exhibit their love by dressing in traditional attire and entertaining all others.

It’s a custome that the idol should not be kept either in the house or in the pandal and must compulsorily be immersed. The number of Ganesh idols are in hundreds and the immersion starts sometime in the evening on 11th day and goes till mid-night. Here are a few pictures of such immersion. Ganpati Bappa Mourya!

In Pics: Birth Of Lord Ganesha

Aditya — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 17:22:31 +0000

In Hindu mythology Lord Shiva commands the respect of all other Gods. He got into a kind of problem. It all started with a boon He grants to a demon in appreciation his deep meditation chanting the name of Lord Shiva. The boon was a request by the demon wanting Lord Shiva to enter his body. Lord Shiva granting the boon enters the body of the demon and that creates a panic in Kailash where He lives with his better of Parvathi. The demon mentioned here is named Gajasura and who has a peculiar appearance similar to an elephant.

A few days pass by before goddess Parvathi’s learning that Lord Shiva was imprisoned in the Gajasura’s body. Later she approaches Lord Vishnu to bail Lord Shiva out of the situation. Lord Vishnu disguised himself as street player and set out along with a Nandi (Shiva’s bull carrier). The Nandi performs a dance in the demon Gajasura’s kingdom. Pleased by Nandi’s performance Gajasura grants a wish to the street player without knowing the street player’s background. As if waiting for the right Lord Vishnu asks the demon to release Lord Shiva imprisoned in his stomach. The demon ultimately realizes the ploy and agrees to release Lord Shiva but with a request. He prayed that he must remain immortal in the minds of the people. Thus Lord Shiva severes Gajasura’s head relieves him from the cycle of birth and death. Lord Shiva carries the head of Gajasura on his way back to Kailash. During this time an interesting thing happens at Kailash.

Knowing the happy news, Goddess Parvathi wanted to prepare herself to welcome Lord Shiva. She creates a child of her own with dough and names it Vinayak. Goddess Parvathy instructs the child to guard the house while she is taking bath and prevent anyone from entering the palace. During this time Lord Shiva reaches the palace and was surprised to see Vinayak preventing his entry. Since Vinayak never saw Lord Shiva earlier he was adamant in implementing his mother’s instructions, thus preventing any attempt by Lord Shiva. This further infuriated Lord Shiva who enters the palace after beheading the boy.

Unaware of all this goddess Parvathi welcomes Lord Shiva full of joy. In the conversation Lord Shiva narrates the incidence at the palace gate which shocks Parvathi. She faints on this and pleads Lord Shiva to give life to her child. Came handy of Gajasura’s head Lord Shiva carried all the way. He places the head on the child’s torso and gives life. So the boy with an elephant head is named as Ganesha who Lord Shiva blesses with a boon that he would be worshipped by the people.