Skip to main content

Featured Post

Newasa - Encountering an unique form of Vishnu, and Sant Jnaneshwar

The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their...
1 comment

Karthikai -2009 - A variety of lamps


With the advent of Karthikai, out come the old brass lamps, some of which are family heirlooms…. At our place, we still prefer using the clay lamps, simply ‘cause they look so beautiful, and we can leave them outside without any fear of them being carried away!!! However, our neighbours regularly take out their special brass lamps, and I decided to capture some of the interesting types of lamps on my camera…..

This is the typical Kerala type of lamp…. surrounded by the smaller lamps which are unique to Karthikai.




Here is an assortment of lamps, the central one being the typical Kuttu Vilakku, a lamp all of us Tamilians possess.




Around it is the Kamakshi Vilakku, which has an image of the goddess Kamakshi behind the area where the flame is lit. But the most interesting of the lot is this one……..





This is called the ‘Aikya Vilakku’ (Aikyam – meaning attainment). The lamp is so-called since it is a representation of the trinity – the base representing Brahma, and the upright part representing a Shiva Lingam, with the Namam (the three vertical lines) representing Vishnu.


Here’s another interesting lamp from another neighbour’s house – this one is a different shape with the top bulging out – apparently, this part can be opened and filled with oil so that it trickles down to replenish the stock of oil near the flame, and the lamp burns for a much longer time!




An interesting assortment of lamps, aren’t they?? I am sure there are many more such interesting lamps from all over India….. And I am trying to collect information about them. if you know of any, please do send me a mail, or leave a comment on this post.



Labels:

Comments

  1. Tarun MitraDecember 4, 2009 at 11:54 AM

    Nice and informative...If I get to any lamps in my database will surely get u know

    ReplyDelete
  2. MridulaDecember 4, 2009 at 12:02 PM

    It is people with interest who would notice it. To me unless pointed out, all of them would have looked the same, which is a pity.

    Lovely lamps.

    ReplyDelete
  3. sriDecember 4, 2009 at 3:14 PM

    Nice collection and I learnt a good deal about couple of lamps :) Great! nd I voted for u already :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anuradha ShankarDecember 5, 2009 at 1:08 PM

    @ Tarun : thanks a lot!!! lets see if i get hold of a lot more pics of lamps, maybe i can do another detailed post on them!!!

    @ Mridula : lamps have always interested me.... before i got married, i used to spend hours putting the rangoli and getting the lamps ready.. used to even draw the rangolis like the different lamps..... now theres no time for all that....

    @ Sri : thanks a lot!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. indicaspeciesDecember 5, 2009 at 11:11 PM

    What an interesting post, thanks for sharing the info. I have, of course, nothing to add, but will be dropping in again to check if there is anything else new on this.

    ReplyDelete
  6. chitraDecember 7, 2009 at 6:21 PM

    I liked the aikya lamp. haven't seen such a lamp.

    ReplyDelete
  7. RajeshDecember 7, 2009 at 10:48 PM

    Beautiful. Loved the variety in these lamps. We still have some of them and to polish them and keep them shining is an interesting activity.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anuradha ShankarDecember 10, 2009 at 10:19 AM

    @ Celine: thanks a lot....i shall certainly update the post as soon as i get some more pics....

    @Chitra: neither had I!! this is a neighbour;s and she says it is a speciality of thirunelveli!!

    @Rajesh: yes, polishing them is an arduous task indeed!!! and here in bombay, they really become jet black in colour thanks to the moisture!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousNovember 29, 2012 at 3:06 AM

    Thank you for your blog. I have been following your blog for a very long time. Just a quick point. Aikiyam would mean integration (or unity) rather than attainment. This is also more in line with your elaboration about Siva and Vishnu. Thanks.
    Kris

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please leave a comment for me so that I will know you have been here....

Popular posts from this blog

Gokarna Part II – The Five Lingams

We continued our Gokarna trip by visiting four other Shiva temples in the vicinity, all connected to the same story of Gokarna. The story of Gokarna mentions the Mahabaleshwara Lingam as the one brought from Kailas by Ravana, and kept at this place on the ground by Ganesha. (See my earlier post- Gokarna – Pilgrimage and Pleasure). However, the story does not end here. It is believed that, in his anger, Ravana flung aside the materials which covered the lingam- the casket, its lid, the string around the lingam, and the cloth covering it. All these items became lingams as soon as they touched the ground. These four lingams, along with the main Mahabaleshwara lingam are collectively called the ‘ Panchalingams’ . These are: Mahabaleshwara – the main lingam Sajjeshwar – the casket carrying the lingam. This temple is about 35 Kms from Karwar, and is a 2 hour drive from Gokarna. Dhareshwar – the string covering the lingam. This temple is on NH17, about 45 Kms south of Gokarna. Gunavanteshw...
9 comments
Read more

Review of Executive Lounges at New Delhi Railway Station (NDLS)

During my recent trip to Uttarakhand , I was faced with a problem I had never encountered before. We were passing through Delhi, but we had hardly any time in the city. On earlier visits when I have had to change trains/flights at Delhi, I have always arrived in the morning and left again at night, visiting relatives in between. This time, I was arriving in the city at night, and leaving again early in the morning. There was hardly any time to visit people. I would only have a couple of hours with them before I’d have to leave again. For the first time, we considered booking a hotel, but there again, we were hesitant about the actual hotels, the costs involved, and the logistics of getting from the airport to the railway station and then back again from the station to the airport.  That’s when we remembered reading something about a corporate-managed lounge at Delhi station. We soon figured out that we could book online and pay by the hour. Besides, we also learnt that there wasn’...
1 comment
Read more

Rama Temple, Gokarna

To my right , the waves rush to the shore, eager to merge with the sand. To my left, the same waves crash against the rocks, their spray diverting my reverie as I ponder over the beauty of nature, and wonder what first brought people here. Was it this beauty that encouraged them to build a temple here, or was it the fresh, sweet spring water flowing from the hill here that made this place special? No matter what the reason, I am glad my auto driver brought me here. We are at the Rama temple in Gokarna, just a few minutes away from the Mahabaleshwara Temple, yet offering so different a perspective.
3 comments
Read more