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...
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...
Excellent!
ReplyDeleteLovely click....
ReplyDeleteLovely capture. I think I have seen this bird but then I was out with Chhavi and I was not having the camera! Beautiful.
ReplyDelete@Usha: I thought of you at once! It was sitting on the tree op my house and then it flew to the guava tree.. you would have a wonderful view!
ReplyDelete@Silence Sings: tjanks
@Mridula: apparently it is a common bird.... so says my aunt who is a zoologist... she says that she has seen it often outside our house in thane.. though i have never noticed it before!
wonderful capture!!
ReplyDeleteHi Anuradha, I found your blog while searching for an image of a golden oriole in India to complement Sarojini Naidu's beautiful poem. The bird above captured so beautifully on film seemed the right fit!
ReplyDeletePlease take a look at how it's been used [your name and a link to your blog has been given after the poem] and let me know if it is okay to use it this way.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=219469238169567
Thank you so much.
We're a new page on facebook and would love to feature your blogs there from time to time.
Meenakshi