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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...

Something new for a change......



There are days when I just can't write, and this turned out to be one of them. I caught up on my reading, and whiled away my time in front of the screen, and then I saw this post by Aarti. I knew she had been trying out Origami, but this rose was simply too stunning!  I immediately looked for instructions, and found them too, but decided that it was just too difficult to begin with! There were lots of pics though, and I tried out a couple..... and you can see the result above!

All Origami instruction sheets advise using Origami paper for best results, but I had none, and didnt have the patience to wait till I went to the market and got some. I debated using some good paper I had, and then remembered shouting at Samhith for wasting paper, making aeroplanes with new paper. Trying to practice what I preached, I decided to use the pamphlets which come unbidden with our newspaper everyday...... The results dont look too bad, do they? 

For those who are interested, here are links to the sites which helped me out.....

http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-daisy.html

http://www.origami-fun.com/origami-lily.html

http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-kusudama-flower.html

These are really easy to make...try them out! And, Thanks Aarti for the inspiration!

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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.