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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...
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Sky Watch Friday - Changing Landscapes

The mountains near the Ambaji Temple in Gujarat are well known for their marble mines. In fact, the local name for the mountains and the forest there -  Arasur - comes from the word for marble. No wonder every temple in the area is made of marble! Here is one view of the hills.........





Here is another... from right among these hills....



Take a closer look.....



The marble mines have eaten up the heart of the mountain, and not much is left. With the kind of demand for marble today, I wonder how much of these hills will be left in a few more years!

This has been quite a depressing post, but for some really good images from around the world, go to Sky Watch Friday.
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