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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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Faces in the Crowd - the girl drawing a rangoli

It has been a long time since I posted anything in this series, so reviving it with this pic from the Sirpur Village.



We were wandering around Sirpur village, when I noticed her. I am always drawn towards Rangoli, and hers was the only one in the village! When I asked, she said that they rarely drew Rangolis, unless it was a festival. "Why now?" I asked, and she replied "Because we cleaned our front porch and I felt like!"

P.S. I recently visited Sirpur to attend the Music and Dance Festival on invitation from Chhattisgarh Tourism. Read my other posts on the trip for more details and information,
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Location: Sirpur, Chhattisgarh 493445, India

Comments

  1. Ranjana's craft blogJanuary 27, 2015 at 11:56 AM

    The happiness of drawing Rangoli is seen on her face too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarJanuary 30, 2015 at 2:37 PM

      Absolutely, Ranjana. She wasnt doing it because it was the norm, but because she wanted to. and that makes all the difference, doesnt it>

      Delete
  2. BikramJanuary 29, 2015 at 3:04 PM

    She looks HAppy doing that .. lovely rangoli too so many colors

    Bikram's

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarJanuary 30, 2015 at 2:38 PM

      Yes, Bikram, she does... as I said above, i guess its because she was really enjoying it

      Delete

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