Badrinath Temple
Situated close to the Alaknanda River, the abode of Lord Badrinath is located in the Chamoli district, a small town of Badrinath (Uttarakhand). This holy shrine of Lord Vishnu forms a part of the four holiest sites (Char Dhams) in Hindu religion. It is also one of the four Chota Char Dham pilgrimage sites (comparatively minor pilgrimage sites). It is one of the 108 temples dedicated to Lord Vishnu (Divya Desams), which find mention in the works of Tamil saints who existed from 6th to 9th century.
Mata Murti-Ka-Mela – in which the mother of Lord Badrinath is worshipped and it takes place in the month of September.
Badri-Kedar Festival – extending to 8 days, it takes place in the month of June and is celebrated in both the temples of Badrinath and Kedarnath.
The Badrinath temple was installed by Adi Shankara. He set up his own people there. Even today, the descendants of the families that he set up traditionally, the Nambudiris, are the priests in the temple. Visually, this area is an incredible place. The town is not very well kept, but if you look around at the rest of it, it is incredibly beautiful. From Govind Ghat to Badri, that 25-kilometer drive is probably the most incredible drive you can have anywhere in the world. I have traveled to many places but this 25-kilometer drive is so incredible, there are no words to describe how the mountains are.
From Kaladi to Badrinath, the distance is more than three thousand kilometres by walk. Adi Shankara walked such distances not just south to north but also east to west. He walked up and down the country thrice and east to west once. Once, when he was up in the north, he came to know intuitively that his mother was dying. At the age of twelve, his mother had given him permission to take sanyas only after he had promised her that he would be there with her at the moment of her death. So when he realized that his mother was ill, he walked all the way back to Kerala just to be with her beside her deathbed. He spent a few days with his mother and after she had died, he walked back north again. When you travel to the Himalayas, you will wonder how anyone could have walked through this. Imagine the effort involved. Motorized travel destroyed pilgrimage! If you had walked, it would settle your life for good.
The purpose of coming to the Himalayas is not to achieve something. This was an opportunity to simply be dwarfed – if not dissolved, at least to be dwarfed. You can’t believe that thousands of years of ago, people went into these mountains when there were no roads, automobiles or maps of where the mountain begins and where it ends. Just going. If you want to progress on the path of yoga, this is needed. Not knowing where the end is, simply keep going. “It doesn’t matter where it begins or where it ends, till I reach there, I simply keep going.” Unless a person has this attitude and strength within himself, the spiritual path is out of question.
The Badrinath temple was installed by Adi Shankara. He set up his own people there. Even today, the descendants of the families that he set up traditionally, the Nambudiris, are the priests in the temple. Visually, this area is an incredible place. The town is not very well kept, but if you look around at the rest of it, it is incredibly beautiful. From Govind Ghat to Badri, that 25-kilometer drive is probably the most incredible drive you can have anywhere in the world. I have traveled to many places but this 25-kilometer drive is so incredible, there are no words to describe how the mountains are.
From Kaladi to Badrinath, the distance is more than three thousand kilometres by walk. Adi Shankara walked such distances not just south to north but also east to west. He walked up and down the country thrice and east to west once. Once, when he was up in the north, he came to know intuitively that his mother was dying. At the age of twelve, his mother had given him permission to take sanyas only after he had promised her that he would be there with her at the moment of her death. So when he realized that his mother was ill, he walked all the way back to Kerala just to be with her beside her deathbed. He spent a few days with his mother and after she had died, he walked back north again. When you travel to the Himalayas, you will wonder how anyone could have walked through this. Imagine the effort involved. Motorized travel destroyed pilgrimage! If you had walked, it would settle your life for good.
The purpose of coming to the Himalayas is not to achieve something. This was an opportunity to simply be dwarfed – if not dissolved, at least to be dwarfed. You can’t believe that thousands of years of ago, people went into these mountains when there were no roads, automobiles or maps of where the mountain begins and where it ends. Just going. If you want to progress on the path of yoga, this is needed. Not knowing where the end is, simply keep going. “It doesn’t matter where it begins or where it ends, till I reach there, I simply keep going.” Unless a person has this attitude and strength within himself, the spiritual path is out of question.
The Konark Sun Temple
The Sun temple is situated in the small town of Konark, which is situated in the Puri district of Odisha. This marvel of architecture is dedicated to Lord Sun. And resembling his carriage, the temple has been built in the shape of a chariot, which has twelve wheels and is shown as being dragged by the seven horses.
The temple is believed to be constructed in the 13th century by a king called Narasimhadeva. Like with most things in India, this temple too has connections with a few legends. As per one of the legends, God Krishna cursed, one of his own sons with leprosy. To seek penance, Samba worshiped Lord Sun (Surya) for a period of twelve years. Pleased with his devotion, Surya healed him. Samba made the Sun temple in return to express his gratitude.
The mesmerizing beauty of the place was best summed up by the Rabindranath Tagore through these words: ‘Here the language of stone surpasses the language of man.’
Purpose of Building Konark at this Place :-
The beauty of the Sun-rise and the roaring voice of the sea charmed Narasimhadeva since his early life. The river chandrabhaga which is now dead, was once flowing within a mile to the north of the temple site and was joining the sea. On its banks, existed flourishing towns and important trading centres. Trade was carried on with foreign countries as well, by sea routes, as there was no better communication other than the river in those days.
Narasimhadeva had preferred the place for his proposed temple, for not only enabling him to bring his building meterials from different places by the said river, but the sanctity of the was also considered by him. In this connection there is an interesting legend which says that, once Samba, the son of Sri Krishna, incurred the displeasure of Narada. Who revenged himself by getting Samba afflicted with leprosy.Ultimately, when Samba, was found innocent, he was advised to practice penance in the Maitreyi forest for 12 years, to please Surya(Sun God) to cure him of his disease. He acted accordingly and after the prescribed period the Sun appeared before him and asked to recite the twenty-one different names of the deity. Next morning when Samba was taking his bath in chandrabhaga, his hands came in contact with something in the water. He immediately lifted it up and saw an image of Surya (Sun God) standing on a lotus pedestal, holding two lotuses in his both hands. He carried the image to his Ashrama (hermitage) and installed it in a temple, built by him. Samba was however completely cured, after sometime, by worshipping the deity.
In addition to the above legend, there is another legend associated with it. It is believed that in the proximity of Konark Temple, there was a pool in which once a stone was dropped by King Narsimha Deva and it was galloped by the Raghab Fish. On hearing this, the goddess Dhama got disturbed. She gave a suggestion to Sivai Santra to construct a temple by dropping stones from sides. Thus, the Sun temple is believed to have been built in this manner.
Besides the sanctity and the favourable surroundings, the presence of majestic sea eternally roaring and rolling within a striking distance, was perhaps an added attraction for them.
No comments:
Post a Comment