Like I mentioned before, there are no guides at Avani, so everything I write is either from connecting the dots or Google. I went with a lovely friend so it was a fun day-long picnic. There are loads of ruins in Karnataka, and the sculptures are full of mystical and mythical creatures. When I saw…
Tag: Avani
Chamma Chamma
I hate to admit, but I have two left feet (before you accuse me of witchcraft, it means I can’t dance… True story, someone actually looked at my feet when I said it to them!). So much is my fear of embarrassment, that I am morbidly scared to groove to the music and my feet…
Follow the Light
“May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out.” ~J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
Berried Love
Better than any argument is to rise at dawn and pick dew-wet red berries in a cup. ~Wendell Berry
Dancing the Night Away
In Tamil mythology, Nataraja is the cosmic ecstatic dancer form of Shiva. The dance form is either referred to as Tandavamor Nadanta, based on the context of the dance. Narataja (which means the lord of dance) is usually performing nadanta inside a ring of fire, which standsfor the recurring cycle of death and rebirth and…
Koti Koti Pranam
Kotilingeshwara Temple in the quaint village of Kammasandra, Karnataka boasts of one of the largest lingams in the world at 108 feet (33 meters). Manjunathasharma (CE 788-827) or Bhakta Manjunatha, an atheist brahmin is said to have insulted Shiva ten million times in his lifetime, and to acquit himself of his past sins, Bhakta Manjunatha…
God Rays
Gorgeous, glowing rays of light…This was what true beauty and goodness looked like– a spectral, luminescent gathering of beings so pure it hurt to look directly at them, like the most glorious eclipse, or maybe Heaven itself. ~Lauren Kate
Light the Lamp
There is a tradition of lighting a lamp twice a day in our temple at home. Light is considered to dispel ignorance and bring knowledge. God, who is all knowing, opens our eyes, and gives us the solutions we need. Hope and faith are essential for us to believe. In this lovely temple in Avani,…
Navagraha Puja
The Navagrahas are the “nine celestial bodies”, which include the nine astronomical bodies and the mythical Hindu deities. These are the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn, and the ascending (Rahu) and descending (Ketu) lunar nodes (which appear as Shadow Planets during the solar and lunar esclipse respectively).
800 Posts: Counting Blessings
Rudraashtakam (Shiva Stuti)Namaa miisha mishaana-nirvaana rupamvibhum vyaapakam brahma-veda-svaroopamnijam nirgunam nirvikalpam nirihamchidaakaasha maakaasha-vaasam bhaje hamniraakaara monkaara-moolam turiiyamgiraa gnaana gotiita miisham giriishamkaraalam mahaa-kaala-kaalam krpaalamgunaagaara samsara paaram nato ham(REF:)Shambho Sadaa Shiva!Shambho Sadaa Shiva!Shambho Sadaa Shiva!Shambho Sadaa Shiva!tushaa raadri-sankaasha-gauram gabhirammanobhuta-koti prabha sri sariramsphuran mauli-kallolini-charu-gangalasad-bhaala-balendu kanthe bhujangaachalatkundalam bhru sunetram visalamprasannaa-nanam nila-kantham dayaalammrgadhisa charmaambaram mundamaalampriyam sankaram sarvanaatham bhajaami(REF)(INTERLUDE)pracandam prakrstam pragalbham pareshamakhandam…
Snapshots of my World 