Ramanisblog

Category: Hinduism

  • Sanskrit Hymn for World Peace.

  • A Frenchman’s view of ‘Hindu terrorism’-My reply.


    • Hinduism is different in that it is a way of life at the individual level and not institutionalized .
    • What is needed is faith-of any hue including Atheism.
    • Hinduism has survived because of its flexibility and tolerance.
    • Hinduism has been targeted as also Hindus, but it has renewed itself with vigor.
    • At the same time one should also remember that if you should not identify a religion as terrorist because of the activities of some (as has been stated here),is it not logical that you should extend the courtesy to Islam as well?
    • The difference is that people of Islam, at least most of them, keep quiet with out condemning terrorism.
    • Should Hindus also follow the same path?
    • Hinduism needed none nor does it need any one to defend it;it can, by itself.
    • Best way to defend Hinduism is to study the scriptures and live accordingly.
    • This is the best service we can do to Hinduism.
    • I received the following forward and above are my comments.

    By Francois Gautier

    Is there such a thing as ‘Hindu terrorism’, as the arrest of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur for the Malegaonblasts may tend to prove? Well, I guess I was asked to write this column because I am one of that rare breed of foreign correspondents — a lover of Hindus! A born Frenchman, Catholic-educated and non-Hindu, I do hope I’ll be given some credit for my opinions, which are not the product of my parents’ ideas, my education or my atavism, but garnered from 25 years of reporting in South Asia (for Le Journal de Geneve and Le Figaro).

    In the early 1980s, when I started freelancing in south India, doing photo features on Kalaripayattu, the Ayyappa festival, or the Ayyanars, I slowly realised that the genius of this country lies in its Hindu ethos, in the true spirituality behind Hinduism. The average Hindu you meet in a million villages possesses this simple, innate spirituality and accepts your  diversity, whether you are Christian or Muslim, Jain or Arab, French or Chinese. It is this Hinduness that makes the Indian Christian different from, say, a French Christian, or the Indian Muslim unlike a Saudi Muslim. I also learnt that Hindus not only believed that the divine could manifest itself at different times, under different names, using different scriptures (not to mention the wonderful avatar concept, the perfect answer to 21st century religious strife) but that they had also given refuge to persecuted minorities from across the world—Syrian Christians, Parsis, Jews, Armenians, and today, Tibetans.

    In 3,500 years of existence, Hindus have never militarily invaded another country, never tried to impose their religion on others by force or induced conversions. You cannot find anybody less fundamentalist than a Hindu in the world and it saddens me when I see the Indian and western press equating terrorist groups like SIMI, which blow up innocent civilians, with ordinary, angry Hindus who burn churches without killing anybody. We know also that most of these communal incidents often involve persons from the same groups—often Dalits and tribals—some of who have converted to Christianity and others not. However reprehensible the destruction of Babri Masjid, no Muslim was killed in the process; compare this to the ‘vengeance’ bombings of 1993 in Bombay, which wiped out hundreds of innocents, mostly Hindus. Yet the Babri Masjiddestruction is often described by journalists as the more horrible act of the two. We also remember howSharad Pawar, when he was chief minister of Maharashtra in 1993, lied about a bomb that was supposed to have gone off in a Muslim locality of Bombay.

    I have never been politically correct, but have always written what I have discovered while reporting. Let me then be straightforward about this so-called Hindu terror. Hindus, since the first Arab invasions, have been at the receiving end of terrorism, whether it was by Timur, who killed 1,00,000 Hindus in a single day in 1399, or by the Portuguese Inquisitionwhich crucified Brahmins in Goa. Today, Hindus are still being targeted: there were one million Hindus in the Kashmir valley in 1900; only a few hundred remain, the rest having fled in terror. Blasts after blasts have killed hundreds of innocent Hindus all over India in the last four years. Hindus, the overwhelming majority community of this country, are being made fun of, are despised, are deprived of the most basic facilities for one of their most sacred pilgrimages in Amarnath while their government heavily sponsors the Haj. They see their brothers and sisters converted to Christianity through inducements and financial traps, see a harmless 84-year-old swami and a sadhvi brutally murdered. Their gods are blasphemed. So sometimes, enough is enough.

    At some point, after years or even centuries of submitting like sheep to slaughter, Hindus—whom the Mahatma once gently called cowards—erupt in uncontrolled fury. And it hurts badly. It happened in Gujarat. It happened in Jammu, then in Kandhamal, Mangalore, and Malegaon. It may happen again elsewhere. What should be understood is that this is a spontaneous revolution on the ground, by ordinary Hindus, without any planning from the political leadership. Therefore, the BJP, instead of acting embarrassed, should not disown those who choose other means to let their anguished voices be heard.

    There are about a billion Hindus, one in every six persons on this planet. They form one of the most successful, law-abiding and integrated communities in the world today. Can you call them terrorists?

    Francois Gautier

    • Related:

    For far too long, the enduring response of the Indian establishment to Hindu nationalists has rarely surpassed mild scorn. Their organised violent eruptions across the country – slaughtering Muslims and Christians, destroying their places of worship, cutting open pregnant wombs – never seemed sufficient enough to the state to cast them as a meaningful threat to India’s national security.

    But the recently leaked confession of a repentant Hindu priest, Swami Aseemanand, confirms what India’s security establishment should have uncovered: a series of blasts between 2006 and 2008 were carried out by Hindu outfits. The attacks targeted a predominantly Muslim town and places of Muslim worship elsewhere. Their victims were primarily Muslim. Yet the reflexive reaction of the police was to round up young Muslim men, torture them, extract confessions and……………..

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2011/jan/19/india-hindu-terrorism-threat

  • Makara Jyothi Sabarimalai Man made? NO.

    Updated 23 February 2014.

    I received information from a Reader through Facebook that Indian Express Newspaper Reporter has clicked a Photo of people lighting the Makara Jothi.Unfortunately he has not been able to get it from the IE archives.

    Instead he forwarded me a Link which I am providing below..

    ”

    The Media and individuals who are sceptical of the Makarajyothi have disputed it. According to them the light is an artificial fire clandestinely lit by the officials of Sabarimala temple, the Travancore Devaswom Board and Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) in connivance with some of the forest and police officials. It is created by burning a large quantity of camphor cubes kept in a silver platter. Several correspondents have visited the hill station where the camphor-fire is lit is claimed to be in the control of the forest department of the Government of Kerala.

     Sceptics’ explanation

    A number of attempts have been made by rationalists, other individuals, and Media to find out the truth behind this miracle and to give a natural explanation to it.

    In 1973 about 24 persons from the Kollam district of Kerala reached Ponnambalamedu hills where the light appreared and bursted fire crackers. They were later taken into custody by the police after a complaint (“defiling the sanctity of Ponnambalamedu”) was lodged by B. Madhavan Nair, the then chairman of Travancore Devaswam Board. Since they did not commit any crime under the Indian Penal Code, they were to be released unconditionally.[citation needed] In 1980, a group of rationalists from Trichur also visited Ponnambalamedu and reported about it.”

    Link to the above information does not seem to work.

    Even in this article there is NO evidence that the Makara Jothi is Man Made.

    Please read below towards the closing of the post on Makara Jothi and Makara Vilakku.

    Makara Jothi is an unexplained Phenomenon while Makara Vilakku is lit on the Ponnambla Medu by the Devaswam Board .

    I have visited Sabarimalai about 15 times and had Darshan of the Jyoti in 1971.

    The light could have been due to Astronomical phenomena at the time of Sun changing Signs.

    I have ascertained through extensive study that no Astronomical/Star/Electrical/Magnetic activity is associated with the appearance of the Jyothi at the latitude/longitude at the site.

    The other reason is people light camphor or other materials.

    If you look at the jyothi,it appears thrice in immediate succession, with not enough time in between to light by man thrice.

    The jyothi’s shape is some thing that does not indicate man made fire.

    It bobs ans skims in the sky;this again is not possible if the jyothi is man made.

    “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
    Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

    WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE / Hamlet Act 1. Scene V abt. 1601

    Story:

    Every year, lakhs of pilgrims – mostly from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka — throng to the hill temple to witness the divine light that pops up three times soon after the deeparadhana (the ceremony of showing lighted camphor to the idol of Ayyappa) at around 7 pm.

    This year too, the transition of the rashi from Dhanu to the auspicious Makara (the Malayalam month of Makara) took place at 6.44 pm Friday and this was followed by the deeparadhana at 6.50 pm.

    At 7.07 pm, the first blob of light popped up on Ponnabalamedu as lakhs of pilgrims chanted the Ayyappa Sharanam mantra. Within minutes, two more episodes of the `divine’ light appeared against the backdrop of a pitch dark winter sky.

    Critics, including a few Ayyappa devotees, have of late questioned the appearance of the divine light. A few, who had studied the `phenomenon’ and got `evidence’, had come to the conclusion that there was nothing divine or mysterious about the light. The Ponnambalamedu is a thick forested area and is closely guarded by the State Forest Department and the Electricity Board. Nobody is allowed to go to the area.

    Sources say that atop the Ponnambalamedu there was a small temple that was once the centre of worship of a few tribes who prayed and paid their respects to Ayyappa once a year by lighting camphor and wood.

    After the tribes vanished and were `consumed’ by modernisation, officials of the electricity board continued lighting huge amounts of camphor on Makara 1 or January 14 every year.

    Now, sources say, the tribal temple has vanished and a huge concrete platform has been constructed. Huge heaps of camphor are put into large bowls and lighted. Soon, the flames are extinguished using large wet sacks. After a few minutes, it is lit again and the process goes on for two more times.

    Recently, the Kerala government and the temple authorities admitted for the first time the Jyothi was not a celestial occurrence but a fire lighted by men.

    Devaswom Minister G Sudhakaran openly said: “I was present on the Makaravillukku day at the Sabarimala last season. I saw the celestial star and it is at that very time that Makaravilakku is lighted. There is no doubt about it that it is lighted by the men.”

    Rahul Easwar, grandson of Sabarimala chief priest, later said: “It’s a misunderstanding in the mind of misinformed people not informed devotees. Makarajyothi is different and Makaravillkku is different that’s why there are two names. Makarajyothi is a celestial star while Makaravillakku is symbolic lighting of lamp in place called Ponambalamedu, where there was a temple earlier.”

    An embarrassed Devaswom Board, which administers the temple and earns crores during the Jyothi season, said it had absolutely no role in lighting Makaravillaku as it happens in a jungle, which is not under the Board’s control.

    Ponnambalamedu is about 4 Km away from the Sabarimala temple and very close to Kochupamba Power Substation which supplies power to Sabarimala. It is under the control of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB).

    There is just one rough road that leads to Ponnambalamedu and this is closely guarded by the Forest Department officials. Ponnambalamedu is at an elevation of 1170m above MSL and Sabarimala is just 544m – making the view of the Jyothi very clear.

    While the Jyothi may be man-made, the appearance of `Garuda’ — an eagle – is still a mystery. The eagle escorts the Thiruvaabharanam (the box that carries the ornaments for Ayyappa) from the royal palace in Pandalam and then vanishes. It comes back then the ornaments are taken from Sabarimala to Pandalam.

    So why are the authorities keeping silent on the divine light. It is pure commerce. The State earns crores during the Sabarimala Jyothi pilgrimage season. According to the figures provided by the Devasom, collections at the temple had crossed Rs.131 crore as of Thursday, while last season it was Rs.120 crore during the same period. All this may go up in flames if there is an official denial.

    While the Dewasom earns in crores, the devotees are put to hardships. The authorities charge Rs 350 for rooms with the promise of cots and beds. But in reality, there are no cots, the toilets are dirty and the authorities collect Rs 600 to 900 unofficially.

    The money for annadhanam is not properly accounted; those who pay in thousands get priority for darshan and there is large scale pilferage and kickbacks in construction projects.

    Will the stampede open the proverbial can of worms?

    http://news.in.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4805771&page=4

    This article does not advance arguments or proof that the Light is man-made.

    Why the provocative title?

    Please read my blog on makara jothi 2011for unbiased writing.

    Enhanced by Zemanta
    Related articles

  • Sabarmalai Makara Jothi-appeared in(?) a different way?-Video.

    Lord Ayyappa.

    Please watch the video.

    I have first visited Sabarimalai for the first time in 1971 for Makara Vilakku and had darshan.

    Since then I have visited Sabarimalai about 15 times, though not for Jothi .

    However I have been seeing it on TV every year.

    This year I have noted the following points in Live telecast on Jaya TV in Bangaloreand my sister in law at Madras on Sankara TV.

    Jaya TV.-While Tiruvaabaranam was  in the process of being adorned on the Lord, the Sannidhi seemed to be open.

    -Some pilgrims(not police/volunteers) were found to be not  in Sabarimala attire.Couple of them were wearing white shirts.

    -Garudan hovering over the Tiruvaabarana procession was missing.

    -Normally the Jothi appears between 18-43 abd 18-47.

    -This year it was at 19-11(give or take a couple of minutes)

    -Finally the jothi.It normallyappears once the Deepaaradanai is completed for the Lord and a celestial light floats and skims beneath the Star thrice.

    This year, the light appeared to be a circular blob,it did not skim and fade.

    It appeared only twice and after the first sighting it disappeared immediately and reappeared .

    I  am pained.

    Was there any short coming in the performance of Rituals.?

    Will some body who has witnessed in the Jothi in 2011 in person inform me on this?

    * I will write on Makara Jothi , a miraculous phenomenon in detail for those who  may not know about it(especially foreign readers)

  • Your Zodiac sign changed?

    In Hindu system of Astrology, the Sun sign(Zodiac) ,changes .

    It moves from one sign to another periodically.

    At the same time the place where the sign was at the time of one’s birth (lagna) decides the lagna.This is the basis that gives clue to one’s tendencies and generally indicates one’s life primarily.

    When the Sun changes its position periodically in  the Constellation, it indicates the present fortune of the individual in conjunction with the lagna.

    Story:

    Astronomers have restored the original Babylonian zodiac by recalculating the dates that correspond with each sign to accommodate millennia of subtle shifts in the Earth’s axis. Prepare to have your minds blown, all you people with easily blowable minds.

    Here is the zodiac as the ancient Babylonians intended it—with the dates corresponding to the times of the year that the sun is actually in each constellation’s “house”—according to the Minnesota Planetarium Society’s Parke Kunkle:

    Capricorn: Jan. 20-Feb. 16.
    Aquarius: Feb. 16-March 11.
    Pisces: March 11-April 18.
    Aries: April 18-May 13.
    Taurus: May 13-June 21.
    Gemini: June 21-July 20.
    Cancer: July 20-Aug. 10.
    Leo: Aug. 10-Sept. 16.
    Virgo: Sept. 16-Oct. 30.
    Libra: Oct. 30-Nov. 23.
    Scorpio: Nov. 23-29.
    Ophiuchus:* Nov. 29-Dec. 17.
    Sagittarius: Dec. 17-Jan. 20.

    * Discarded by the Babylonians because they wanted 12 signs per year.

    http://gawker.com/5732115/your-zodiac-sign-may-have-changed?skyline=true&s=i

    http://astrobix.com/articles/Parts-of-Panchang-Karana.aspx