Not very much is known about the Koorma Avatar and the number of Temples for Koorma Avatar (Tortoise), when Lord Vishnu bore the weight of the Meru Mountain while churning the Milky Ocean to beget Nectar.
During this process, Lord Shiva swallowed the poison which came out of this process.
Neelneri Nathar Shiva Temple
The Tortoise Koorma, became uncontrollable an it had to be pacified by reminding that it was an Avatar of Vishnu.
Much as one would use a trained elephant to pacify an uncontrollable one, Lord Shiva took the Avatar of Koorma to pacify Vishnu.
The temple in Thiru Tandalai, near Vellore, Tamil Nadu has a Shiva Temple, where the Swayambu Lingam(self made) has the markings of tortoise skin.
Main Deity is Swayambu Lingam known as Arulmigu Neelneri nadhar and his consort known as Gyanambikai. Teertham is Omaga Teertham and Sthala Vruksham is Orilai Kuruntham.
The Moolavar is also known as Sthira Buddhi Easwarar, one who grants steadfastness of Mind.
This is a Parihara Sthala for the mentally disturbed.
As we go around the inner prakaram we see, Vinayakar, Arumugar, Soorya Chandran, Arivattaya Nayanar, Natarajar, Cochengat chozar and Siva Lingas worshiped by Vyagyapadhar and Patanjali muni.
The Deity is known as Neelneri Natahr in Tamil and is one of the 275 sthalas praised by the Nayanmars(Shiva Bhakthas)
The temple is 3 km form Thiruthuraipoondi and can also be reached from Vellore.
In Hinduism Gods are bathed in a special Ritual called Abhishekam.
In general,Water, Milk are the materials used.
In the case of Shiva, Subramanya and Ganesha Vibhuthi are also used.
Bathing of Shiiva Linga,Thanjavur
For female Goddesses Kumkum is also used.
In Vaishanava Sampradaya, Turmeric powder Abhisheka is performed.
Tender Coconut water, Panchamruth, Flowers are used in many temples for the Deities.
The Deities are bathed in the morning around 5 am and are also bathed five or six times a day depending on the number of Kaala Poojas, that is the time when the Deity is decked up for the Day.
Origins.
The seems to be no mention of Abhisheka in the Vedas, though the Veda Mantras are used now for this Ritual.
Nor is there any reference to this practice in the Ramayana or Mahabharata.
There is no information as to when this practice was started.
Vedas, in essence, advocate the worship of the nameless, Formless Brahman, Reality.
The worship of personal God is also encouraged to prepare the Mind o concentrate on the Abstract.
Even here there is no mention of the Abhisheka in the Vedas.
However Hinduism treats God as one close to the individual and does not keep God in a remote portal to be feared.
Gods are taken to be a part of our family.
One loves to do things for the loved ones.
For a child, we bathe it, dress it up and enjoy.
Hinduism attributes the qualities of man to God, though these attributes are perfect in Him.
So when we bathe God we do so as we would for ourselves.
In personal worship of Gods, the Smritis , The Bhagavad Gita, Vedas and the Puranas insist on cleanliness.
For the Hindus, cleanliness begins with taking bath.
There are three purifiers of Nature.
Water, Air and Fire.
Water purifies while air does purify the odor.
What these two elements could not do, Fire does and it does it perfectly.
So in purification ceremony water is used and air is used in the form of Dhoopa and Deepa.
Fire if used shall destroy.
It is used in the Homa.
In temples water is used for Abhisheka.
There is also this concept.
The idols used in the making of them have special properties.
The stones used for the making of an Idol is selected carefully.
The Agama Sastras are specific on this.
The stones to be selected must have resonance.
In a temple Veda mantras are recited.
The Idol absorbs the sound waves from the mantras and are charged .
Depending on the Nature of the stone used the Abhisheka Theertha, Milk gains medicinal properties as well.
Abhisheka is a Ritual to bring God closer to us mentally by treating Him as one of us.
Bali means ‘oblation’ ‘sacrificial offering’ to Gods.
This Bali , generic terms, is Vegetarian.
Bali Peeta
There have been practices of animal sacrifice in Hinduism earlier.
One of the main causes for the rise of Buddhism is the animal sacrifice indulged in indiscriminately.
Shankaracharya set this process right by quoting relevant Vedic texts and did away with this practice.
Bali to Gods is generally to appease Him/Her.
Bali is different from Naivedya where the food is offered to God by way of Thanksgiving and to remove the impurities in Food.
Bali is offered to Gods in Temples at the Balipeeta, near the Dwajasthamba, Flagpole in the temple to the Devatas that are in the temple and the Bali is not meant for the principal Deity, Vishnu, Shiva, Ganesha, Subrahmanya and Devi.
Village deities are offered the Bali, not the principal deities of Hinduism.
Apart from this there are,
Preta Bali,
Bootha Bali,
Paisacha Bali and Narayana Bali.
Preta Bali is offered after one’s death to the dead body as a token of thanks for accommodating the Soul temporarily to enjoy its fruits of action.
Bootha Bali is offered to the Five Elements, Earth, Water,Fire, Air and Ether for combining themselves into forming a Human Body as a gesture of gratitude.
Till the basic Karmas for the dead are completed the dead are believed to be in Paisacha Loka as Paisachas,roughly translated Ghosts, en route to Pitru Loka.
On the eleventh/twelfth day of the death, the Paisacha Bali is offered to Paisachas.
One more important Bali is The Narayana Bali.
This is performed for those who die of unnatural causes,like accidents, suicide.
No formal Rites are to be performed for these deaths.
The Narayana Bali rites is performed in all cases of abnormal death which is defined as follows: death by fasting, one who is killed by animals, death by arson, death by a curse, death by cholera or any disease or great ailment, who commit suicide, fall from a mountain, tree or any height, who hang themselves to death, who are drowned in a tank, river or ocean, death by muggers or robbers, by snake bite, struck by lightning, murder and persons who are great sinners – for such persons O Garuda, the rite of Narayana Bali should be performed.” (Garuda Purana Preta kanda chapter 40 verses 4-12)
All these deaths are known as bad deaths where no rite of Aurdhvadehika (funerals rites) or pinda-daan is performed. The deceased sons should perform the Narayana Bali Puja, O bird. By that the relatives of the deceased are purified. This is stated by Yama. There are no other means. Except for the Narayana Bali, there is no rite for their purification.
(Garuda Purana Preta kanda chapter 4 verses 110- 116)
If the Narayana Bali is to be performed for the atonement of bad death, it should be done on the eleventh day. (Garuda Purana Preta kanda chapter 5 verse 39)
“Then the Rites for the release of the ghost should be performed with Vishnu in view. The Preta (the deceased) is then mystically discharged. (Garuda Purana Preta kanda chapter 40 verses 63-64). So what Lord Vishnu is saying here is once the prayers are completed the deceased who was a ghost (spirit/preta) is now released…
Lord Vishnu further states this in the Garuda Purana to Shree Garuda: – “Until the funeral rites are properly performed the dead man, ever hungry, roams about day and night in the form of airy matter. “ (Garuda Purana Preta Kanda Chapter 13 verse 23)
Having incurred sins they seek redemption in their progeny. Being bodiless as well as suffering from hunger and thirst they roam about here and there. They bolt doors on their ancestors, put obstacles in the way of the forefathers. Like thieves, they snatch the manes food in their way before it reaches them. They return home stay on the roof, and watch the activities of their kins. They cause disease and grief to their relatives. Having assumed the body of tertian {fever}, they cause disease due to cold or wind like headaches or cholera. The ghosts torment his family people through the enemy. (Garuda Purana – Preta Kanda, Chapter 20 Verse 5-37).
That there is a temple for Ghosts in Kaanathur, near Kasargod, Kerala is a fact.
But that it holds spirits and gave out information that it was Pilot’s error that caused Mangalore Air crash, well. I take it with a pinch of salt.
Ghost Temple Kaanathur
“The temple is called Nalwaru, which litreally means 4 persons. However, the four persons at the temple are ‘gods of ghosts’! The four deities are Ugramurthy, Panjurli, Raktha-Chamundi & Vishnumurthy. This temple is very sacred, and people fear the deities of the temple. The temple is filled with a lot of tantric powers, very typical to any Keralite temple. The main purpose of this temple is that it servers as a people’s court. Most of the disputes are settled in the temple courtyard, this has been the practice for many decades now. A plaintiff with truth on his side can give a petition to the temple authorities. And defendant will receive a memo (similar to a court’s order) from the temple. If the defendant refuses to obey and decides not to respond to the orders from the temple, and decides not to show-up for hearing at the temple, such persons will be faced with sudden misfortunes, and sudden deaths in their family. Further more, It is also believed that such persons souls will be held by these 4 ghost gods. People in the region and in and around Mangalore, Karnataka are very scared of these 4 gods and do not even speak of these gods casually. Hence they normally show up to avoid the wrath of the ghost gods. It is to be noted that one of Mangalore’s air crash victims soul was held by one such Ghost gods, and after a lot of begging and cajoling by the victim’s family members the ghost gods released his soul, but did tell that all the victims soul from that crash is still held by them, they also confessed that it was not them that caused the accident, but a pilot’s error. Mangalore Airport’s runway was built after relocating a Ghost deity temple. This pilot’s error was later confirmed by the investigation team. The popular belief in this region is when a soul is held by a ghost god/s, the food prepared on their ”teethi” is untouched by the crows or any other animals. ”
The third category of Mantra is from the angle of Jnana Yoga, where th meaning of the meaning of the Mantra is contemplated upon more than anything else.
Though wrong pronunciation does not produce adverse effects, it is better, in all the cases, to know the right intonation in all the cases as we do not know where we have erred in the other aspects.
That is why we say, at the end of evry pooja, or chanting,
Mantra heenam, kriya heenam’ mantra to seek pardon.
To cap it all we declare,
‘Budhyaatmana Prakruthe swabhavaath’- it is my nature i have been driven to perform, implying that my mistakes are unintentional.
How to chant the Mantra.
The duration of each tone is fixed and one should chant the mantra according to the swara with each syllable stressed to the required extent, and each tone (for the corresponding syllable) chanted for that duration.
Chanting should not be done like singing, or like reading. It should not be muttered fast, each syllable should be properly uttered with the required stress and pronounced with clarity.
While chanting one should sit with his back upright, and not shake or move while chanting. Chanting should be done with a fixed posture to allow the complete effect of the sound energy. While this rule in general applies to singing also (say for instance classical music), it applies even more rigidly in case of chanting a mantra.
Whether the mantra is chanted aloud or internally, it should be done along with the swara.
Chanting mantra like a song, chanting like reading a text quickly, muttering, chanting louder than required, making unnecessary movements of hands or head, are incorrect ways of chanting.
Taittiriya Upanishad specifies six elements of chanting (Siksha Valli, chapter 2):
Saama or the balance of chanting (the tune of entire mantra)
Santana or the spacing of words.
Mnatra Anushtana, The Rules.
Mantra-Anusthana is the encapsulation of mantra japa into the astanga yoga. The steps like yama, niyama, pratyahara are general rules. A few of them are: Each devata is said to have specific timings in the day when the devata wakes/sleeps. Japa is prescribed in the time the mantra adhidevata (deity of the mantra) wakes. One should do japa facing different directions when seeking different results. Asana is the posture in which japa is done. Pranayama is the breath regulation done before japa. Dharana is done through karanyasa and anganyasa, this is invoking devata in the body. Dhyana sloka is chanted after that, this is concentrating on the form of the devata. And then japa is started. Japa is the means to get one to the Samadhi state.
Man Upasna and Purascharana.
Mantra upasana is the systematic worship through Mantra. It is done for a specific duration of time or for life, in two modes – deeksha (specified) and nitya (regular). There are stipulations for deekha, such as timings, food and clothes (of the devotee), offerings (made to the devata) and so on. There is a purascarana for every Mantra. There is a specific minimal count for every Mantra for the sadhaka to “see” its effect, which is called purascarana sankhya. The count varies from Mantra to Mantra. There are five parts in purascarana.
Japa – the mantra should be chanted for the count specified in purascarana for that mantra.
Homa – oblations to be offered to the devata through fire, along with the mantra. This is a tenth of japa count. If japa is done 100,000 times then 10,000 oblations are offered in fire with the mantra.
Tarpana – satisfying the devata by offering water, milk or any other specified substance. It is generally a sweet fluid. The offering is made by chanting the mantra. This is done with a hundredth of japa count. If japa is done 100,000 times then tarpana is done 1000 times.
Abhisheka – the idol of devata is bathed with water, milk or any other specified substance, while chanting the mantra. This is a 1000th of japa count. If japa is done 100,000 times then abhisheka is done 100 times.
Samaradhana – this is the conclusion of purascarana where Dvijas are invited and fed every 10,000th count of japa. If japa is done 100,000 times then ten dvijas are to be invited for samaradhana. There are alternatives for all these, and if nothing is possible japa itself multiplied five times should be done. If one has to do just the japa, and the purascarana is 100,000, then the mantra should be done 500,000 times to substitute for the entire process. However, homa is the most effective way to get Devata’s grace.
Some axioms.
Beejas represent natural phenomena. The beejas used in a mantra define the nature of Devata.
Sound and meaning are inseparable. Meaning is known through sound and sound is realized through meditation on the meaning.
Mantra is sound-specific or dhvani pradhana. Therefore its effect is specific to the language in which it is composed. Mantra cannot be translated, and it remains merely text and no more a mantra once translated to another language.
Mantra and Devata are inseparable. Mantra is the sound-form or subtle body of Devata. Chanting mantra is the same as worshiping Devata, it is not merely a means but the yoga itself.
Mantra yoga is about using the upadhi of external sound to realizing the one beyond upadhi. Mantra yoga at the four different levels of vak is basically the path of realization.
In case of kamya, mantra serves istapurti. Mantra Japa is Karma, Yajna. Its fruit is two-fold. One is the immediate result of karma. Another is its impression on the doer. Thus along with istapurti, mantra upasana results in the elevation of the upasaka. Karma is called isti in the pravritti marga, because it results in ista purti. However when performed according toDharma, it will also ensure the doer’s elevation, develop antarmukhatva – from gross to subtle to causal. The seeker’s attention slowly shifts from the result of action to the one who grants the results, namely the Devata. And the object of worship too, gradually becomes more Devata centric and less desire centric. Thus the sadhana phases into nivritti from pravritti, and karma becomes more of nishkama karma and causes karma nivritti because of non-attachment to the immediate result. The sole objective of karma/mantra yoga will be the fulfilment of Devata’s wish, and the being starts realizing himself as an instrument of divine.
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