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Navarathri- The legend and the celebrations

Navarathri Durga pooja ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Jonoikobangali) Navaratri is a festival dedicated to the worship of the Hindu deity Durga. The word Navaratri means 'nine nights' in Sanskrit, nava meaning nine and ratri meaning nights. During these nine nights and ten days, nine forms of Devi are worshipped. The tenth day is commonly referred to as Vijayadashami or "Dussehra" (also spelled Dasera). Navaratri is an important major festival and is celebrated all over India and Nepal. Diwali the festival of lights is celebrated twenty days after Dasera. Though there are total five types of Navaratri that come in a year, but Sharad Navaratri is the most popular one. Hence, the term Navaratri is being used for Sharada Navaratri here. Significance The beginning of spring and the beginning of autumn are considered to be important junctions of climatic and solar influences. These two periods are taken as sacred opportunities for the worship of the Div

The legend of Mahashivarathri (Info courtesy Wikimedia)

Image Courtesy- Wikimedia and the author Maha Shivratri  (the 'Great Night of Shiva') is a  Hindu  festival celebrated every year in reverence of Lord  Shiva . The Mahashivratri festival, also much popular as 'Shivratri' or 'Great Night of Lord Shiva', is observed on the 13th night/14th day in the Krishna Paksha every year on the month of Maagh according to the Hindu calendar. Alternate common spellings include  Sivaratri ,  Shivaratri ,  Sivarathri , and  Shivarathri . It marks the convergence of Shiva and Shakti. Maha Shivratri is celebrated on the Krishna Paksha Chaturdashi of Hindu calendar month  Maagha  which falls in  February  or  March  as per the  Gregorian calendar . Of the twelve Shivaratris in the year, the MahaShivarathri is the most powerful [3] . The festival is principally celebrated by offerings of  Bael  or golden apple or  Bilva / Vilvam  leaves to  Lord Shiva , all-day fasting and an all-night-long vigil (jagarana). All through th

Dharmasooya Mahayaga 2014, Palakkad

Pic courtesy- Mahayaga In  Hinduism ,  yajña  ( Sanskrit :  यज्ञ ;  IAST :  yajña , also transliterated  yagya  or  yadnya ) or  yagam  ( Tamil :  யாகம் ), is a  ritual  of offerings accompanied by chanting of Vedic  mantras  (also " worship ,  prayer , praise, offering and oblation, sacrifice" according to  Monier-Williams ) derived from the practice in  Vedic times. Yajna is an ancient ritual of offering and sublimating the havana sámagri (herbal preparations) in the fire. The sublime meaning of the word yajna is derived from the Sanskrit verb yaj, which has a three-fold meaning of worship of deities (devapujana), unity (saògatikaraña) and charity (dána). [1]  An essential element is the ritual fire – the divine  Agni  – into which oblations are poured, as everything that is offered into the fire is believed to reach God.  DHARMASOOYA MAHAYAGA Dharmasooya Mahayaga is performed by His Holiness Sri Tathata at Palakkad from 6.02.2014 to 12.02.2014. Today I was  blesse