Onamashamsakkal !

Happy onam everyone.

I found this excellent article which I think is worth reproducing here.

Onam - The Festival of Exuberance

Kerala is celebrating another New Year- Year 1179, according to the Malayalam calendar, also known as “Kollavarsham”.

Chingam or Bhadrapada, the first month of the calendar ushers in ONAM, the national fiesta of Kerala. After the rain drenched Karkidakam with its privations, Chingam is a welcome month of plenty. The sky becomes blue, the deep forest becomes greener and it is time to reap the harvest, time to celebrate and to rejoice along with the Nature. And Onam epitomizes the newfound vigour and enthusiasm about everything around. It is celebrated with traditional Malayalee fervour with visit to temples, family get-togethers, gifting each other clothes called Ona-kkodi and lots of merry making.

This picturesque ten-day harvest festival has been part of Malayalee psyche for centuries now. There are records of Onam being celebrated during the Sangam Age. Onam festivities have been recorded during the time of Kulasekhara Perumals around A.D 800. It is believed that during those days the whole of Chingam was celebrated as Onam season.

Q&A with Krishna Bharat of Google News

“Google News is one of the largest and most up-to-date news services online, gathering content from more than 4,500 online news sources around the world, then determining which stories are related and grouping them based on importance.

While the creation of the original articles and their publication online requires thousands of journalists, editors and other news professionals, the organization and display of stories on Google News is managed entirely by computer programs.

Google News launched in September 2002 on www.google.com. Recently, localized version of Google News were created for international markets, including Germany, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and India. The new beta versions of Google News for these countries are available on their respective Google country domains. Other versions are in the works and should be available in the months ahead.

Krishna Bharat,
Google Principal Scientist

Krishna Bharat, the Google Principal Scientist who conceived the idea for Google News, took a moment recently to answer questions submitted by readers of the Google Friends newsletter.”

Read more.

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar

It was a day on which the english dictionary was found wanting. Reporters / Commentators were left gasping for words while sachin painted a smile on a billion faces.

As I sit down to write this , I realise the simple fact that I am trying to do the impossible. To put down in a few words what sachin means to us, what he did on March 1, 2003 and what he has done over the past so many years is beyond my limited grasp over the language. Come to think of it, mere words are not enough. Sachin is something more. Sachin is something else. To call Sachin a cricketer is to say Jesus Christ was a man. The least one can say is there are two types of cricketers : Sachin and then everyone else.

I am sure there will be a few people still left cribbing if India fails to win the world cup. I have only pity for those people who can see a one millimeter wide black mark on a twenty thousand run long canvas. They must have got the answer to the much debated who is the best question last saturday. If they require any more clarifications, please ask them to get in touch with a one Mr.Shoaib Akthar.

I have not seen Picasso paint but I have seen sachin bat. I have not heard Lord krishna play the flute but I have seen sachin bat. I have not seen superman outside a comic book but I have seen sachin bat.

I have not seen God yet but I have seen sachin bat.

Let me tell you just one thing, There is nothing more beautiful in this world. Nothing at all.

Mamallapuram / Mahabalipuram.

Since the current design of tamizhan.com revolves around a photograph of arjuna's penance from Mamallapuram, I thought I would share some information I collected on it during the process.

from the indiamart pages,

Name.
The proper name of the site is “Mamallapuram”, after Mamalla, an honorific of the Pallava king, Narasimha Varman I (630-668), who created the earliest of its monuments. But it is popularly called “Mahabalipuram”, or “The city of Bali”, whom Lord Vishnu chastised for his pride and of whom there is a relief in one of the excavated temples here.

About Mahabalipuram
The history of Mahabalipuram dates back to two thousand years, it contains nearly forty monuments of different types including an “open air bas relief” which is the largest in the world, for centuries it has been a centre of pilgrimage, it figures in the early annals of the British search for the picturesque in India in the 18th century, today it attracts shoals of foreigners in search of relaxation and sea bathing, and most strange of all, it has an atomic power plant for neighbour. A small library has been written on it.

Over its history and that of its monuments a number of scholarly controversies rage. Mahabalipuram was already a centre of pilgrimage when, in the 7th century Mamalla made it a seaport and began to make temples fashioned of rock. It was through Mahabalipuram that many Indian colonists, who included sages and artists, migrated to Southeast Asia. Sri Lanka's national chronicle, the “Mahavamsa” testifies to this fact.


from the TTDC site,
This skilfully carved rock is the largest bas - relief sculpture in the world. It gets its name from the figure of an ascetic who is believed to be Arjuna, the hero of Mahabharata, doing penance to obtain a boon from Lord Siva. However, there are others who think that the figure is actually Bhagiratha who entreated Siva to let the river Ganges flow over the earth.

Among the other carvings on the rock are animals and heavenly beings witnessing the descent of the Ganges from the Himalayas and some episodes from the Panchatantra tales.


from the roamin-aboout site,

One of the most spectacular carvings is the “Descent of the Ganges”also known as 'Arjuna's Penance'. The carving tells the story of pious Arjuna who persuades Shiva to use his hair to break the fall of the River Ganga. The large cleft between the boulders is the where the Ganges descends.
Around him is a crowd of animals, gods, and ascetics watching the saving of the world as the river descends.


from the jetairtours site,

TOURIST SPOTS IN AND AROUND MAMALLAPURAM :
Caves : There are nine rock-cut temples. The Mahishasuramardhini cave, depicting the goddess fighting a demon on one side and Lord Vishnu's cosmic sleep on the other, is a particularly remarkable one.

Krishna Mandapam : A bas relief, notable for its realistic representation. The panel relates to one of the stories of Lord Krishna.

Arjuna's Penance : This is the world's largest bas relief measuring 27m X 9m. This huge whale-backed rock contains figures of gods, demigods, men, beasts, birds and almost all of the entire creation. And, this is easily the pride of Mamallapuram.

The Five Rathas : There are the five monolithic temples, each created in a different style. They are also known as the Pancha Pandava Rathas - and four out of the five rathas are supposed to have been carved out of a single rock.

The Shore Temple : This is one of the oldest temples. Unique about this temple is the fact that it houses shrines for both Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu. This belongs to the early 8th century AD and it is a classic example of the first phase of structural temples constructed in pure Dravidian style.

The Government College of Architecture and Sculpture: Here training is imparted in the various branches of temple art and architecture, according to Silpa Sastra.

Crocodile Bank : Is situated about 14 kms. away from Mamallapuram. Over 5000 crocodiles representing 6 different species are maintained here. There are also numerous other types of rare reptiles.

Covelong : The remains of the fort have now been converted into a luxury beach resort which offers facilities for windsurfing and swimming, an ancient Catholic Church, a mosque and the  ruins of the fort make interesting viewing from this 5 Star hotel.

Tirukalukundram : This tourist spot has a small Shiva temple situated on the top of the Vedagiri
hill which is 160m high. Just before noon everyday, two White kites stop at the temple and are fed by the temple priests. Legend has it that these two birds are actually saints who daily make a stop to rest at the temple on their flight between Varanasi and Rameswaram.

There is also a larger Shiva Temple in the town below. At the South-East end of the town is a spacious tank whose waters are said to have curative powers. Once every 12 years, a conch is discovered in this tank and thousands of devotees flock to bathe in the tank at this auspicious time. A collection of the conches is displayed in the larger Shiva Temple.

Muttukkadu : This is an ideal picnic spot. T.T.D.C, runs a Boat House, where facilities for boating and wind surfing are available.


Sounds like a good place to visit ?

A conversation with Dr.Muralidhar Pai.

An interesting conversation with Dr.Muralidhar Pai in Malayasia,

Sir,

I am not afraid of using my real name. It is just that I like to sign my mails with the more personal nickname of mine, which is /.\ n a n d. I hope, that clears your confusion. I had given my complete personal details to rediff.com. They chose not to publish it.

Now let me answer to your colleagues comments,

{All throughout the story you say there is a god, everywhere in everybody who (The god himself) is teaching us love.You choose to end with- I want to live in a world where there is no God (Is it not contradictory).

Yes, Sir .. It is contradictory ... Not by accident ... It is meant to be ... I and you, *intelligent* guys of this world can understand to a certain extent, the essence and meaning of the word God. But put yourself into an uneducated man standing on the soil of Ayodhya. What is going through his mind ? His views of God are influenced by the epics and the various (mis)interpretaions of God by people who want to twist the mass opinion in their favour. So although God is a noble notion in itself, It is not practical in a world like ours. That is why i say, until each one of us have the sense to understand God, let there be no God. And everyone knows that to expect all people to be sensible is impossible. So I wish to be reborn in a world, where there is no God.

You say, let there be no religion (You claim to understand true meaning of religion and then deny it).

Same as above. I understand Religion. Others dont. Others are a majority. So I dont want religion in order to have peace.

You say, let there be no believers. For, every believer (Have you lost faith even in yourself, have you lost faith in the world. This world is so beautiful because majority of people can think rationally not because of handfull of fanatics) can turn into a fanatic with the right amount of provocation.

The sensible people of this world are always the passive observers. And the fanatics, even though a minority, are the more active and hence dangerous. In India, while the intelligentia shun the politics, the ignorant and the *gundas* take control of the government and decide the way we live.

Until man has the sense to understand God (After writing so much about understanding how can you say that man does not understand god. Or you think you are not man), let there be no God. Indeed, a Krishna, Jesus or Allah would be willing to die a thousand deaths if that would bring peace to this world.

Yes, I am a sensible man. But I am also a minority. No use what i think. It is the *mass* thinking that needs to change. and it wont. So I dont want a God.

Let us kill religion (Do not borrow words from the same fanatics whom you denounce in the name of decency)so that humans can live. Yes, I want to live in a world where there is no God.

Fanatics understand tough words. Only by shocking people with tough words can i hope to change the status quo. If i had used any lesser words, I would have got far lesser impact.

Is it not just to show yourself as god or you believe you are equal to god}

I have no pretensions of being God or showing off. I am just a concerned citizen who refuses to see India burn and keep quiet. I have written what I thought is right. To take it or leave it is your perogative.
Thanks and Regards.

I want to live.

(what follows is not meant to be provocative or partial to any religion .. Instead it is meant to be the opposite. It is meant to bring about a sense of unity and oneness among all humankind .. )


I wish to be reborn in a world where there is no God.


I am tired of explaining to christians that Jesus would never have said, “Do not worship anyone other than me”. I am amused when i see Jesus, the epitome of simplicity, is made to live in multi million churches, each church trying to be better and bigger than the next one. Do u think Jesus lives there ? If he lives anywhere, it would be in the poorest of slums among the pooorest of poor. Follow the man's life & ideals not the man himself. People remember everything other than the three most important words in the bible, God is Love.

I am tired of explaining to Muslims that Allah would never have used the word Jihad. It is sad to see Muslims try to find the shapeless formless Allah within the confines of a Mosque. The very form ( or lack of form ) of Allah suggests that he is to be found everywhere, not just in the confines of a Babri Masjid. But who is to understand or listen ?

and finally, I am tired of explaining to Hindus that Upanishads say, Aham Brahmasmi or Tatvam Asi. Roughly translated, it says God lies within you : You are God. All forms of idol worhsip was introduced in the Vedic age in order for the common man to understand. Lord Rama's Life is a symbolism : To show how an ideal man ( Maryada Purushottam ) would be like. Rather than following the ideals expressed, People seem to think that building temples and worshipping Lord Rama is the best thing to do. When will people learn ?

Man always wants better things for himself. And he or she thinks that by worshipping ( bribing ) God, he or she can acheive what he or she wants. Pathethic. With his weak mind, Man can only understand the principle of give and take. In his weak minded interpretation of God, he reduces the very image and ideas of God. All that God wants you to do is to live a good life. Instead of doing this simple thing, People can be found singing hymns or bhajans at the top of their voices thinking God will listen to them and reciprocate by giving good things to them. Pitiable.

I want to live in a world where there is no God. Let there be no worship or places of worship. Indeed let there be no religion. Let there be no believers because Every believer can turn into a fanatic with the right amount of provocation. Until Man has the sense to understand God, Let there be no God. Indeed, a Krishna, Jesus or Allah will be willing to die a thousand deaths if it means that it will bring peace to this world. Let us kill religion so that humans can live.,

Yes, I want to live in a world where there is no God.