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Makarasankranti
Makarasankranti, or Makaravillaku, is a period that coincides with approximately 13–14 January, and is considered important for devotees of Lord Ayyappan. During the season (late November to early January), Ayyappan devotees are able to visit Sabarimala every day. At the end of this period, on Makaravilakku day (usually 13 or 14 January), several events take place, in which an eagle guards the temple and the '' thiruvabaranam'' (Lord's jewels) by continually circling it for days on end, even amidst the congestion. During the night there is not a star in the sky, apart from one star, the Makaranakshatram, which devotees believe is the abode of the gods in heaven awaiting the final ceremony at the Sabarimala temple. After the Lord's jewels have been placed on the idol, the eagle flies away, the single star in the sky disappears, and an intense white light ( Makarajyoti) is seen on the hillside of Sabarimala in the distance, which devotees believe to be the Lord himself appearin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lord Ayyappan
Ayyappan an incarnation of dharma sastha, also called Manikandan, is a Hindu deity popular in Southern India, He is considered to be the epitome of dharma, truth, and righteousness and is often called upon to obliterate evil. Although devotion to Ayyappan has been prevalent earlier in South India, his popularity rose only in the late 20th century. According to Hindu theology, he is the son of Harihara (Vishnu in the form of Mohini, and Shiva).Constance Jones and Ryan James (2014), Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Infobase Publishing, , page 58 Ayyappan is also referred to as Ayyappa, Sastavu, Hariharasudhan, Manikandan, Shasta or Dharma Shasta and Sabarinath. The iconography of Ayyappan depicts him as a handsome celibate ( Brahmachari) deity doing yoga and as an epitome of Dharma, who wears a bell around his neck. In the Hindu tradition popular in the Western Ghats of India, he was born with the powers of Shiva and Vishnu to confront and defeat the shape-shifting evil Buffalo demoness ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sabarimala
The Sabarimala Temple (; ml, ശബരിമല ക്ഷേത്രം) is a temple complex located at Sabarimala hill inside the Periyar Tiger Reserve in the Perinad Village, Pathanamthitta district, Kerala, India. It is one of the largest annual pilgrimage sites in the world with an estimate of over 10 to 15 million devotees visiting every year. The temple is dedicated to a Hindu ''Brahmachari'' (Celibate) deity Ayyappan also known as ''Dharma Shasta'', who according to belief is the son of Shiva and Mohini, the feminine incarnation of Vishnu. The traditions of Sabarimala are a confluence of Shaivism, Vaishnavism, and other Śramaṇa traditions. The temple is situated on a hilltop amidst eighteen hills at an altitude of 1260 m (4,134 ft) above sea level, and is surrounded by mountains and dense forests. The dense forest, part of the Periyar Tiger Reserve, around the temple is known as Poongavanam. Temples exist in each of the hills surrounding Sabarimala. While ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Makaravilakku
Makaravilakku is an annual festival held on Makara Sankranti in Kerala, India at the shrine of Sabarimala. The festival includes the Thiruvabharanam (sacred ornaments of Lord Ayyappan) procession and a congregation at the hill shrine of Sabarimala. An estimated half a million devotees flow to Sabarimala every year to have a darshan (vision) of this ritual this day. Legend Lord Sri Rama and his brother Lakshmana met Sabari, a tribal devotee, at Sabarimala. Sabari offered the Lord fruits after tasting them. But the Lord accepted them gladly and whole-heartedly. The Lord then turned and saw a divine person doing tapas. He asked Sabari who it was. Sabari said it was Sasta. Rama walked towards Sasta and the latter stood up to welcome Rama. The anniversary of this incident is celebrated on Makara Vilakku day. Agents behind the Makaravilakku Makaravilakku, is a part of a religious ritual that is practiced in the past by the Malayaraya tribe who are believed to be the descendants ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eagle
Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just 14 species can be found—2 in North America, 9 in Central and South America, and 3 in Australia. Eagles are not a natural group but denote essentially any kind of bird of prey large enough to hunt sizeable (about 50 cm long or more overall) vertebrates. Description Eagles are large, powerfully-built birds of prey, with heavy heads and beaks. Even the smallest eagles, such as the booted eagle (''Aquila pennata''), which is comparable in size to a common buzzard (''Buteo buteo'') or red-tailed hawk (''B. jamaicensis''), have relatively longer and more evenly broad wings, and more direct, faster flight – despite the reduced size of aerodynamic feathers. Most eagles are larger than any other raptors apart from some vultures. The smalles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Makarajyoti
Makara ( sa, मकर) is the name of a zodiac sign in Indian languages known as Capricorn in English. "Jyoti" means "light" in Sanskrit. Thus "Makara Jyoti" (also spelt as Jyothi) means "Light of Capricorn". The Sun appears to move from one zodiac constellation to another every month and the day on which Sun changes the constellation is called Sankrānti ("transit") in Sanskrit. Makara Sankranti ( sa, मकर संक्रान्ति, ml, മകര സംക്രാന്തി, kn, ಮಕರ ಸಂಕ್ರಾಂತಿ, ta, தைப்பொங்கல், te, మకర సంక్రాంతి ) is the Sun’s transit into Capricorn (Makara) constellation that usually occurs on 14 January every year and is a very important Hindu festival celebrated all over India in various forms. Uttarāyaṇa, the six-month period when the sun travels towards the north on the celestial sphere, starts on Makara Sankranti and ends on Karka Sankranti (around 14 July). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ayyappan
Ayyappan an incarnation of dharma sastha, also called Manikandan, is a Hindu deity popular in Southern India, He is considered to be the epitome of dharma, truth, and righteousness and is often called upon to obliterate evil. Although devotion to Ayyappan has been prevalent earlier in South India, his popularity rose only in the late 20th century. According to Hindu theology, he is the son of Harihara (Vishnu in the form of Mohini, and Shiva).Constance Jones and Ryan James (2014), Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Infobase Publishing, , page 58 Ayyappan is also referred to as Ayyappa, Sastavu, Hariharasudhan, Manikandan, Shasta or Dharma Shasta and Sabarinath. The iconography of Ayyappan depicts him as a handsome celibate ( Brahmachari) deity doing yoga and as an epitome of Dharma, who wears a bell around his neck. In the Hindu tradition popular in the Western Ghats of India, he was born with the powers of Shiva and Vishnu to confront and defeat the shape-shifting evil Buffalo demoness ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global population, known as Hindus. The word ''Hindu'' is an exonym, and while Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, many practitioners refer to their religion as '' Sanātana Dharma'' ( sa, सनातन धर्म, lit='the Eternal Dharma'), a modern usage, which refers to the idea that its origins lie beyond human history, as revealed in the Hindu texts. Another endonym is ''Vaidika dharma'', the dharma related to the Vedas. Hinduism is a diverse system of thought marked by a range of philosophies and shared concepts, rituals, cosmological systems, pilgrimage sites, and shared textual sources that discuss theology, metaphysics, mythology, Vedic yajna, yoga, agamic rituals, and temple building, among other to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hindu Festivals
Across the globe, Hindus celebrate a diverse number of festivals and celebrations, typically marking events from ancient Indian, ancient India and often coinciding with seasonal changes. These celebrations take place either on a fixed annual date on the solar calendar, or on a specific day of the lunisolar calendar. There is some regional variation with the observance of the festivals, and numerous festivals that are primarily celebrated by specific sects or in certain regions of the Indian subcontinent. Terminology Utsava ''Utsava'' is the Sanskrit word for festivals. The Sanskrit word ''Utsava'' comes from the word "''ut''" meaning "removal" and "''sava''" which means "worldly sorrows" or "grief". Observance periods (''tithi'') Hindu calendar dates are usually prescribed according to a lunisolar calendar. In Vedic timekeeping, a ''māsa'' is a lunar month, a ''pakṣa'' is a lunar fortnight and a tithi, ''tithi'' is a lunar day. Two definitions of the lunar month prevail: Hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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