Some Special Temples

Re: Kali Of Kalighat The Mother Of Univers

I agree with your chain of thought Sunkan. In the Gramdevata temple (My dad's family) the priest is a boats man. This does not stop the upper caste people from falling at his feet to take his Ashirwad as Ma ordained her worship has to be done by this particular man's family.

On Tuesdays, Fridays & Sundays, we are asked to take an early morning Darshan or come in the evening as the Village folk come in to sacrifice their humble offerings of Chicken, Goat, Sheep etc.

Each to their own that is what my parents taught me & I agree with that.

Regards,

Corallux

P.S. your post on Kalima Of Kalighat got back my childhood memories. I used to stand & ask her why I have to go to school & not my parents.For some strange reason she always smiled I never found this form of hers ferocious.

Pls post something on Dakshineshwar.

 

Re: Kali Of Kalighat The Mother Of Univers

dear corallux,
this is from the ramakrishna paramahamsa's .com i have attached the article here kindly go through and let me know what u think about this..sunkan

 

Re: Kali Of Kalighat The Mother Of Univers

Dear Sunkan,

Thanks for this lovely article. In one shot you have given the glory of the Divine mother & also explained the true meaning ot the Tantrik sect.

The worship of the mother has taken beatings from time to time from Patriarchal religions.

Words fail me Sunkan. When the wise people could not describe her, what can I say?

Thanks once again Sunkan.

Throught this article you answered my question

Regards,

Corallux

 

Re: Kali Of Kalighat The Mother Of Univers

i am an ardent devotee of her, and when u asked about her i was only too happy to search about her,, i take it is her drama of asking and then posting, all benefit..sunkan

 

Shakti Peetha, Ma Kamakhya Devi temple, Assam

Among the many shrines scattered around the subcontinent, a few of these shrines are remarkably much more famous than the others. The Mother Goddess has been worshiped since ages and is one of the oldest standing cults today. Popularly called Shakti Peethas, these mysterious shrines are also the seat of practices, rather strange. Celebrating the miracle of life as well as that of death, brings with it an aura of potency never felt else where, these shrines are silent power centers.

The seat of all tantricism and the divine cult worship of the mother goddess is best felt in the north east of Indian in the states of Bengal and Assam. As various text references present, the ideology of the tradition is one that needs to be understood from early ages for one cannot be initiated into it very easily, as it requires a severe mind shift to even believe these rituals are in the normal man's capacity to perform.

Am sure there are more ways than one to worship Shakti, but though this ideology seems to be endorsed by spiritual heavy weights like Adi Shankaracjarya and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, I still have a problem digesting it.







Shakti Peetha, Ma Kamakhya Devi temple, Assam

It might be a misconception that Tantrik cults are over and done with, for the essence of it still continues to prevail rather openly in West Bengal and Assam. While Kalighat and Tarapeeth might have been big centers for such practices the seat of ancient tantricism is at Kamakhya Devi temple, Kamarupa Assam. This is the most important of all the Shakti Peethas in India.

Kamakhya devi shrine hosts the yoni of Sati that fell here following the destruction of Daksha's sacrifice. This Shakti Peetha symbolizes the union of Shiva with Shakti, as described in the Kali Purana. They are depicted in constant union where Kamakhya is the Goddess of desire, who grants salvation. She is the young bride of Lord Shiva and together they symbolize the sublime reality of the miracle of life, the everlasting bliss of male/female union. This temple is situated atop a hill that overlooks the Brahmaputra river. The inner sanctum is a deep dark underground rocky chamber into which one descends by a flight of steep steps. The "Matra Yoni" which is inscribed on a rock is covered with silk sarees and is constantly moist by underground spring water.

Tantrik cult is a different kind of cult where the orthodoxy of normal rituals and male dominance over the female took a massive beating. In tantricism, it’s the opposite where the female is given a lot more importance and is associated with Shakti. This is reflected in all their strange ritual practices. There is a deep divide between conventional worship and tantrik worship. In conventional worship, a woman is considered as "impure" during her 3 day monthly cycle, further to which she is almost treated as an untouchable in ancient brahmin traditions still prevailing today. In Tantrik worship, most of the rituals including initiation are centered on the 3 days, this period being the most important period where the woman is considered most pure and an incarnation of Shakti. This is clear from various references made in Tantric texts.

Most of the tantrik texts have been found around the regions of Kamarupa, suggesting very strong prevalence of this cult around the Kamakhya Devi temple. The Yoni Tantra hails from Cooch Bihar but most of the Kaul Tantras originated from Kamarupa. The earliest comprehensive references made to the most important element of Tantrik ritual, called Yoni Tattva in the Kaula Tantra are given in the Kaula Jnana Nirnaya by Matsyendranath.

A few references that really call for interest about this esoteric cult, and can be made mention of, are as follows.1. The Shakti, represented here as Kamakhya Devi has close associations with the 64 Yoginis found elsewhere in Orissa. The yantra associated with Kamakhya devi empowers the 64 yoginis(Hirapur Chaunsat Yogini Temple, Khajuraho) as part of Shakti. The Tripura mantra "Aim Klim Sauh" represents the triple Kundalini. It is also believed that female sadhvikas who are well versed in Yoga dwell at Kamakhya peetha. If one joins them, they obtain yogini siddhi.

2. The Matrikas who dominated both Buddhist sculpture as well as Brahmanical, are the depiction of the importance of alphabet or sound in the worship of Shiva and Shakti. There are seven representations called the Sapta Matrikas, describing the importance of the alphabet in the Beeja mantra and associated hymns sung in the praise of Shiva and shakti.

3. This reference comes as an eye opener that Tantrik cults were not restricted to unknown tantriks who practiced in complete secrecy, but a few known faces also seem to be a part of this cult in thought.

With reference to Yoni tattva, Kaula tantras deal with the subject of menstrual blood as given in the following translation.

Matrikabheda Tantra (English translation Ideological Book House 1990) describes the different types:

"Shri Shankara said:
The first menses appearing in a woman who has lost her virginity is Svayambhu blood.
In a maiden born of a married woman and begotten by another man, that which arises is Kunda menses, the substance causing the granting of any desire.
Deveshi, a maiden begotten by a widow gives rise to Gola menses, which subdues gods.
The menses arising in the first period after a virgin becomes a married woman is the all bewildering Svapushpa."

Last but not the least is the dialog between the supreme creative power Brahma and Shakti. Brahma can create but only through the yoni which shall be the sole creative principle, and will bless the soul with life. After severe penance Brahma brought down a luminous body of light to earth and placed it within the yoni circle of Goddess Kamakhya at Kamarupa.


"Referenced from indiatemple.blogspot.com by Kavitha" brought to u by sunkan

 

Thank You..We have refreshed our memories, had been in Assam Tezpur and WB, Kharagpur we had visited Kamakya and calutta couple of times.The article made me so impressive that its more than visiting there..

 

Devipattinam puniya shetram

Hi
Devipattinam is one of the important Ramayana sites in India. This small but significant village is located, on the coast, 15 kilometers from Ramanathapuram.While the temple to Devi is located in the town of Devipattinam, the temple of Adikesavaperumal (Lord Jagannatha) is located on the shore. The sea is very calm and quiet and the atmosphere is very serene. About hundred yards inside the sea are the nine withered blocks of stone, supposed to be the Navagrahas, the nine planets. The legend of Devipattinam is that when Lord Rama was proceeding towards Lanka in search of his wife Sita, Devi Mahishasuramardini; (the killer of the demon Mahishasura) appeared in his dream. She told Rama that he was suffering misfortune due to the adverse planetary conditions. She directed him to come to Devipattinam and worship the Navagrahas to get relief from his misery.
When Rama came to Devipattinam he did not find any shrine dedicated to the Navagrahas. He made the statues of nine planets, locally known as Navapashanas, out of the sand of the ocean. It is believed that when Rama was creating the Navapashanas, Lord Jagannatha stopped the waves of the ocean so that Rama could carry out the worship undisturbed. Hence, Lord Jagannatha is also known here as 'Kadaladaitha Perumal'. After worshipping the Navagrahas, Rama went to Thirupullani. There he built the bridge (sethu) with the help of the Vanaras (monkeys) to go to Lanka. He conquered Lanka, killed Ravana and retrieved Sita from the Ashoka garden. After crossing the ocean, he once again arrived in Rameshwaram.
Ravana was the son of a Brahmin; hence Rama incurred the sin of killing a Brahmin (dosha of Bhrama hatya). For absolving himself from the sin, he had to worship Lord Shiva as soon as he crossed the ocean at Rameshwaram. He sent Hanuman to bring a Shivalinga from Kashi for this purpose. As Hanuman did not arrive on time Sita made a Shivalinga out of sand for Rama to worship. As soon as Rama commenced the worship, Hanuman arrived with another Linga from Kashi. Seeing that the worship had already begun Hanuman got very upset. In order to please Hanuman, Rama decreed that whoever came to Rameswaram will first worship the Linga brought by Hanuman and then worship the Linga made by Sita. After praying to Shiva, Rama once again came to Devipattinam to worship the nine planets. Since then the pilgrims coming to Rameshwaram frequent Devipattinam. It is a must to worship the Navagrahas at Devipattinam to complete the pilgrimage to Rameshwaram. Devipattinam has also acquired fame as a place for getting relief from adverse planetary conditions by performing the appropriate rituals.
The unique thing about Devipattinam is that it is the only place in the world where the Navagrahas are located inside the sea. Most of the original statues have got battered and are not recognizable as any particular planet. However, Shri. Jagannatha Iyengar can recognize each one of them and tell us which one is the Sun, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and so on. Even at this advanced age he carries out the worship to the 'Navapasanas' standing waist deep in the water; while devotees like us are sitting safely in a boat.
It is said that Sri. Sankaracharya of Kanchi visited Ramnathapuram on the occasion of the Kumbabishekam of the Rameshwaram Temple. During that pilgrimage he also visited Devipattinam to worship the Nine Planets. He saw the damage that was caused to the Navapashanas by the passing fishing motor-boats and ordered a protective railing to be put around the Navagrahas. At that time Shri. Jagannatha Iyengar was asked to perform the 'Sankalpa' for Sri Sankaracharaya. This public acknowledgement of his scholarship by the Acahrya of Kanchi puts Jagannatha Iyengar in a class of his own.

 

Re: Devipattinam puniya shetram

Hi GA,

ya, it is very good place to visit.i have gone thrice to Rameshwaram,but could not go to devipattinam even once.Atleast god should bless me next time to visit the place.

 

Hi vkrithika1
Thanks for your feed back.I completly agree with you without his blessings we cannot do anything.

 

Nemili Sri Bala

Hi IL'ites,

I would like to share about the DIVINE GODDESS NEMILI SRI BALA.

HER full name is SRI BALA TRIPURASUNDARI.

This small house of SRI BALA is located in Nemili, TamilNadu. It is located about 55kms from Vellore.

She is a small Goddess, the size of a little finger. Infact the prasadams offered here are also chocolates since she is in the form of a child goddess.

Even when I am writing about here, I feel totally energized and full of positive vibration.

Their website is Sri Bala Peetam - Homepage

One most important thing is we cannot enter BALA's place till we are blessed by HER to be there.

We normally think that GODS & GODDESSES should only be in temples...but here SRI BALA is in a small house.

Here is HER PICTURE from Indian Heritage - Temples - Nemili Sri Bala Peetam, Vellore





















You can find more information from this website link too. I am copy & pasting this information from their website.

[SIZE=-1]About a hundred years ago, the Goddess appeared in Shri Subramania Iyer's dream, asking him to come and fetch her from the river Kushasthalai. For about three days, Shri Subramania Iyer searched the backyard of his home and the river banks but in vain. The next day, he got hold of the three-inch bronze idol in the river, which he consecrated and placed in the center of his house, which is now currently the Bala Peetam. The prime deity of this temple is Raja Rajeswari, the family deity of the pundits over there. The deity Bala Thiripura Sundari has supposed to come on earth as a child goddess.[/SIZE]


I feel really honored and humbled to share this information with you all.

If anyone had a personal experience visiting SRI BALA please please share here.


Regards
Krithika ( Jithiks)