The true devotion

One day Sage Narada visited Lord Vishnu and and said that he wanted to know who was his favorite devotee Actually Narada was staunch devotee of Lord Vishnu and this made Narada boastful and he was expecting praise from Lord Vishnu.. But Narada was shocked when he heard that Lord Vishnu referred a farmer on earth as his favourite devotee. Narada decided to test the devotion of the farmer. He visited farmer's house early morning and noticed that the farmer after feeding cows and short prayer went to field for work. In the evening the farmer returned and again after the short prayer and spending time with family went to sleep. Sage Narada was puzzled that how this farmer could be the devotee of Lord Vishnu who remember HIS name just twice a day.Narada returned to Lord Vishnu about HIS basis of judgement. Lord Vishnu said that before the answer there was one task which Narada had to do. He gave gave a bowl of oil and told him to walk around earth and returned without dropping single drop of oil.Narada followed and went ahead.But while walking he was too engrossed and careful that no drop of oil should be fall on earth. He returned. Now , Lord Vishnu asked Narada how many times did he remember his name while doing task. Narad replied that he was too concentrating on task and it was not possible for him to utter HIS name. Lord Vishnu answered that farmer was also loaded with responsibilities but still he managed to take some time for remembering HIM  . This was clear message to Narada who felt ashamed of himself.Lord Vishnu explained, “Those who remember me while doing their duties are dearer to me than those ignored all responsibilities and chant my name day and night.”

Ambaji

 Ambaji is a shaktipeeth located at the border of Rajasthan and Gujrat in the Banaskantha district.. According to legend , the heart of goddess Sati fell at this place. The goddess is worshipped at the new temple located about three km away.In the holy temple(new)  there is no image  of goddess. Only the holy "Shree Bisa Yantra" is worshiped as the main deity.This yantra is gold plated having sacred 51 letters are written in a mystical and spiritual way. This yantra is dressed in a special way to resemble the goddess.There are 9 kinds of decoration is done representing NavDurga, the 9 form of Devi .Even the vehicle of the deity is different each day. . No one can see the Yantra with naked eye. the photography of the Yantra is prohibited.The original temple is located at the Gabbar Hil which can be accessible through newly constructed ropeway or by climbing the stairs(just 900 steps :) ). Here the flame is lit continuously lit and one can witness the footprints of goddess at the front of the temple.This region is called as Arasur. As per another legend , Lord Rama and Laxman visited here to get the blessings of goddess and the goddess Ambaji blessed them a divine arrow called 'Ajay' which later proved important to kill his enemy Ravana. It is also believe that the mundan ceremony of Lord Krishna was performed here.
Important- during Bhadrapad mela and Navraatri days the place is totally packed with devotees. Before visiting, one must consider this factor into account. Make sure that even going via trolley to Gabbar hill, still it will consume at least 3 hrs minimum.

Location
20 Km from  Abu Road. Plenty of cabs are available at Abu Road station.

Not to be missed 
Apart from Gabbar Hill and new Ambaji temple, the following places should not to be miss
1) Kumbharia Jain Temples
2) Kamakshi temple
3) Koteshwar temple

Eating outlet
Apart from many options. US pizza outlet is safe bet for the travellers who are going along with children.

At the main gate of Ambaji

 The ropeway to Gabbar Hill

The Original place where the heart of goddess Sati fell

Adhik Maas- the month of spiritual importance

Hindu calender is based upon lunar movement which has 354 days where as Gregorian calender which is based upon movement of sun has 365 days(approx) . To accomodate this difference exactly after 32 months and 16 days (approx) an additional month is added in lunar calender which is called  Adhika  maas. The word 'adhik' means 'more' and 'maas' means 'month'. To put it another way,we know that the sun transit into next zodiac sign after 30 days (apprx). The lunar month in which no solar transit occur would be 'adhik maas'. It is considered very auspicious from the point of view of religious significance. This month is termed as "Purushottam Maas" or " Mal Maas". In hindu religion, every month has a ruling deity. The sages assigned the name "Mal Maas" to this extra month which means unclean month. Because of being an unclean month, naturally no festival would take place during this month.This was very disheartening for the 'Adhik Maas", so he reached Lord Vishnu.HE had pity on him and assigned Adhik Maas to Himself and it was named as Purushottam Maas. Lord Vishnu blessed him " Whosoever shall  worship me during the month of Purushottam, will be specially blessed " Adhik Maas got very happy to hear this and never got sad after that.
It is believed that the Adhik Maas Vrat is capable of excusing all the sins of the followers.Since then  fasting, recitation of mantra, readings of scriptures, Lakshmi-Narayan is worshipped with Sodashopachara puja and charity done in this month is considered as auspicious. Eating of other's food and taamsik food is forbidden. All the auspicious activities related to sanskaars as well as sale and purchase of new articles are suspended till the whole month is over. The first day of this month is more significantly important.

The Surya Namaskaar mantra

The method for salutaion to Lord Surya(Sun) involves 12 different postures,breathing pattern along with specific mantra associated with each posture. Following are the 12 mantra to be recited during salutations to Lord Surya. ‎


Om Mitraya namah (The friend of all)

Om Ravaye namah (Praised by all)

Om Suryaya namah (The guide of all)

Om Bhanave namah (The bestower of beauty)

Om Khagaya namah (Stimulator of the senses)

Om Pushne namah (The nourisher of all)

Om Hiranyagarbhaya namah (The creator)

Om Marichaye namah (Destroyer of disease)

Om Adityaya namah (The inspirer)

Om Savitre namah (The purifier)

Om Arkaya namah (The radiant)

Om Bhaskaraya namah (The illuminator)

Even recitation of above mantra at the time of sunrise brings good health

Power of Devi Anusuya

Anusuya was the wife of Sage Atri. She was famous in all the three world for his devotion and chastity. Sage Narad visited goddess Saraswati,Lakshmi ji and Parvati ji and praised Anusuya. The three goddess disliked it and decided to test Anusuya. They send their consorts to earth. Lord Brahma,Vishnu and Shiva in the guise of sage visited the hermitage of Anusuya when sage Atri was not present and asked for the alms on a condition that she had to give them alms without wearing clothes. This caused dilemma for Anusuya because if did not give the alms to sages then it would be a sin. She used her divine powers and sprinkled water on the three sages as a purification act and turned them into three infants. Now infants were crying as they were hungry. Anusuya came forward and gave breastfeed to three infants as a mother. On the other hand, Goddess Saraswati,Lakshmi and Parvati were worried about her husbands as they had not return to their abode. The three goddess visited Anusuya and she found the three infants were playing in the lap of mother Anusuya. They asked about their husband to Anusuya. She replied that they  are there in her lap as her children. the three goddess accepted their mistake and asked for forgiveness and to release their consorts. In the mean time Sage Atri returned to hermitage and witnessed the whole episode. Both Atri and Anusuya turned the three infants back to their original form. The three gods woke up  and asked Atri and Anusuya to demand any boon from them. Anusuya demanded that the trinity,Lord Brahma,Vishnu and Shiva , to be born as her son. Later Anusuya gave birth to Lord Dattatrey who was composite incarnation of Lord Brahma,Vishnu and Shiva.

Garuda Ganga

Enroute to Badrinath, there is a place where Garuda,the eagle(the vehicle of Lord Vishnu) prayed for many years to remove his sin. The river passes through this place is called Garuda Ganga. The placed is so sacred that  r the journey of  Badrinath commences only after worshipping of Garuda at this place. In other words its a gateway to Badrinath.Also every  rock  found in this river is considered sacred and used as worship. This is the only river that flows northward direction to merge with sacred river Alaknanda.As per legend once Lord Shiva visited Lord Vishnu. He saw that Garuda had caught his snake,Vasuki, who was wandering. To save his life the snake yelled for the help.Lord Vishnu intervened and commanded Garuda to let the snake go. But the Garuda answered with pride that if he would not allow him to eat the snake then Lord Vishnu would not be able to use him as his vehicle because he would be in the state of hunger. Lord Vishnu understood that Garuda is answering in his pride. He said that he could eat snake as a meal if  he able to bear the weight of his little finger on his back. This was the most easiest task for Garuda. When Lord Vishnu kept his little finger on the back of Garuda, he found it too heavy to move even for an inch.Garuda collapsed due to load. Garuda asked for the forgiveness for his sin. Lord Vishnu asked him to pray at the bank of river to get rid of his sin. So Garuda followed the command of his master. After the completion of prayer Lord Vishnu blessed him that every stone here at the bank of this river is blessed and the river would be known as " Garuda Ganga" .Also the this place would be the starting point of Badrinath region.