Panch Mahayagya

There are 5 sacrifices or the duties which has to be performed by a brahmin everyday. These rituals are called "Panch Mahayagya" which means 5 great sacrifices. These rituals are very essential for spiritual development in life.These 5 rituals are as follows
1)Dev-yagya
2)Pitra-yagya
3)Bhuta-yagya
4)Manushya-yagya
5)Brahma-yagya.
The Devyagya means prayer to God.This can also be done by making offerings to fire called homa. The Pitra-yagya is offerings to forefathers to get their blessings. They are so important that there effects can be seen in the life in the form of “Pitra-dosham”, if it is not done under certain conditions. One should never forget to perform the “Tarpan” ceremony for the ancestors at teeraths(pilgrims). This ceremony signifies offering water to the departed souls of ancestors.Offerings made to animals and birds and plants constitute Bhoota-yagya. In Manushya yagya, offerings are made to guests. It is believe that guest is considered at par with God. As per saying if guest leave the house disappointedly, then he will walk away with all the punyas of the host leaving behind his sins. So,utmost care has to be taken in entertaining the guest. The brahma yagya can be performed by following the path shown by our sages and our scriptures. One should study our scriptures.

Gateway to Heaven

When I was exploring the ShriRangam temple at Trichy during my trip, I found a strange door in the temple complex. Then I came to know about its spiritual importance. This door is called “Vaikunth Dwaar”. The word “Vaikunth” means the abode of Lord Vishnu and “Dwaar” means the “gate”. This door is opened only once a year. This mega event happen on the 11^th tithi(date) of hindu caalender in the month of Maargshish. It is believe that one who passes through this divine gate on this day,will attain salvation.This great event has a special significane in 3 temples-Shrirangam,Bhadrachalam and Tirupati. Fasting obsereved on this day is considered as so auspicious that it is believe that one who keep fast on this day will accrue all the punyas equivalent to remaining 23 ekadashi. Reciting Vishnu-sahastranama is best mantra on this day.

Ashta-Vinayaka

In Maharashtra state there is a pilgrimage known as “Ashta-Vinayaka” which is considered as very sacred. It is believe that a person who undertake this journey get librated from the problems related to materialistic world.The word “Ashta” means "eight" and the word “ Vinayaka” is another name of lord Ganesh. This spiritual journey involves the journey to 8 temples of lord Ganesha that are spread around the radius of 120 km around Pune. The importance of these temples confirms from the fact that the idols of the Lord Ganesha are not man made.The idols are “Swayambhu” which means they appear on its own(self-begotten).All the idols appeared at different period of time. It is very auspicious to perform the yaatra in a specific order in accordance with the chronological order of appearance of idols.It is believe that after completion of the journey of 8 temples , one must visit the first temple of Moreshwar(the starting point) again which signifies the completion of journey.
Following is the order in which the journey should be performed.
1. The Moreshwar Temple, Moregaon
2. The Siddhivinayaka Temple, Siddhatek
3. The Balleshwar Temple, Pali
4. The Varadavinayaka Temple, Maha
5. The Chintamani Temple, Theur
6. The Girijatmaj Temple, Lenyandri
7. The Vighnahar Temple, Ozar
8. The Mahaganpati Temple, Rajnangaon

The Legend of Kumbh Mela

“Kumb mela “ is a holy fair which is one of the greatest festival in the life of a hindu.There is a legend behind the occurance of this fair. As per legend once Gods and demons churned the cosmic ocean for the search of amrit(the divine nectar for immortality). At the end of churning, the pot (kumbh,in hindi) of amrit emerges from the ocean. At that moment the fight broke between Gods and demons for the possession of the pot. The battle for the possession of pot continued for 12 days which are equivalent to 12 human years. During that battle few drops of amrit fell on 4 places- Prayag, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik. During the war, 3 planets Sun,Moon and Jupiter played significant role in protecting the pot from breaking. To commemorate this holy event Kumbh Mela is celebrated in every twelve years at the four sacred places where the drops from Kumbh were fallen. Since then it is believe that according to particular planetary position of Sun,Jupiter and moon respectively these places acquires special divine powers and bathing in these pilgrimage sites in the sacred river helps to ward off the sins. This fair,kumbh mela occurs four times every twelve years and rotates among four locations: Prayag, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik. Each twelve-year cycle includes one Maha Kumbh Mela(GreatKumbhMela).
Following are the planetary combinations for each site for Kumbh festial.
1) At Prayag, the Maha Kumbh Mela is held in the month of Magha (January/February in the Gregorian calendar). when Jupiter is in Taurus and both the Sun and Moon are in Capricorn.
2)At Haridwar, the Kumbh Mela is held in the months of Phalgun and Chaitra, when the Sun passes to Aries, the Moon is in Sagittarius and Jupiter is in Aquarius.
3)In Ujjain, it is held in the month of Vaishakha, the Sun and Moon are in Aries and Jupiter is in Leo.
4) At Nasik, the Kumbh Mela takes place in the month of Shravana, when the Sun and Moon are in Cancer and Jupiter is in Scorpio.It takes nearly one year for Jupiter to transit through one zodiac sign.Thus,for each site Kumbh Mela comes in every 12 years.

The Praan Shakti

Everyone knows how air is important for life. The air is known as “Vaayu” in hindi. The function of air is not restricted to inhalation or exhalation which is called breathing. In broader concept, our body is governed by the vital energy called “Praan” which is present in our body in different forms of air or vaayu. It is of 5 forms-
1) Praan Vayu(Present between throat and heart. It controls inhalation)
2) Upana Vayu(Present in pelvis.It controls exhalation.)
3) Saman Vayu(Present in naval region.It helps in digestion.)
4) Udana Vayu(Present between thraot and head.It control speech and anxiety)
5) Vyana Vayu(Present in whole body.It controls nerves, veins, muscles and joints). It is often called as aura.

There are other 5 subdivsion of the vaayu (air) in our body as follows
a)Naag-prana (It is responsible for sneezing)
b)Kurma-prana(it causes shivering)
c)Krikar-prana (It causes hunger)
d)Devdat- prana(It brings sleep)
e)Dhanjay- prana (It helps in preserving the body).

Parikrama

In a famous story Lord Ganesha performed Parikrama around his parents which was considered equivalent to the journey around the universe. Parikrama means circumambulation or moving around in a circle. It is also known as Pradaskshina.The word “Pradakshina” means “towards right”. In religious context this journey is performed around temple,holy tree,holy hill and river. This is done in a clockwise direction. Only during inauspicious occasion like death ceremony,parikrama is performed anticlockwise .The circular journey around the deity can be understood with an example that in geometry we need a center to draw a circle and from the centre all the points on the circle are equidistant. It indicates we are equally close to God. Symbolically this ritual indicate touching the feet of deity. In another variation, at the end of the puja , it is a custom to do parikrama around ourselves three times. This is called “ Atma Pradakshinam”. This is to invoke the god in itself and to express the gratitude to HIM. We all are the part(ansh) of supreme soul. Generally odd number of parikrama is considerd auspicious. For Example , 1 parikrama around Lord Ganesha, Half parikrama around Shivlingam,3 parikrama around Lord Vishnu, 5 parikrama around Lord Kaartikay and 7 parikrama around peepal tree is considered auspicious. Many classics considered 21,27 or 108 numbers as auspicious to perform parkirama. While performing parikrama, an invisible link is established between a person and deity. The mantras pronounced during the circumambulation holds the key of transferring the energies from the god to a person. Always make sure that parikrama should be performed slowly while chanting mantras.

The Mystic Temple

Tamilnadu is the only state in India, where there is a special temple for each of the nava-grehs. These places are located in Thanjore district making a sacred place called Nav-greh sthalam. Amongst them , there is a place called “Vaitheeswaran Koil” which is dedicated to Lord Mars(Mangal). It is 24 km from Chidambaram. The term Vaitheeswaran means ‘Lord Doctor’ in Tamil. The presiding deity is Sri Vaidyanathaswamy, who is believed to be healer of all diseases. Legend has it that once Mangal(The mars) was suffering from leprosy due to curse and was cured by Lord Vaidhyanathaswamy. It is very auspicious to have a bath in holy tank in the temple to get rid off ill effects of Mangal and cure of all diseases. Since Mangal is associated with red colour, so as an offerings, it is custom to offer red flowers along with Toor dal(a kind of pulse). Intrestingly, it is custom to offer pepper and salt with jaggery to get rid from the diseases. Also , as per legend it is here,Lord Rama performed the last rites of the bird, Jatayu who died while saving Sita from the Raavan. Here the consort of lord Vaidyanathaswamy is “Thaiyalnaayaki”. She is seen having the "Sanjeevi Thailam", the medicinal oil for all illness. Other important deities of this temple are Lord Murugan, who is believed to have acquired trident here. The God of ayurved medicines, Lord Dhanvantri is worshipped here in this temple which make this temple unique. Even our divine 7 sages ,sapta-rishis also worshipped here. As a prasaad, ashes and sandalwood paste is given to the worshippers. It is believe that it contains special divine powers to cure many diseases.

Me performing the rituals in the holy tank

The Mystic Tank

The Corridor of Faith
The Abode of Lord Mangal