Maha Shivaratri.

This year Maha Shivaratri festival is on Thursday, 27th February. Maha Shivaratri or Shivaratri festival is celebrated according to the Telugu lunar calendar on Chaturdashi night (the night before the New Moon) during Krishna/Bahula Paksham of Palguna Masam. Maha Shivaratri means the Great night of Shiva. Maha Shivaratri is a very important festival celebrated throughout the length and breadth of the country with great devotion. This is the day on which Lord Shiva married Goddess Parvati. And it is on Shivaratri night that Lord Shiva performed Thandavam dance (Shiva Thandavam). Performing Abhishekam and offering prayers on this day is considered very significant in seeking the blessings of Lord Shiva. In the morning devotees bathe in a holy river if possible, fast the whole day, visit a Shiva Temple and perform pooja and after sunset they consume some fruit and milk. Then the whole night they keep awake. To keep awake they may listen to religious discourses, stories, doing bhajana, watching religious movies that are telecast by almost all Telugu TV channels, playing some indoor games and Anthakshari etc.

Hindu mythology also tells us of how some persons not knowing of Maha Shivaratri inadvertently performed Shiva pooja on this day and attained God’s blessings and Moksham. A very ancient King, Chitrabhanu was performing Maha Shivaratri with great fervor and when asked about his devotion he narrated the reasons as follows. He had knowledge of his previous birth. He was then a hunter, solely living by killing birds and animals. The day before a New Moon he could not get hold of any food till very late. As it became very dark by then he could not go home. He climbed a tree to rest there. Then accidentally the water container he was carrying started leaking and got emptied. Feeling thirsty, hungry and thinking of his family’s plight that night he could not go to sleep. Out of frustration he began to pluck the leaves of the tree and drop them down. Unknown to him the water from his canister leaked on to the Shiva Lingam below the tree which was as if he had performed the Abhishekam. And the leaves he dropped down fell on the Lingam as an offering. The leaves of this tree called Bilwa patram are considered a very important offering to Lord Shiva. And that night turned out to be Maha Shivaratri. As a result he attained Moksham in that life and went to heaven.

Another popular and similar narration is that of Baktha Kannappa. Kannappa was also a hunter. From a non-believer he becomes a believer on Maha Shivaratri day after inadvertently performing pooja from a Bilwa tree top to the Shiva Lingam below. Unlike the King’s version he gets on top of the tree that night afraid of his wife’s scolding for not bringing home any food. He begins to perform pooja in his crude way. Later one day when he cannot get hold of any fruit or animal, he prays before the Shiva Lingam asking God to help him in his hunt and that he would offer some of the food he gets to God. He then finds and kills a wild boar. He cooks some of it and offers it to God. A little later he finds that one eye of the Shiva Lingam has become red and is shedding tears. Thinking that God is in pain after accepting his offering he pulls out his eye and replaces it on the Shiva Lingam. Then the other eye of the Shiva Lingam also becomes red and sheds tears. Then he pulls out that eye also from the Shiva Lingam and marking the empty socket with his foot he pulls out his other eye and places it in the Shiva Lingam. Lord Shiva is pleased with his devotion and concern for him and appears before him. And to enable Kannappa to see him God blesses him with eyes and asks him to seek any favor. Baktha kannappa seeks to be with God in heaven. I picked up this story from the Telugu movie called Baktha Kannappa.

Staying awake on Maha Shivaratri is called Jagarna. The next day is a holiday for schools and several establishments.

Awaiting Valentine’s Day!

Valentine’s Day is just a week ahead that is next Sunday! Everyone at home is enthusiastic! Since last few years Valentine’s Day has become popular in few major cities of India. We also began celebrating Valentine’s Day with a party for the family at home, exchange of gifts and sometimes followed by dinner at a restaurant. Once such a happy tradition starts however new and foreign it is everyone begins to love it and look forward for the occasion every year. Plans and arrangements for this year’s celebration have started in a small way.

However a lot of opposition is there for Valentine’s Day celebrations in the country stating that this Western influence violates Indian culture. The behavior of some young men and ladies at parks, bars and elsewhere on this particular day is causing severe concern to these groups who are at times turning violent. In Hyderabad since last few years the groups opposing Valentine’s day go about destroying shops selling Valentine’s Day cards, gifts, flowers and threaten to perform the marriage of any young man and lady loitering in a romantic manner. Not just these groups but I find that most parents are against Valentine’s Day as they feel it is a waste of time and money and that it corrupts the mind and is immoral.  This is mostly because of the behavior of few naughty young persons on Valentine’s Day.

As for us, as a family celebrating the event to express affection and as an occasion for thanksgiving with flowers and gifts, it is a great day.

Medaram Jatara or Sammakka Saralamma Jatara - 2010.

A major event of last week, not far from Hyderabad was the once in two years Medaram Jatara. Jatara means a major festival of a Temple or place of worship. Medaram Jatara is more popularly known as Sammakka Saralamma Jatara. On the first day of the four days Jatara that is on 27^th January itself 20 Lakh pilgrims had reached Medaram. And on the subsequent days it kept up similar pace and about 80 Lakh pilgrims have visited Medaram during the Jatara period. Devotees believe that Goddesses Sammakka and Saralamma have divine and miraculous powers and would certainly fulfill their wishes. Devotees seek blessings for prosperity, happiness, peace, good health, success and so on and even issueless couples visit to pray for children. Once their wishes are fulfilled they visit again to fulfill their vows. Its influence on the devotees and as a result its popularity has been growing over the years. What started as the festival of the local tribal people (Girijans) and later of other tribals from various areas is now popular among many from even neighboring States and a very large number of them are mainstream Hindus.

Though I have been hearing of the Jatara since childhood I could not go there even once. I have gone up to Palampet to visit the centuries old Ramappa Temple: http://srisrilara.blogspot.com/2009/07/ramappa-temple-palampet-andhra-pradesh.html. Medaram is just about 30 Kms. from there but I did not visit the place as it is only during the Jatara that Sammakka and Saralamma deities are present there.

Medaram is a small village situated about 110 Kms. from Warangal city in the Eturnagaram Wildlife Sanctuary which is a part of the dense Dandakaranya forest. Once in two years the State Government makes elaborate arrangements for the devotees to visit and stay at Medaram for the Jatara.  Medaram is a holy place where the tribal brave women Sammakka and Saralamma are worshipped as Gods. Seven centuries ago Sammakka was found as a baby in the forest adjoining Medaram. The villagers brought her to the village and started taking care of her. Ever since the baby was brought to the village the villagers prospered and were happy. As Sammakka grew up she started curing illnesses with her blessings and granting wishes to one and all. Suffering people and issueless couples approached her for blessings and their wishes came true. Sammakka became very popular.  

Sammakka then got married to Pagididda Raju, the ruler of Medaram area. They were blessed with one son – Jampanna and two daughters – Saralamma and Nagulamma. Pagididda Raju was a subordinate king to the Emperor Prathaparudra of the Kakatiya dynasty whose capital city was Orugallu that is Warangal of today. As a famine ravished the Medaram area Pagididda Raju refused to collect and pay taxes to the Emperor. This angered the Emperor and he declared war. Pagididda Raju and his tribal warriors fought bravely but could not withstand the mighty forces of the Emperor. It is said that blood flowed as streams in this war and got mixed with the nearby Sampenga Vagu (riverlet). Pagididda Raju and his son-in-law Govinda Raju fought bravely and perished in the war. Son, Jampanna could not digest this tragedy and jumped into Sampenga Vagu and killed himself. Since then the riverlet took the name of Jampanna Vagu. On hearing about the death of her loved ones and the battle situation, Sammakka courageously took to the battle field. With her strength and divine power she fought valiantly and astonished the Kakatiya warriors but at one stage she was attacked from the back and stabbed. She turned back, killed the soldier and left the battle field. She left the battle field as it was considered that the ground on which her blood fell would not bear any crop or fruit. She went into the forest east of Medaram.

After the battle, the tribals searched for her in the forest but did not find her. Instead they strangely found a small container called Kumkuma barinay meaning a container of vermillion near a snake pit. Since then, once in every two years the tribals celebrate this festival of Sammakka and Saralamma at Medaram on Magha Shuddha Purnima.  A tribal (Koya) priest religiously fasts by eating only once a day for a fortnight and on the festival day brings the deities of the Goddesses from the forest in the form of Vermillion Caskets tied to two bamboo posts, one representing Sammakka and the other of her daughter Sarakka / Saralamma. During the duration of these rituals at the Jatara devotees offer Jaggery normally referred as Gold and coconuts to the Goddesses for fulfilling their wishes. And on the last and fourth day of the Jatara the deities are taken back into the forest calling it as Vanapravesham. 

The media has been covering the Jatara very extensively. Most of the time it is live telecast of the Jatara. The devotion of the pilgrims, over 80 Lakhs in four days would interest and astonish anyone. 

Horticulture Expo -2010, Hyderabad.

Every year on the Republic Day – 26^th January, a 5-day Horticulture Exhibition of a very grand nature is inaugurated at Hyderabad. This Year’s Horticulture Expo is the 20^th annual show being conducted in succession by the Department of Horticulture, Government of Andhra Pradesh. It used to be initially held in the Public Gardens and since the last few years it is being held at the People’s Plaza on Necklace Road which is larger and has a huge parking area. How grand and colorful it was can be realized from the above photographs.

This year’s Horticulture show as in the past featured the best of horticulture practices, latest technologies and a wide variety of high yielding vegetable, ornamental and fruit-bearing plants. There were over 200 stalls exhibiting plantation crops, vegetables, fruits, tuber crops, flowers, spices, mushrooms, condiments, beekeeping equipment, regular and exotic plants, saplings, agriculture technology, irrigation methods and seeds and fertilizers. There were stalls exhibiting green-house accessories, garden tools, agricultural implements and pesticides. There were nearly 50 colorful nursery stalls which did brisk business.

Apart from the thousands of flower plants there were stalls exhibiting Bonsai plants some of them 25 years old and Ikebana skills of the locals. To further enjoy the beauty captured in the above eight sets of panoramic pictures you may zoom in to each of them to a very high percentage and review.

New Year’s Eve Party Photos – Part XIX

The Photos in this article are of the New Year’s Eve Party of 31^st December 2001. The ‘Party-Dress code’ for girls was Jeans or Punjabi suit, for ladies it was Guajarati style attire and for boys and men it was Kurta Pyjama.  This was Ravi’s first New Year Party at our house and he was welcomed with lots of applause (He is not in the photographs as he arrived a bit late).

Prior to the party too, it was a busy day for me. After nearly 22 years of service in Praga Tools Limited, a Government of India undertaking and as Assistant General Manager at that time, I opted for voluntary retirement, and I was relieved that evening with  memorable farewell parties. I then rushed home to participate in the New Year Party.

As I mentioned in an earlier post I shall stop posting articles on New Year Parties which I started on 7^th December. This is because I feel that after end January it would be irrelevant to still talk of the present or past New Year Parties. Hope you have enjoyed watching the various Fancy dress photos I have posted in December 2009 and January 2010.

New Year’s Eve Party Photos – Part XVIII

These Photos are of the New Year Eve Party of 31^st December 2004. Sudheer got married just a month before on 28^th November. You can see Lavanya our daughter-in-law participating in our New Year celebrations for the first time. Most of us got dressed as Muslims, Parsi, Himachal pahadi and Sridhar got dressed as a Saudi Arabian. A list of the games we enjoyed that evening is included in this article, for the family to recollect the events of the Party.

New Year’s Eve Party Photos - Part XVII

The photos attached to this article are of the New Year Eve party at our house “Srilekha” on 31^st December 1992. Earlier today I posted an article on the largest and brightest full moon of 2010 that we got to see on 30^th Jan. night. I am sometimes writing of the past and sometimes of the present in an unpredictable manner. This is because I have no fixed aim for my blog. I am just carried away by my thoughts, which I am putting down in words sometimes supported by photographs. I am not rethinking on my impulse to write on a subject because if I begin to think and then start choosing or hesitating I may not move forward with my regular writing. Especially when I write on events from the long past, like this one from end 1992, I have many memories flashing before me. I have never maintained diaries regularly so it is mostly from memory and through photographs and old letters from my father that I remember many events from the past. I very much regret now for not being regular with my diaries.

Most of my articles on the past are supported by photographs with many family members in them. So a part of this blog turns out to be not only my memoir but that of the entire family and few relatives. Some of them have been kind enough to appreciate my work and that makes me happy and gives me the encouragement to write more.

Dr. Samuel Johnson said: “The two offices of memory are collection and distribution”. And in my case it is more than that, it is a pleasant sharing of the past, present and writing of the family history in bits.