LOCKDOWN IN INDIA

Fight Coronavirus,

Save lives!

Stay Home,

Stay Safe,

With stacks of foods,

And indoor games!

Stay at Home to Stay Safe,

And Live Like in The Good Old Days!

Shri Vishwanath Mandir, Banaras Hindu University Campus, Varanasi.

VIDEO:

Shri Vishwanath Mandir is also known as Vishwanath Mandir, Vishwanath Temple, New Vishwanath Temple and Birla Temple. It is one of the most famous temples and a big tourist attraction in the holy city of Varanasi. The temple is situated in Banaras Hindu University campus and is dedicated to Lord Shiva. Shri Vishwanath Mandir is one of the tallest temple towers in the world with the Vimana's height being 253 feet.

The main Shri Kashi Vishwanath Mandir, on the banks of River Ganga, was destroyed (and reconstructed after each destruction) in 1194 by Qutb-ud-din Aibak, between 1447-1458 by Hussain Shah Sharqi and then in 1669 by Aurangzeb.

In 1930, Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya planned to replicate Shri Kashi Vishwanath Mandir in the campus of Banaras Hindu University. The Birla family undertook the construction and the foundation was laid in March 1931. The Shri Vishwanath Mandir at BHU was finally completed in 1966.

Shri Vishwanath Mandir's construction took thirty-five years to complete (1931-1966). As I mentioned earlier the temple is one of the tallest in India. The total height of the temple is 253 feet (77 metres). Temple's design was inspired by Shri Kashi Vishwanath Mandir and is made mostly of marble.

Shri Vishwanath Mandir, although a Lord Shiva temple, consists of nine other temples within this temple complex and is open to people from all castes, religions and religious beliefs. The Shiva temple is on the ground floor and the Lakshmi Narayan and Durga temples are on the first floor. Other temples within Shri Vishwanath Mandir are Nataraj, Mata Parvati, Lord Ganesha, Panchmukhi Mahadev, Lord Hanuman, Saraswati and Nandi. The entire text of Bhagavad Gita and extracts from sacred Hindu scriptures are inscribed with illustrations on the inner marble walls of the temple.

Shri Vishwanath Mandir is situated 1.7 kilometres inside the campus of Banaras Hindu University. It is 3.3 kilometres from Durga Mandir and 7 kilometres from Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple.

The attached photographs and video are from our trip to this popular temple.

Please STOP the spread of COVID-19.

Life beyond these lights,

Music and laughter,

In those houses,

Their happiness and life,

Are under threat…

Humanity is under threat,

As Novel Coronavirus spreads,

To every corner of the world,

To become,

A never seen pandemic.

We can’t fight it with arms,

Nor with one sure medicine;

As of now,

But with only extreme responsibility,

Following Dos and Don’ts,

As directed by our Governments.

It may be a long battle,

But ultimately humanity,

Shall overcome the disease,

As it has crossed many hurdles,

In the past,

But surely we should learn lessons,

From this deadly pandemic,

And ensure,

That we shall never suffer,

From such a fatal disease.

Wish You All A Very Happy Holi! – 2020

Wish You All

A Very Happy Holi!

May It Be More Brighter,

Joyful,

And Colourful,

Than The Following Video!...

Happy International Women's Day 2020!

Happy Women's Day!

Wishing you a day filled with goodness and warmth,

Wishing you happiness… today and forever!

For more than a century people around the world have been marking 8th March as a special day for women. International Women's Day grew out of the labour movement to become a United Nations -recognised annual event.

The seeds of it were planted in 1908 when 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter working hours, better pay and the right to vote. It was the Socialist Party of America who declared the first National Woman's Day, a year later.

The idea to make the day international came from a woman called Clara Zetkin. She suggested the idea in 1910 at an International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen. There were 100 women there, from 17 countries, and they agreed on her suggestion unanimously.

It was first celebrated in 1911, in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. The centenary was celebrated in 2011, so this year we're technically celebrating the 109th International Women's Day.

Things were made official in 1975 when the United Nations (UN) started celebrating the day. The first theme adopted by the UN (in 1996) was "Celebrating the Past, Planning for the Future". This year's focuses on "An equal world is an enabled world" and asks for people to work together to create a gender-equal world.

International Women's Day has become a date to celebrate how far women have come in society, in politics and economics, while the political roots of the day mean strikes and protests are organised to raise awareness of continued inequality.

Clara's idea for an International Women's Day had no fixed date. It wasn't formalised until a war-time strike in 1917 when Russian women demanded "bread and peace" - and four days into the women's strike the Tsar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote. The date when the women's strike commenced on the Julian calendar, which was then in use in Russia, was Sunday 23rd February. This day in the Gregorian calendar was 8th March - and that's when it's celebrated today.

International Women's Day is a national holiday in many countries, including Russia where the sales of flowers double during the three or four days around 8th March.

In China, many women are given a half-day off work on 8th March, as advised by the State Council, although many employers don't always pass the half-day on to their female employees.

In Italy, International Women's Day, or La Festa Della Donna, is celebrated by the giving of mimosa blossom. The origin of this tradition is unclear but it is believed to have started in Rome after World War II.

In the US, the month of March is Women's History Month. A presidential proclamation issued every year honours the achievements of American women.

This year's International Women's Day campaign has chosen the theme #EachForEqual, which is drawn from the idea of collective individualism.

"We are all parts of a whole," the campaign states. "Our individual actions, conversations, behaviours and mindsets can have an impact on our larger society.

"Collectively, we can make change happen. Collectively, we can each help to create a gender-equal world."

The past few years have seen the women's movement reach an unprecedented scale. In October 2017, millions began using the hashtag #MeToo on social media to speak out against experiences of harassment and sexual assault, and to denounce their widespread prevalence.

In 2018, the #MeToo conversation grew to a global scale, with countries such as India, France, China, and South Korea joining in the conversation to demand change. In the US, a record number of women were elected in the midterm elections.

Last year saw abortion decriminalised in Northern Ireland and the repeal of a law that controlled how women acted and dressed in public in Sudan.

Enjoy Your Day!

Happy International Women’s Day!

అంతర్జాతీయ మహిళా దినోత్సవ శుభాకాంక్షలు!

Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness. Happy Women’s Day!

-         N. Lalitha Raghu.

As coronavirus spreads… my take on the world.

TAKE CARE

Remember that you have to take care of yourself before you can take care of your family.

As coronavirus spreads… my take on the world.

Then it was the turn of Dinosaurs,

Now it is the time of the Homo sapiens…

Much has happened since the Mesozoic Era,

Those gigantic reptiles have vanished,

After they wrecked the then world.

Thereafter the fearless Homo sapiens emerged,

From four-legged creatures,

To two-legged mighty hunters,

And warriors,

And great explorers,

Who conquered,

All obstacles,

To spread and live,

All over the world.

They killed animals,

And learnt to cultivate,

For food and trade,

They invented languages,

To communicate effectively,

They fought and killed,

Amongst themselves,

For supremacy,

For love and land,

And in the name of religion,

And some to become rulers,

Of provinces.

They developed education,

Learning of literature,

Science, medicine,

Maths, engineering,

And countless subjects,

And then they began inventing,

From simple contraptions,

And medicines,

To great technological wonders,

And wonder drugs,

For their convenience,

To make their life comfortable.

Ultimately,

In this process,

Today they have,

Become irresponsible,

And wayward,

They fight amongst themselves,

More than ever,

With mighty,

And dangerous weaponry.

Oxygen and rain giving,

Forests are getting rapidly depleted,

Land and Sea are getting polluted,

With trash and chemicals,

And the fallout of industrial waste,

And vehicular emissions,

And added to this,

Despite the great medical advances,

Cancer and diseases in different forms,

And viruses of different types,

Are emerging as epidemics,

With no treatment insight.

I wonder,

Whether the fate of the dinosaurs,

Which wrecked the world in the past,

Is destined for the Homo sapiens,

In the very near future,

If no massive corrective action is taken,

By a wise and united world.

For All who Love Seafood (India) – A video by me!

For All who Love Seafood (India) – A video by me!...