February 2015 – Important Dates

Important dates in February 2015 are as such:

February Important Dates

• Ekadashi Upavasa – 15-Feb Sunday

• Mahashivarathri – 17-Feb Tuesday

• Shri Raghavendra Jayanthi(Birthday) – 25-Feb Wednesday
  • Check this post for details.

As always, please check your local calendar for exact dates.

Cook with Love

Yesterday’s post was all about saying thank you to the one who put the food on the plate. Many of you commented, sent me emails and texted me. I am glad it really made an impact. For those of you who missed the post, it is here:

• Annadata Sukhibhava – ಅನ್ನದಾತ ಸುಖಿಭವ

Today’s post is all about the person who puts the food on the plate. There is lot of debate going on as to who should cook? Should it be the Mom or the Dad? Should it be the Husband or the Wife? Should it be the Mother-in-law or the daughter-in-law?Why always Women have to cook? Why men shouldn’t cook? I have no answer, nor do I want to start or win this debate.

For me, cooking is an art, it is an act of love.Cooking is a privilege. Cooking can be done by both men and women.

I am grateful for the Almighty Lord that I have this passion for cooking and be able to cook for my loved ones. I pray to the Lord that I be born as Meera, and have the same opportunity to cook for my Family in all my future births( if there is one).

As a child, I always had an interest in cooking. I enjoyed seeing the happiness in my parents face when I cooked for them. I enjoyed seeing the joy on my siblings face when they relished my dish. I thought I was blessed when my in-laws were happy to see me cook for their Son. They were surprised that an Electronics Engineer was able to cook delicious food. I feel proud when my Husband tells his colleagues at work that the daily lunch he takes is prepared by me. I am equally happy when my daughter tells her friends about this blog, and she herself cooks a lot of recipe from there. I can go on and on. There is no end to the joy I get from cooking.

It is not just me who cooks. My husband and daughter also cook. Anytime I travel, he cooks for me. When my daughter was in elementary, middle and high school, it was him who packed her lunch all those years. When I was sick, had major surgery it was him who cooked for us breakfast, lunch and dinner for months. My daughter comes home for holidays, and cooks several meals.

So, you see a pattern here, right? It is not about who cooks on a daily basis. It is all about sharing the work. If you cook for your spouse, kids, in-laws, parents or relatives, consider it as a privilege that the Lord has given you to prepare food for them. If you consider it as a chore and do it with frustration, anger, it only gets worse. For once, change your attitude. Doesn’t matter whether you are employed or not, whether you are a man or a woman, son or a daughter, if you are cooking for your loved ones, you are lucky. You are feeding the hungry, and there is no act of godliness than feeding the hungry.

Some simple rules to follow:

• Cook with Joy.
• Cooke with Love.
• Cook with a good mood.
• Cook with passion.
• Ask for help when you are tired.
• Take help from the grocery store. For e.g: if you are unable to make chapathi or roti everyday, buy it from a store. If you cannot make some masala powders, buy it from a store.
• Cook healthy food, talk to your kids about nutrition and eating healthy food.
• When you cook healthy food, your kids learn from the same.
• Whether you have a boy or a girl, teach them cooking.
• Ask them to help you in the kitchen. Ask them to cut vegetables, involve them.
• If they see you cooking with joy, they will learn the same.

Share your thoughts. Talk to your spouse, join hands and cook a meal together. See how much happiness it brings.

Annadata Sukhibhava – ಅನ್ನದಾತ ಸುಖಿಭವ

I have decided to post a few articles on social issues I am seeing all over the world, and mainly in my home country India. Having been to India quite frequently over the past 3-4 years, I am shocked to see the sea of change in the attitude of people.

Having such a huge online presence and followers, if I can make a change even in 1 person, I would be happy. If on the other hand I can create an awareness, that is also great.

From today, before you eat your food, say two simple words, ‘Annadata Sukhibhava – ಅನ್ನದಾತ  ಸುಖಿಭವ’. It means “let the one who provided me food be happy.”

The food which comes to your table is because of several people involved. Let us for a second ignore everything else and count just the people who helped us buy the food and who helped cook the food.

So, the person who helped in buying the food maybe your Father, Mother, Son, Daughter or your in-laws. Without them we would have slept in hunger, so tell them “Annadata Sukhibhava – ಅನ್ನದಾತ  ಸುಖಿಭವ“.

Next, is the person who helped cook the food.  Recently, I have been hearing a lot of rifts due to cooking and food in general. Always the case of why me, why me? Not many want to cook? Even when I see some places where they do cook food regularly, it is with so much anger and frustration. We are cooking for our family, we are happy if our family is healthy and happy, right?

For just one day, stop complaining that the food prepared by your loved one, had no salt, not spicy enough, the sambar was a little watery, the chutney was tasteless. The next time you sit down to eat food, with an open mind and a broad smile ( yes, broad smile), say “Annadata Sukhibhava – ಅನ್ನದಾತ  ಸುಖಿಭವ”.

It is a very powerful word, and create a sea of change in your life, and in the life of your loved ones.

As a teenager when I prepared food for my parents, my father always said these two words for me. It made me so happy as a kid. Last month when we went for a long vacation, Sneha my daughter prepared food for us. As we were eating the Puliyogre and Curd Rice she had prepared, I said the same two words to her, and insisted my Husband to say to her “Annadata Sukhibhava – ಅನ್ನದಾತ  ಸುಖಿಭವ”. She had the same smile like I had when my Father said those words. A powerful word of gratitude for someone who cooked with so much love!

And let me know if you said those two words to your LOVED ONES!

 

Hetta Tayi Tandegala – ಹೆತ್ತ ತಾಯಿ ತಂದೆಗಳ Lyrics

An unbelievable song by Sree Purandara Dasaru. So appropriate for this day and age. Once again heard it on Radio Srimadhvasangha. If you get a chance, please do tune in.

hetta tAyi taMdegaLa cittava nOyisi
nitya dAnava mADi phalavEnu
satya sadAcAra illadavanu
japa hattu sAvira mADi PalavEnu
japa hattu sAvira mADi PalavEnu

tanna sati sutaru baMdhugaLa nOyisi
cinna dAnava mADi phalavEnu
binnANadiMdali dEsha dEshava tirugi
anna dAnava mADi phalavEnu

gOpya guNa guTTu illada heNNige
rUpa yauvanaviddu phalavEnu
tApatrayadi saMsAra keDisuvaMtha
pApi maganu iddu phalavEnu

tuMDu dhanadiMda taMde mAtu kELada
toMDa maganu iddu phalavEnu
bhaMDu mADi atte mAvana baiva
puMDu soseyiddu phalavEnu

snAnakke pAnakke Aguva tiLinIru
kAnana doLagiddu phalavEnu
AnaMda mUruti puraMdara viThThalana
neneyada tanuviddu phalavEnu

ಹೆತ್ತ ತಾಯಿ ತಂದೆಗಳ ಚಿತ್ತವ ನೋಯಿಸಿ
ನಿತ್ಯ ದಾನವ ಮಾಡಿ ಫಲವೇನು
ಸತ್ಯ ಸದಾಚಾರ ಇಲ್ಲದವನು
ಜಪ ಹತ್ತುಸಾವಿರ ಮಾಡಿ ಫಲವೇನು
ಜಪ ಹತ್ತುಸಾವಿರ ಮಾಡಿ ಫಲವೇನು

ತನ್ನ ಸತಿ ಸುತರು ಬಂಧುಗಳ ನೋಯಿಸಿ
ಚಿನ್ನ ದಾನವ ಮಾಡಿ ಫಲವೇನು
ಬಿನ್ನಾಳದಿಂದಲಿ ದೇಶ ದೇಶವ ತಿರುಗಿ
ಅನ್ನ ದಾನವ ಮಾಡಿ ಫಲವೇನು

ಗೋಪ್ಯ ಗುಣ ಗುಟ್ಟು ಇಲ್ಲದ ಹೆಣ್ಣಿಗೆ
ರೂಪ ಯೌವನವಿದ್ದು ಫಲವೇನು
ತಾಪತ್ರಯದಿ ಸಂಸಾರ ಕೆಡಿಸುವಂಥ
ಪಾಪಿ ಮಗನು ಇದ್ದು ಫಲವೇನು

ತುಂಡು ಧನದಿಂದ ತಂದೆ ಮಾತು ಕೇಳದ
ತೊಂಡ ಮಗನು ಇದ್ದು ಫಲವೇನು
ಭಂಡು ಮಾಡಿ ಅತ್ತೆ ಮಾವನ ಬೈವ
ಪುಂಡು ಸೋಸೆಯಿದ್ದು ಫಲವೇನು

ಸ್ನಾನಕ್ಕೆ ಪಾನಕ್ಕೆ ಆಗುವ ತಿಳಿ ನೀರು
ಕಾನನ ದೊಳಗಿದ್ದು ಫಲವೇನು
ಆನಂದ ಮೂರುತಿ ಪುರಂದರ ವಿಠ್ಠಲನ
ನೆನೆಯದ ತನುವಿದ್ದು ಫಲವೇನು

Listen to the song here on youtube:

How to Draw Chakrabja Mandala – ಚಕ್ರಾಬ್ಜ ಮಂಡಲ

I had posted the Chakrabja Mandala – ಚಕ್ರಾಬ್ಜ ಮಂಡಲ in December 2012. Not sure how time flies, and I never had the chance to show how to draw this. Yesterday, Ms. Asha texted me on Whatsapp, and asked me how to draw the same. I sent her a link about the details, and finally decided I need to show digitally how to draw this great Mandala on this occasion of Madhwa Navami.

So, here is a step by step illustration on how to draw the same. I have shown how to draw 8 Lotus petals, but you can repeat the same for 12, 24, and 51 lotus petals.

May our Guru Madhwacharya bless us all.

First Valaya:

Draw a triangle

Draw a circle inside the triangle so it creats three houses within the triangle but outside the circle as shown below:

I will update the details to be written within each triangle and lotus as well soon.

Second Valaya:

Draw a circle on the triangle as drawn above, which now creates three areas as shown below:

Third Valaya:

Over the second Valaya as drawn above, draw two triangles, one straight  and another inverted. This will give rise to six small triangular spaces.

Draw a circle over the straight and inverted triangles.

Fourth Valaya

Draw eight petalled Lotus over the third Valaya drawn as shown below:

P.S: Please refer to the actual image posted, I couldn’t draw the petals in any software properly. Please pardon me here.

Draw a circle over the 8 Lotus petals as shown below:

Fifth Valaya :

The fifth Vlaya consists of Lotus with twelve (12) petals. Same as above, draw petals and enclose with a circle.

Sixth Valaya :

The sixth Vlaya consists of Lotus with twenty four (24) petals.

Same as above, draw petals and enclose with a circle.

Seventh Valaya :

Lastly the seventh Valaya consists of fifty one 51 petals. No circle here.

Please find attached details and more information about the same on dvaita.org.

1. http://www.dvaita.org/misc/chakramandala.html

2. And the Mandala itself.

The following image courtesy: dvaita.org.

Madhwa Navami Celebrations

Amazing pictures of Madhwa Navami Celebrations at Mantralaya and Bangalore 5th Block Rayara Mutta.

Please take a look.

• Madwa Navami at Mantralayam

• Madhva Navami & Suvarna Simhasana to Prahladarajaru at 5th Block Jayanagar, Bangalore.

 

Jowar & Akki Rotti – ಜೋಳ & ಅಕ್ಕಿ ರೊಟ್ಟಿ

I try to make food as healthy as possible. So, for the past several months instead of making just Akki/Rice Rotti, I am using other healthy flours like Jowar and Ragi. I usually mix equal portions of Jowar and Ragi and make rotti. The Ragi flour was over, and the weather prevented us to venture out to buy the same.

So, I mixed 2 cups of Jowar flour and 1/2 cup of Rice flour. The rotti turned amazingly soft, and unbelievably tasty. This is also healthy. Make sure you cook the rotti in low flame so patience is required for this rotti.

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups Jowar Flour
2. 1/2 cup Rice Flour
3. 1 large Cucumber or Onion or Carrot finely grated
4. 6-8 green chillies finely chopped
5. 1/4 cup fresh or frozen coconut ( I skipped)
6. 8-10 sprigs cilantro leaves finely chopped
7. 1 tsp jeera
8. salt to taste

Method:

• Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl with water. The dough should not too watery. See pics above.
• In a cold pan or tava, add 1 tsp oil. Now take a tennis size ball of the dough and place in the center of the tava.
• With your palms, slowly start tapping the dough until it forms a thin circle around the tava.
• You can add water to your finger tips while doing this.
• Once the rotti is thin and evenly spread, turn the gas on and place this Tava.
• Let it cook in medium heat until all sides are done.
• Simultaneously on another stove, make the rotti on a bandale, pan.
• Reverse and cook for a minute or two.
• Serve with Chutney or pickle.It tastes crunchy, spicy and way too yumhealth.

P.S:  After you finish making one rotti, the tava or pan has to washed in cold water so that you make another one. If the pan is hot, the dough sticks and you can’t make a thin rotti.

You can find recipes for other rotis posted here:

• Cucumber Rotti – ಸೌತೇಕಾಯಿ  ರೊಟ್ಟಿ with Jowar flour
• Akki Rotti
• Cucumber Akki Rotti – ಸೌತೇಕಾಯಿ ಅಕ್ಕಿ ರೊಟ್ಟಿ

Guruve Varahaja Thatavaasa – ಗುರುವೇ ವರಹಾಜ ತಟವಾಸ Lyrics

Everyday as I listen to Radio Madhva Sangha, I come across unbelievable songs. This song on our Beloved Rayaru stuck in my mind. I kept singing this all day. Surprising that I had not heard this until today.

I went back and checked the Sree Raghavendra Swamy Lyrics page on my blog, and Mr. Vishwas S Sharma had asked about this song.

So, Vishwas S Sharma here comes the lyrics in English. I found the English lyrics on this blog, and I reworked the lyrics after listening to the song several times. The blog  also has the meaning in English and Tamil. I listened to this several times to make sure I got the lyrics properly. Correct me if you think there are mistakes.

guruvE rAghavEMdra  rAghavEMdra
guruvE  varahaja taTha vAsA
puri maMtRAdhIsha

arumore iDuvenO varapada padhamake
karunadal enna mana hariyalli irisO

bhAgi bhajipE guruvE
ennaya rOga harisu prabhuvE
rAghavEMdra durithou dhavi dhUranE
bhOgishayana pAda rAgadhi bhajisuva

bhUta prEta bhAdhe
biDisuva chAthi nimmadu tiLidE
bhUtherenipa jana Athu nimmapadha
prIthi sEvayalli thAthurariharO

mouni varya ninnA
bEDuvE gnana bhakutiyannA
dhAna mADi agnana vanOdisE
hIna yOni bharalEnu anjEnO

parimaLAryar eMdu
nimmaya bhirudhu kELi baMdu
morayaniDuvE tava charanAmburuhake
aravanIyO thava parimaLa swabhaganu

guru sudhIMdra karaja
thOrpudhu hariya pAdha visaja
varadha suhrudhga guru gOviMda viThalana
charana sarOjava nirUpa bhajipa guru

I am still working on Kananda transliteration, will update it soon.

The way the singer Sri Puttur Narasimha Nayak says Raghavendra, Guruve and Govinda Vittala brought tears to my eyes. Amazing lyrics, and an amazing singer who brought life to this song. You can listen to the song here.

https://soundcloud.com/sridhar-patavari/guruve-varahaja-thatavaasa

Here comes the lyrics in Kannada. Let me know if there are any corrections.

ಗುರುವೇ ವರಹಾಜ  ತಟ  ವಾಸ ಪುರಿ  ಮಂತ್ರದೀಶ || Pa ||

ಅರುಮೊರೆ  ಇಡುವೆನೋ ವರಪದ  ಪಧುಮಕೆ
ಕರುಣದಲ್ಲೇನಾ ಮನ  ಹರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ  ಇರಿಸೋ || A. PA||

ಭಾಗಿ  ಭಜಿಪೇ  ಗುರುವೇ ಎನ್ನಯ ರೋಗ  ಹರಿಸು  ಪ್ರಭುವೇ
ರಾಘವೇಂದ್ರ  ಧುರಿ  ತೌಧಾವಿ  ಧೂರನೇ
ಭೋಗಿ  ಶಯನ  ಪಾಧ ರಾಗಧಿ  ಭಜಿಸುವ || 1 ||

ಭೂತ  ಪ್ರೇತ  ಭಾಧೆ  ಬಿಡಿಸುವ ಛಾತಿ ನಿಮ್ಮದು  ತಿಳಿದೇ
ಭೂತರೆನಿಪ  ಜನ  ಆತು ನಿಮ್ಮಪಧ
ಪ್ರೀತಿ  ಸೇವಯಲ್ಲಿ ತಾತುರರಿಹರೋ || 2 ||

ಮೌನಿವರ್ಯ ನಿನ್ನಾ ಬೇಡುವೆ ಜ್ಞಾನ  ಭಕುತಿಯನ್ನಾ
ಧ್ಯಾನ  ಮಾಡಿ  ಅಜ್ಞ್ಯನವನೋಡಿಸೆ
ಹೀನ  ಯೋನಿ  ಭರಲೇನು  ಅಂಜೇನೋ || 3 ||

ಪರಿಮಳಾರ್ಯರ್ ಎಂದು  ನಿಮ್ಮಯ
ಬಿರುಧು  ಕೇಳಿ  ಬಂದು
ಮೊರಯನಿಡುವೇ  ತವ  ಚರಣಂ  ಬುರುಹಕೆ
ಅರವನೀಯೋ  ತವ  ಪರಿಮಳ  ಸ್ವಭಗನು || 4 ||

ಗುರು  ಸುಧೀಂದ್ರ  ಕರಜ ತೋರ್ಪುದು
ಹರಿಯ  ಪಾದ   ವಿಸಜಾ
ವರ ಸುಹೃಧ್ಗ  ಗುರು  ಗೋವಿಂದ  ವಿಠಲನ
ಚರಣ  ಸರೋಜವ  ನಿರುತ  ಭಾಜಿಪ  ಗುರು || 5 ||

The lyrics in Baraha given by Mr. Bhmsen Doss is attached below. May our beloved Rayaru bless Mr. Bhimsen Doss.

guruvE varahaja taTa vAsA
puri maMtrAdhIsha

arumore iDuvenO varapada padumake
karuNadal enna mana hariyali irisO

bAgi bhajipE guruvE
ennaya rOga harisu prabhuvE
rAghavEMdra duritou dhavi dUrane
bhOgishayana pada rAgadi bhajisuva

bhUta prEta bAdhe
biDisuva khyAti nimmadu tiLidE
bhUtarenipa jana Atu nimmapada
prIti sEvayali kAtuharariharO

mouni varya ninnA
bEDuvE j~jAna bhakutiyannA
dAna mADi aj~jAna vanODise
hIna yOni baralEnu aMjEno

parimaLAryareMdu
nimmaya birudu kELi baMdu
morayaniDuvE tava charanAmburuhake
aravanIyO tava parimaLa sobaganu

guru sudhIMdra karaja
tOrpudu hariya pAda visaja
vara  suhrudhga guru gOviMda viThalana
charaNa sarOjava nirUpa bhajipa guru

Mantralaya Mandira Maam Pahi – ಮಂತ್ರಾಲಯ ಮಂದಿರ ಮಾ೦ ಪಾಹಿ Lyrics

I heard this song while listening to Radio Madhwa Sangha. Immediately thought of posting it. You can find the lyrics on Mantralaya web site as well here.

ಮಂತ್ರಾಲಯ ಮಂದಿರ ಮಾ೦ ಪಾಹಿ || pa||

ರಾಘವೆಂದ್ರ ರಾಘವೆಂದ್ರ

ಮದ್ವಾಭಿಧಮುನಿಸದ್ವ೦ಶೋದ್ಭವ
ಅದ್ವೈತಾರಣ್ಯ ಸದ್ವಿತಿಹೋತ್ರ ||1||

ಸುಧಿ೦ದ್ರಯತಿಕರ ಪದುವೋದ್ಭವ ಸುಧಿ
ಗುರುರಾಘವೆಂದ್ರ ಕೋವಿರ ಕುಲವರ್ಯ ||2||

ದ೦ಢ ಧರ ಕೋದ೦ಡ ಪಾಣಿಪದ
ಪು೦ಡರೀಕ ಧ್ಯಾನ ತ೦ಡ ಮತೆ ಹೇ ||3||

ಸುರಧೆನು ಕಲ್ಪತರು ವರಚಿ೦ತಾಮಣಿ
ಶರಣಾಗತ ಜನ ಪರಿಪಾಲ ತ್ವಮ್ ||4||

ಅಭಿನವ ಜನಾಧ೯ನ ವಿಠಲನಾ ಪದಯುಗಳ
ಧ್ಯಾನಿಪ ಮುನಿಕುಲೋತ್ತ೦ಸಾ     ||5||

Listen to the song here on youtube

January 2015 – Important Dates

I have decided to post important dates every month. The remaining festivals and important dates in January 2015 are as such:

January Important Dates

• Purandara Dasara Aradhane – 20-Jan Tue

  • All compositions by Sree Purandara Dasaru posted on this blog can be found here :
  • Sree Purandara Dasaru/

• Rathasapthami – 26-Jan Mon

• Madhwa Navami – 28-Jan Wed

  • Festival details here

• Ekadashi Upavasa – 30-Jan

• Dwadashi & Shri Vadiraja Jayanthi – 31-Jan Sat

As always, please check your local calendar for exact dates.