24 Oct
Stunning pictures from Mantralaya for Deepavali Mahabhisheka. Take a look.
http://raghavendramutt.org/stories/deepavali-mahabhisheka
Mantralaya website also has a short video of the Deepavali Mahabhisheka. Watch here.
http://raghavendramutt.org/stories/deepavali-mahabhisheka-video
May our beloved Rayaru bless everyone who believes in him on this Diwali Festival.
23 Oct
Please find attached pictures of Naraka Chaturdashi celebrations in Mantralaya.
http://raghavendramutt.org/stories/naraka-chaturdashi-celebrations-shri-matha
Wish you all a VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS DEEPAVALI/DIWALI.
20 Oct
A partial solar eclipse is visible in the United States on Thursday October 23rd 2014. Eclipse Begins at 3:38 PM EST and Ends at 7:42 PM EST.
The Lakshmi Pooja which usually is performed on Amavasya i.e. Thursday should be performed a day earlier on Wednesday or a day after the Eclipse Friday.
As I have been traveling extensively the past couple of months, and am in New Jersey right now, I am going to perform the Lakshmi Pooje on Friday October 24th 2014.
Please check your local calendars if you reside in other countries.
18 Oct
The word Diwali originated from the Sanskrit word “Deepavali” which means “rows of light”. This 5 day long Hindu festival is celebrated throughout the world with great enthusiasm and happiness. Diwali or deepavali is the festival signifying the victory of good against evil.
It usually occurs in October/November, and is one of the most popular and eagerly awaited festivals in India and all over the world. Diwali comes 3 weeks after Dasara.
The first day of Diwali celebrations i.e. on Thrayodasi ತ್ರಯೋದಶಿ is called as Neeru Thumbuva Habba ನೀರು ತುಂಬುವ ಹಬ್ಬ in Kannada. This day all the vessels which are used to fill or collect water are cleaned in the evening, decorated with mango leaves, flowers, and rangoli. I remember all the water geysers and boilers were washed, filled with fresh water and rangoli drawn on them this day.
The rangoli prepared is by soaking rice in water for a few hours and grinding the same into a smooth paste. My Mom used to take a piece of cloth, dip it into this rice paste and draw Rangoli every where from the front door to the kitchen. All corners of the house used to have rangoli, which used to be as white as milk. Just amazing.
Naraka Chaturdashi is celebrated on the second day of diwali celebrations. People wake up early in the morning apply the kumkum (ladies in the household do the arathi), on their foreheads and then take bath.
We used to all sit on a platform, usually called a Mane which is decorated with Rangoli designs, lamps lit on both sides. Everyone is applied Kumkum on the forehead, given betel leaf, nut, and arathi is done by elderly ladies in the house. They will take the oil cup and dip a flower in it and apply it on everyones head. And the man are supposed to give money for the ladies doing the Aarathi. Such a nice tradition, isn’t it?
The story goes that Narakasura the daemon ruler of Pragjyotishpur after defeating Lord Indra had snatched away the magnificent earrings of Aditi, the Mother Goddess and imprisoned 16,000 daughters of the gods and saints in his harem. On the day previous to Naraka-chaturdashi, Lord Krishna killed the demon and liberated the imprisoned daughters and also recovered those precious earrings of Aditi. As a symbol of that victory Lord Krishna smeared his forehead with the demon’s blood and returned home in the very early morning of the Naraka-chaturdashi day. The womenfolk massaged scented oil to his body and gave him a good bath to wash away the filth from his body. Since then the custom of taking bath before sunrise on this day has become a traditional practice.
Another legend is about King Bali. His power and increasing influence posed a threat to the security of all ‘Devatas’ so they prayed Lord Vishnu to help them out. To help Devatas and to curb King Bali’s powers Lord Vishnu went to King Bali in the guise of a short-height ‘Brahmin’, and begged to give him only that much area of land that he could cover with in three steps because King Bali was well known for his philanthropy. King Bali saw just a short-height ‘Brahmin’ asking for a little piece of land so he proudly granted him his wish. That very moment that short-height ‘Brahmin’ disappeared and there was almighty Lord Vishnu in place of him. In his first step Lord Vishnu covered the heaven and in the second step the earth and asked King Bali where to put his third step. Then King Bali offered his head to Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu put his third step on his head and pushed him deep into the underground. But at the same time being impressed by his generosity Lord Vishnu gave King Bali the lamp of knowledge and allowed him to return to earth once a year to light millions of lamps.
The third day of Diwali is the most important day during which we perform Lakshmi Pooje; to the Goddess Lakshmi. Lakshmi Pooje falls on the dark night of Amavasya. Lakshmi Puja is performed in the evening to seek blessings of Goddess of Wealth.
I am sure you all will do the Lakshmi Pooje, and get her blessings. The most important song we sing while performing Lakshmi Pooje is Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma song.
The fourth day of Diwali is called “Bali Padyami“. Bali would come out of Pathala Loka and rule Bhuloka as per the boon given by Lord Vishnu. Hence, it is known as ‘Bali Padyami’.
P.S: Diwali dates – 2014
This year Diwali is celebrated from November 1st – November 4th.
October 21st – Neeru Thumbuva Habba
October 22nd – Naraka Chaturdasi
October 23rd – Lakshmi Pooja
October 24th – Bali Padyami
What is Naraka Chaturdashi?
Naraka Chaturdashi is celebrated on the second day of diwali celebrations. People wake up early in the morning apply the kumkum (ladies in the household do the arathi), on their foreheads and then take bath.
The story goes that Narakasura the daemon ruler of Pragjyotishpur after defeating Lord Indra had snatched away the magnificent earrings of Aditi, the Mother Goddess and imprisoned 16,000 daughters of the gods and saints in his harem. On the day previous to Naraka-chaturdashi, Lord Krishna killed the demon and liberated the imprisoned daughters and also recovered those precious earrings of Aditi. As a symbol of that victory Lord Krishna smeared his forehead with the demon’s blood and returned home in the very early morning of the Naraka-chaturdashi day. The womenfolk massaged scented oil to his body and gave him a good bath to wash away the filth from his body. Since then the custom of taking bath before sunrise on this day has become a traditional practice.
Another legend is about King Bali. His power and increasing influence posed a threat to the security of all ‘Devatas’ so they prayed Lord Vishnu to help them out. To help Devatas and to curb King Bali’s powers Lord Vishnu went to King Bali in the guise of a short-height ‘Brahmin’, and begged to give him only that much area of land that he could cover with in three steps because King Bali was well known for his philanthropy. King Bali saw just a short-height ‘Brahmin’ asking for a little piece of land so he proudly granted him his wish. That very moment that short-height ‘Brahmin’ disappeared and there was almighty Lord Vishnu in place of him. In his first step Lord Vishnu covered the heaven and in the second step the earth and asked King Bali where to put his third step. Then King Bali offered his head to Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu put his third step on his head and pushed him deep into the underground. But at the same time being impressed by his generosity Lord Vishnu gave King Bali the lamp of knowledge and allowed him to return to earth once a year to light millions of lamps.
October 23rd – Lakshmi Pooja
P.S: Past few years pooja pictures attached below….
The third day of Diwali is the most important day during which we perform Lakshmi Pooje; to the Goddess Lakshmi. Lakshmi Pooje falls on the dark night of Amavasya. Lakshmi Puja is performed in the evening to seek blessings of Goddess of Wealth.
I am sure you all will do the Lakshmi Pooje, and get her blessings. The most important song we sing while performing Lakshmi Pooje is Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma song.
Some useful links for Lakshmi Pooja:
October 24th – Bali Padyami
The fourth day of Diwali is called “Bali Padyami“. Bali would come out of Pathala Loka ಪಾತಾಳ ಲೋಕ and rule Bhuloka ಭೂಲೋಕ as per the boon given by Lord Vishnu. Hence, it is known as ‘Bali Padyami’.
King Bali of the netherworld, with his mighty power, had become a threat to the gods. To curb his powers, Lord Vishnu in the guise of a Brahmin boy (Vamana), visited him and begged for that much land he could cover with three footsteps.
So, with the first step, Vamana covered the entire heaven and with the second step the earth. When he asked Bali where he could keep his third step, Bali offered his head and put the Lord’s foot on his head. Lord Vishnu banishes Bali into the Pathala (nether land) by his third stride. Later, pleased by his generosity, Lord Vishnu grants him a boon to return to earth once in a year to light millions of lamps to dispel the darkness and ignorance and spread the radiance of love and wisdom.
Links to songs sung while performing Aarathi during Diwali.
1 Aug
Shri Vara Mahalakshmi Vrata is performed by married Hindu women to seek the blessings of the Goddess Mahalakshmi, wife of Lord Vishnu.
The Vrata is observed on the Friday immediately preceding the full moon day of the month of
Sravana Masa. On the day of Pooje or Vrata, women clean their homes and decorate their front yards with rangolis. Later, they take a bath and deck wear pure silk saree and jewellery. The lady performing the pooje makes a mandala with the drawing of a lotus upon it. A kalasha filled with rice and topped with fresh mango and betel leaves, a coconut smeared with haldi and kumkum and cloth are placed on the mandala and Lakshmi is invoked therein.
After the worship of the kalasha, follows the worship of Ganesha, then the worship of the sacred thread. Now the main worship of Vara Lakshmi begins and the scared thread is worshipped a second time. It is then tied to the right hand of the lady. After the worship thamboola is given to 5 married ladies.
The same evening, we invite all the neighboring ladies(married women) and offer them tamboola; also called veeledele Adike, which is an offering of betel leaves, fruits, betel nuts, kumkum, haldi and dakshine. At this point the ladies also sing songs in praise of goddess Varalakshmi.
Attached below is a scanned vrata procedure in Kannada:
So, here comes the link which has the lyrics for all songs posted on this blog on Goddess Lakshmi.
And here comes the link which has colorful and many designs for drawing Rangoli
And can any festival be complete without authentic dishes? Here are some recipes posted in this blog:
Attached is the post link for the links I have for lyrics, and Shravana Friday Pooje procedure.
P.S: As always no food is prepared with onion or garlic.
Shri Vara Mahalakshmi Vrata pooje at Chandrika’s house six years back.
Shri Vara MahaLakshmi Vrata 1
29 Jul
2013 pictures of Evening Lakshmi Pooje.
Preparation for Pooje – Step 1.
Pooje Preparation of gejje vastra, flowers, lamps, and naivedya.
Offer Haldi Kumkum, flowers, gejje vastra, and light the lamps.
Light the Agarbathi.
Break the coconut, perform naivedya, do mangalaruthi and aarathi for Goddess Lakshmi.
Evening Lakshmi Pooja on 7/20/2012.
Rangoli designs for the Pooja, with Lakshmi Hrudaya.
A picture of jasmine garland made from flowers in my own garden for Lakshmi Pooja.
Pooja begins with lamps, flowers, Gejje Vastra:
After, Naivedya, Mangalaruthi, and Lakshmi Aarathi.
Shravana Shukravara Lakshmi pooja is performed on all the Friday’s. This year it is performed on August 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd.
I have scanned and attached a document which has the complete details on performing Sri Lakshmi Pooja during Fridays and also Shravana Masa. This shouldn’t be confused for Sri VaraMahaLakshmi Vrata. I will post a separate post providing all details for Sri VaraMahaLakshmi Vrata.
This document has all the details from doing the Achamana, to Sankalpa, Dhyana, Naivedya, and Maha Mangalarathi.
It is a PDF document and is in Kannada.
Attached below are other links posted here on Goddess Lakshmi.
Attached below are some other links where many more posts have been added on Lyrics and Goddess Lakshmi.
Attached below are links to various food prepared during the festival. As always, no onion and no garlic offered to God.
23 Jun
As per Uttaradimatta Panchanga, this year in Jaya Nama Samvatsara, Shravana Masa starts from July 27th and ends on August 25th 2014.
There are many festivals during this month and as always I will post slokas, pooja details and many more details a few days before each of these important dates. Here is a list of important dates and festivals during Shravana Masa 2014.
Please refer to the closet temple or other calendar to find the dates of the festivals in the country you are living. These dates posted are based on Indian Standard Time.
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