Meenakshi temple: Devotees gather for divine wedding

         Madurai (TN): The ritual of celestial wedding was held at the Meenakshi temple here on Sunday. The wedding of Goddess Meenakshi, the presiding deity of the temple, with Lord Shiva, is part of an elaborate ten-day long Chitirai Peruviruzha festival, which began on March 30. "It is a very precious day for the people of Madurai today. It is the festival of Goddess Meenakshi and Lord Shiva wedding. Every year thousands and lakhs of devotees of Lord Meenakshi and Lord Shiva come to the temple for their wedding anniversary," said Raja Patter, a priest at the Meenakshi Temple. Married women, on this day, get Mangalsutra (a necklace, symbol of a married woman) tied around their necks by their husbands. "Women get their Mangalsutra tied again by their husband on this day. They return to their respective homes with lot of contentment. The belief behind this tradition is that husbands will have a long life," said Shanti, a devotee. The annual event is seen as renewal of life. Preparations for the ceremony are started weeks in advance. It is believed to be inauspicious to return from the temple without eating the feast. Over 150 people took three days to prepare the purely vegetarian temple feast. Temple authorities say the surge of devotees for this year's ceremony surpassed previous years' attendances.
April 29, 2007

Akhsay Tritya: Time to buy gold
by Uday Adhvaryu

         Ahmedabad: Hindu women go on a gold-buying spree during Akshay Tritya, an auspicious day as per Hindu customs. "Akhshya Tritya" or, the third day of the half of Vaishakh, the second month as per the Hindu almanac on Thursday, is considered auspicious among Hindus. It is considered one of the four most sacred days of the year. The word Akshaya means something which never diminishes. Hence, beginnings made or valuables bought on this day are believed to bring both luck and success. Buying gold and other jewellery is a popular activity on this auspicious day, as yellow metal bespeaks of one's wealth and prosperity. Jewellers keep their shops open well into the night to meet customer demands. "It's a very auspicious day and we buy gold on this day. It's a tradition and we have to buy it despite soaring prices. It benefits us ultimately. We buy both gold as well as diamond jewellery," said Vinesh Bhai, a customer in Ahmedabad. Gold touched a new 11-month high on Thursday but remained below 700 dollars an ounce this week. Prices of precious metal have weakened of late, causing a dip in sales, say the jewellers. "The gold market has gone down by at least 20-25 percent because of the fluctuation in prices. Customers and investors are both confused," claimed Sanjiv Bhai, a jeweller. Customers, however, say gold still is a good investment option, despite pricing volatility. "I think one should invest in gold...everyone does it nowadays. It's very profitable because we can sell the jewellery once the prices rise," said Ripal Parikh, a customer. Gold jewellery forms an important part of Hindu marriages, as parents gift their daughters the metal for financial security. Hindus consider gold an auspicious metal and like to buy or gift it during religious festivals. India, the world's largest gold importer, buys an average of more than a tonne of gold a day to meet two-thirds of its annual gold needs estimated to be around 600 to 700 tonnes.
April 19, 2007

Land mafia encroach on holy ponds in Ayodhya
by Amit Das

           Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh): The sacred ponds dotting Ayodhya have slowly disappeared, due to neglect and poaching by land sharks. Local people say many of the 84 ponds that seers often refer to are nothing but sewage dumps, at other places. Weeds grow over forsaken territory, while others have fallen prey to the land- mafia. "There are many ponds in Ayodhya. All of them are falling into ruin. People have constructed their houses at certain sites. Some have been converted into garbage dumps and others have been usurped by land sharks. The holy town is on the verge of losing its claim to being the cradle of culture, tradition and religion because of these practices," said Mahant Gyandas, a Hindu seer. Chhote Lal, whose shanty is close to a garbage dump spilling over into an ancient pond's remains, said: "Legend has it that Lord Rama and his wife Queen Seeta would come to this pond site for a stroll. Also the holy yajna would be considered complete only when water from this pond was taken for the religious rituals. Such is the importance of these ancient ponds". Local administration said steps would be taken to remove encroachments and restore the ponds to their ancient glory. "We are in the process of sorting out the alleged encroachments from the ancient ponds. At the moment, we are busy with election preparations and security. But even then, we will get the preliminary data of what is the status of these sites - photography of the sites and archaeological data on them. As soon as the elections are over, we will take the investigation as top priority and take the sternest of actions against the miscreants," said Amod Kumar, District Magistrate of Faizabad. The town is supposed to have once been dotted with various ponds. These ponds were designed in different kind of patterns - some in a step-well kind of pattern, others in just water-fill sites.
April 16, 2007

Conversion: Tirupati priests launch campaign

          Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh): Tirupati temple priests have launched a drive to prevent conversion of lower caste Hindus. "Most of the people in Dalit wards and other downtrodden areas are being influenced by other religions and joining them. This is a bid to stop that," claimed B. Karunakara Reddy, the Chairman of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam Trust. Chinnaka, a dalit woman said the move would bridge the gap between upper and lower caste Hindus. "Five years back, we were not allowed to break coconuts at the temple. They said you are of low caste. After a lot of discussions, today the temple authorities came carrying the deity to our village and we are very happy to see this," she said. Conversion is a sensitive issue in the country and radical groups accuse Christian missionaries of luring poor and backward villagers to change their faith in lieu of food and jobs, a charge they have denied. More than 16 per cent of the country's 1.1 billion population are Dalits. The Government has reserved quotas in educational institutions and government jobs for their upliftment.
April 10, 2007

Goddess Amman: Walk over burning embers to please God

          Chennai (Tamil Nadu): Hindus walked over a pit of red- hot, burning embers, piercing their bodies as an act of penance and thanksgiving to the Goddess Amman. "I was not well for a long time. I prayed but my health remained bad. But when I last prayed to Goddess Amman, I was relieved from all my health problems. And this is why, I am here to perform the fire walk," said Subramanium, a devotee. "My husband was unwell. His legs did not work. So, I prayed to Goddess Amman to make my husband well. Now he has been cured. So, here I am to thank the Goddess by performing this fire walk," said Mallika, another devotee. Besides walking across the fire pit, devotees, many of them in trance, pierced their bodies with stainless steel wires. Men with iron cages around their torso also stood in the heat to thank the Goddess for fulfilling their wishes. The devotees fast for ten days as penance, ahead of the festival. This ceremony generates extraordinary religious enthusiasm and thousands of devotees surge towards the shrine from the surrounding areas. Besides Tamil Nadu, this festival is also prevalent in parts of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.
April 9, 2007

Jagannath Temple: Queen's once-in-a-lifetime prayer

         Puri: Queen Lilabati Pattamahadei today prayed at the famous Jagannath temple here, which is her first and last. As per the tradition, the Queen of Puri gets only one opportunity in her life to visit the temple. The queen arrived at the temple, which was already cleared of all the devotees and priests, on a special closed palanquin. The king, Gajapati Dibyasingh Deb, who arrived on another palanquin for the private visit or Gahan Bije, accompanied her. The king was then handed over the keys to the premises. A 13-year-old boy, who was selected as the priest by the king to conduct today's prayers, received the royal couple inside the sanctum sanctorum. The rituals were performed which was followed by other members of royal family offering their prayers. "Now the queen has turned into a servant of the Lord," said a temple official after the Gahan Bije was completed. The King Gajapati Maharaja of Puri is traditional servant of the Lord Jagannath, and he has to perform the ritual of sweeping the floors of the rath, when the annual procession of the Lord Jagannath is taken out here. The last such visit took place in 1966, when Lilabati's mother- in-law Suryamani Pattamahadei came to the temple. Today's ritual will be followed by a huge wedding reception of the eldest daughter of the Puri royal couple. Princess Devjyoti was married to Riddhiraj Singh of Gujarat royal family on March 6.
April 8, 2007

Saint Thomas: Christians trek up to Kerala shrine

          Thiruvananthapuram / Srinagar: While Christians in Kerala trekked to a hill top shrine dedicated to Saint Thomas to offer special prayers on Good Friday, believers in Kashmir visited a church to observe the day. The day marks the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Some of the devotees were carrying heavy wooden crosses, treked up the arduous, rocky slope leading to a shrine dedicated to Saint Thomas, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ in Malayattoor, symbolic of Christ's suffering before crucifixion. It is the only shrine in India to have the prestigious international recognition by the Vatican . It is situated at 1,208 feet above sea-level. One of the devotees, Paraman, who was covering the entire journey dragging himself on his knees, said he was treking to show his gratitude to God. "My son had a speech problem. He used to stammer a lot. But after praying to God he has been cured. I am making this visit, covering the entire journey on my knees, to thank God for the miracle," he said. Every year as many as 4.5 million pilgrims visit the shrine and the number is increasing over the years. The shrine is believed to be located where Saint Thomas spent many days in prayers. "A lot of miracles are happening here, the increasing number of pilgrims every year, signify that they are getting different kinds of favours from Saint Thomas the apostle," Father Varghese Njaliath, Vicar of Saint Thomas Church, Malayattoor said. In Srinagar too Christians thronged the All Saint's Church to offer special prayers on the occasion. Men, women and children gathered at the church singing hymns and praying to their saviour Jesus Christ. "There should be peace in Kashmir . We have been suffering for quite sometime. We wish that every heart should get solace and the message of God that 'God is love' should reach everyone," said Honey Gabriel, one of the devotees. During the whole week preceding Easter, there were lengthy canonical prayers at churches with readings from the Gospels, Epistles and the Old Testament. People also do social service during the week. Christianity is one of the prominent religions in India . At present there are about 25 million Christians in the country.
April 6, 2007

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