Friday, 28 February 2025
THAT, WHICH IS FOREVER MORE
Sheran Waali, Lady of the lions!
She was good at Her studies and all the rishis who came to teach Her gave Her an excellent report card. “She can do even better, if She wants,” said Bhrighu one day to Himavat. “But…”
“But?”
“But I have noticed, your Majesty, that Parvati puts in only as much effort as is required to get the basics right. She could excel in anything that She wants, and to be honest She does all things very well, but then, I have noticed, She leaves it at a level of ‘fairly good’, and weans off. It is as if She has Her heart in something else.”
“Hmm… like what?”
"Like, She hardly plays with Her dolls, She keeps making Shivalingas in the sand.”
“The only thing that interests Her about the dolls, is when a doll marriage is arranged!”
“Yes! Yes, that’s true,” said Mena. “I have to make new dresses for the doll bride, and Parvati insists that I make many sweetmeats in the kitchen!”
“Hmm… does She still say She will marry Shiva?” Himavat asked Mena.
“Oh, come on, She is just a child. And those things are very far. Who knows who will marry whom?”
“Shiva. It will always be Shiva,” said Bhrighu with a solemn look.
“Always be Shiva what?” asked Mena.
“It will always be Shiva, whom Shakti marries. It was so in the past, and it will be so in future,” said Bhrighu, his eyes now half closed in meditative bliss.
“Why, captain? What has Parvati done?” smiled Himavat.
“My Lord, She goes after the mountain leopards and panthers, catches them and then pats them as if they are little kittens. It’s dangerous my Lord, this sort of play.”
“But do not all princes play with the wild cats as if they were our domesticated cats? Is it not part of their training and even courage?” asked Himavat.
“Yes, my Lord, but we must not forget that Parvati is all of eight years! And my Lord… She is a girl!”
“Hmm… you are right, captain. I think Parvati deserves a new title for this trait,” laughed Himavat loudly. “From now on we should call Her, Sheran Waali, Lady of the lions!”
“Haha, what are you gentlemen discussing about my little Goddess?” chipped in Mena. “Parvati is luminous, resplendent; She is Jyotan Waali, the embodiment of light…”
From the book ~ SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller. , a modern rendition of Great God Shiva's story by Shail Gulhati
Thursday, 27 February 2025
THE QUEEN OF TIME
A CELESTIAL BREEZE
Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Kaliyattam Festival on March 3 & 4, 2025 at Parakunnath Sri Vettaikkorumakan Temple, Aroli, Kannur.
The annual Kaliyattam Festival at Parakunnath Sri Vettaikkorumakan Temple, Aroli, Kannur will be held on March 3 & 4, 2025 (Malayalam Era 1200 Kumbham 19 & 20). The festival includes traditional rituals and performances. We warmly invite everyone to participate and receive the divine blessings.
Chairman
Parakunnath Sri Vettaikkorumakan Kshethram Sevasamithi
March 3, 2025 - Monday
• 5:00 PM – Temple Opening & Rituals
• 6:00 PM- The Vettaikkorumakan Theyyam Thottam performance starts
• Bhagaval Keerthanalapanam
March 4, 2025 - Tuesday
• 5:00 PM – Temple Opening & Rituals
• 6:00 PM – Spiritual speech (Sri Ramachandran Master PV, Aroli)
• 7:30 PM – Urpazhasi Vettaikkorumakan Vellattam Performance
• Followed by Prasadasadya
• Midnight- Urpazhasi Vettaikkorumakan Theyyam Performance & Final Rituals
SHIVRATRI
WE KNOW HIM AS SHIV !
Tuesday, 25 February 2025
WHAT IS SHIVRATRI ?
It’s that time of year,
when all beings of the manifest world,
from ants,
to birds, animals and even plants,
behave with a certain cheer,
as if cosmically 'stirred' out of their sleepy dormancy
into a mood of 'waking'.
We humans too find ourselves bubbly.
Winter has gone, and a sparkling Sun
is thawing its way, springing into a fresh sky.
And everyone seems to perceive that certain Divinity,
about the way Nature begins the season's regeneration.
Shiv bhakts, in particular, seem doubly merry,
with a definitive halo of authority
that has recently dawned on their countenance,
getting into busy mode and frenetic festivity…
And why not?
It’s that time of year, when
in the dark half of 'Phalgun',
in English, february or maybe march,
on the I3th or I4th day,
the longest night, which is also moonless and so the darkest
has come.
But behold, they say it is the great night of their auspicious Lord,
Shiva ratri, the beginning of all light.
Celebrated all over India,
in homes and in temples,
by the ascetics and the householders,
in sober prayer and in ecstatic intoxication,
by ritual and by trance,
in stillness and in dance,
and many things more.
It is attended by legends
of the wicked and the devout,
the sickly and the stout,
but none agrees on exactly what it’s about.
"It’s Shiva's birthday," say some.
Others swear it’s His wedding night with Parvati.
Some opine that is when the Ananda Tandava,
the first Dance, began.
Yet others teach of it as the profundity of awakening,
saying,
“It’s the celebration of the day Shiva was illumined
about cosmic mind,
a Primal consciousness,
His own rhythm Divine!”
Shail Gulhati, author of the bestselling book series shiva the says " Shivratri is actually the realisation night of Shiva, when after intense meditation He finally realises His own Shivaness. This is a realisation by Shiva of His Shakti, which then shows its magic across the entire Universe. Therefore Shivratri can be all three in one go: Shiva's realisation, His birth ( to Self ) and His marriage to Shakti ( His own Power )
This picture of Shiva is the one that adorns Shail gulhati's house temple. It is displayed openly on the Shivratri night.
Aum Namah Shivaye.Shail Gulhati is the Author of the books :
SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.
The Yogi and the snake
Shiva Poetry
NAAM ROOP- A Tribute to the Divine
And Life Said.
When is it possible to actually get God to accept your gifts?
Dear friends and Shiva bhakts,
this is an amazing pic from the net. A bhaktin does Abhishek of a Shivalinga somewhere near the banks of a holy river town- probably Haridwar or Rishikesh, and we note that Lord Shiva virtually pops up to give blessings. Her efforts have born fruit. But we also see something startling: Shiva is drenched with the potions of the Abhishek!
Is this possible? Can an offering on a stone image thousands of miles away actually reach a chosen personage? Practically speaking, this is an impossibility, a type of wishful thinking.
But we in India, have long had the tradition of sharing even our food with our God first in a similar manner, and we call this 'Bhog lagana'- 'To make God partake in our feast, knowing that all comes from Him anyway', and because according to the ancient rishis, anything was possible for God,we would do well to understand that this painted scene means to convey a higher message:
When you do something with your body and mind and also pour your soul into it, when Namah Shivaye becomes Mano Shivaye, Tano Shivaye, Dhano Shivaye, metaphorically speaking, ' Shiva is drenched with your love' . He can no longer resist giving you His Darsana.When you offer Him everything you have, your body ( karma) your mind ( gyana) , and your very soul ( raja yoga) , knowing that all these come from Him, then your worship with the combination of all these blossoms into a great Bhakti bhava, and Shiva ,who is Aashotosh, ( easily pleased ), will come to your very doorstep. His Idol in your heart and mandir both, will begin to shine with a divine luminescence for ever after.
Aum Namah Shivaye!
Shail Gulhati author of SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.series.
Monday, 24 February 2025
YOUR NAME, AND HIS BEING.
SHIVA DIKSHA: THE HIGHEST TRAINING