Om Namah Shivaya

Om Namah Shivaya

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Showing posts with label Tadkeshwar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tadkeshwar. Show all posts

Mar 14, 2014

1ST EDITION OF 2014 - Shadow Dancing With Mind

WELCOME TO THE FIRST EDITION OF SHADOW DANCING WITH MIND OF THE YEAR 2014

After a long gap I am bringing my usual edition of the blog, where I collate all the posts that I have had written previously. I hope you will enjoy this one...

Last month I had a chance to meet one of the most famous writer from Chennai, Timeri N Murari, through our Sans Serif Book Club, where we had invited him to interact and share his personal thoughts on the books that he has written. This post is about the book which chronicles his travel to Mount Kailash, Heavenly abode of Lord Shiva, “Limping To The Center of The World” – AN AMAZING BOOK


I usually don’t read hard core fiction. Murder Plots are the last on my list of fun but when, I did a little bit of research, felt little relieved that there must be something more than blood and gore. The book seemed to be one of the biggest – selling Japanese thrillers ever and the inspiration for a cult film. And yes it took me by surprise and really enjoyed reading it. It was a good book, perfectly portraying the mind of a genius mathematician Ishigami and his college mate and kind of competitor, Physics Professor Yukawa in the back drop of the accidental murder of Togashi, ex Husband of the heroine Yasuko.


The three keys to become a published author…

There are many reasons; creative people of Chennai eagerly wait for the Hindu Lit For Life Festival that started happening annually since 2010. Some of them, are there to get their 'fix' of 15 seconds of fame by standing up and giving their piece of ‘Gyan’, instead of asking questions, or proudly claiming to be better than those on the stage and some are out right blatant, promoting their blog or whatever they do, crying hoarse that no one is listening to their pearls of wisdom. But thankfully they are less in numbers and are contained by the sheer power of brilliance that Nirmala Lakshman and Hindu Team, brings forward on the stage.



WANDERLUST:

Rishikesh, one of the most serene and spiritual places of the world, has always filled my heart with peace and tranquility. This time, as there was International Yoga Festival, (1st to 7th March, 2014) Dev Bhoomi (Land of Gods) has a different color and atmosphere. As my younger brother has come from Singapore, so he thought of joining me from Delhi… So here are some of my impressions from the trip... through some of the pictures that I took there…


ANOTHER SOURCE OF SPIRITUAL ENERGY, FOUND IN HIMALAYA'S LAP....
Hidden in the thousands of valleys, surrounded by tall, serene and mysterious Himalayan peaks, one always find some secluded spot, where all the nature focuses its energy of creations to manifest the power of supreme consciousness, in physical things, which the mankind can feel if not see... And one such place, I came to be in last November, is Tadkeshwar Temple.


When you are in wilderness, and come across a signboard like the one below, that has a Tiger's fierce face and reads "This Is My Kingdom", be very very careful. It was an interesting journey last November on the trail of wild Tigers and here are some of my images from the adventure.... Come lets get lost in the Kingdom of Wild Tigers....

Though I have had attended all of the Indi Blogger meets in Chennai, it was my first Indiblogger meet in Delhi on 28th March. Sky scanner Indiblogger meet became all the more important to me, as I have had the opportunity to present to a large group of bloggers, the idea of Indi Blogger for Social Action (IBSA).


STILL LIFE:

After 7 years of making of the Shiva's Temple, based on the South Indian Temple Architecture - by the sthapati's (The builders of Temples based on Vedic Rituals and style) of Famous Madurai Minakshi Temple  at one of my friend Karuna's village, it was a pleasure to be there once again.... And this time it was to be socially responsible, as Karuna says... and we arranged Sangat Pangat event on the lines of the Famous Acharya Kishore Kunal, where we planned to have food with villagers without thinking about Caste and creed... and I loved it.



From the very beginning, Light house's have fascinated me and when there was a talk of visiting Chennai Light house as it has been recently opened for public at our Chennai Bloggers Club, I was ready to join with my handy camera..



Hope you will enjoy this edition... look forward to your comments and visit to the next Edition... please click on the “Join this Site” button on the right hand side top corner to follow my posts on this blog... I will be grateful.

__
Shashi
 नमः शिवाय
Om Namah Shivaya
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30th Edition                                                                                             32nd Edition

Dec 18, 2013

WANDERLUST: Tadkeshwar Temple - A Siddha Peetha of Lord Shiva in Uttrakhand

ANOTHER SOURCE OF SPIRITUAL ENERGY, FOUND IN HIMALAYA'S LAP....

Hidden in the thousands of valleys, surrounded by tall, serene and mysterious Himalayan peaks, one always find some secluded spot, where all the nature focuses its energy of creations to manifest the power of supreme consciousness, in physical things, which the mankind can feel if not see... And one such place, I came to be in last November, is Tadkeshwar Temple. There is a local story here that after killing Tadkeshwar Demon, Lord Shiva came here to rest and Goddess Parvati turned into 7 tall deodar trees to give Him shade. The valley is now surrounded by the same 7 trees, which is probably one of the rare places at 2000 Mts height at which this temple is located. The presiding deity of Garhwal Rifles of Indian Army, whose men always come to pay their respects to Lord Shiva after serving their posts on the front, is one of the most powerful temples for the 84 districts around (one of them is Lansdowne - 36 KMs away). For me, it was a place to spend some time, in meditation as well as sadhana, as its a Siddha Pitha (A Place where one can attain Siddhi, which for me means a connection with supreme consciousness... ) So walk with me and experience what I felt, through the images that I have captured during my stay in and around the temple...

The lamp within the temple, focuses all your sense to Shiva...
Along with my friend Parvendar Chauhan and Ashu, we started from the Dak Banglow, where I was staying in Dhampur for the 60 KMs trip to Tarkeshwar Temple....

At the Dak Bangla in Dhampur with Ashu... before we started...
The trip with friends, who are local is always the best way to know a place as it will give you insights that a traveler will not be able to know...  So on the way, I was lucky to visit almost all the temples, specially the one of Lord Hanuman "Siddha Bali Baba" who my friend Chauhan revers....

A SHIVA TEMPLE HIDDEN AWAY IN THE PLAIN SIGHT
After Kotdwar, when we were nearing Duggadda, I was asked by my friend to remove footwear as one of the most powerful temples of Shakti is coming ... He has been staying in the place and says that the stream that is flowing nearby, a local picnic attraction, has been his favorite haunt since childhood and have always made him feel the flow of happiness within... 

Some life remains

Empty of being
Just floating in sensual stream
As usual the Durga Devi Temple, my isht Devi, has always welcomed me with peace, strength and happiness and this temple, hidden in one of the caves, just off the road to Tadkeshwar Temple, got me into those sense of being one with Universal Consciousness... remembered reverently our own ancient Durga Temple and Kali Ma in our village...

Durga Ji at Dugadda is a swaymbhu i.e. natural idol, which is deep in
the cave behind me... 
And after visiting almost all the place of worship, we were finally on our way to higher ranges of mountains... and the weather changed dramatically. The road became a pathway to natural heaven,frequented more by mist and clouds....


Tapestry of life
A cosmic design; Living
Unraveling End
And finally we reached Tadkeshwar Temple... The temple where its believed that Goddess Parvati, consort of Lord Shiva, worshiped to be married to Shiva.... The entrance has one of the powerful shloka in Sanskrit, praying to the virtue of this powerful temple...

Entrance to the Dev Bhoomi... God's Land Of Tadkeshwar
The walkway of around half a KM down into the bowl shape valley has interesting way of revealing the beauty of the place in slow motion... you find yourself slowly engulf in the beauty of the place, hidden far away from everything that you have been coming from.. just like one enters ones own self in introspection, the path leads you to the Shiva's heavenly adobe as if you are traveling deep within your heart....


The bathing Pool...
Well, finally it was time for our friend, Chauhan to pose... 

At the entrance of the temple ...
Its said that the original Shiva Linga, that came into the dreams of one of the Landlord around the place, to uncover from earth and establish a temple in Shiva's name, was sinking because of the water that is offered in daily rituals at the Lingam.. Hence the authorities decided to establish another Idol of Shiva, to be offered daily ritual....

Tadkeshwar Shiva Idol - Om Namah Shivaya.
In respect of Goddess Parvati, who is around here in the form of Tall Deodar Trees... a temple for Shakti was established ....

Shakti Ma... Jai Durga Ji
The view from the outside temple... within the valley is one of serenity and peace...

Ashu and Pravendar


The surrounding trees...
Its said here that there is one bird that visits every night and prays to Lord Shiva... and if you focus listening to it, you will find that she is repeating Shiva Mantra... Om Namah Shivaya... Well we were not so lucky to hear her... but I did get to take a picture.. though I am not sure she's the one... as she was busy working on her nest...

A beautiful wood pecker, too busy to pose for me... 
Somehow, after my mediation and rituals in the temple, I felt a deep sense of need to ask for something from Lord Shiva there... So I asked and promised to be back next year... and I am sure that I will be visiting this place again and again....

Temple's silence echoes
Within the deep forest
Bells keep chanting
The early morning if you wake and take the trip to the top of the mountain peak above the Dharmashala, that is there to provide shelter wishing to stay in the night there...; and if you are lucky, you will be able to see the top three Mountain tops of Himalaya... The view from the peak here is around 300 KM....

The panoramic view of Himalayas.. covered in the mist...
I hope you have enjoyed this walk with me... and if you are more interested in the Spiritual Treks like this... do look around in the blog or search for Jageshwar, Rishikesh, Dakshineshwar at my blog.. you are bound to come across some very interesting and powerful treks... Cheers!!!
__
Shashi
नमः शिवाय
Om Namah Shivaya
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Lost in the Kingdom Of Bengal Tiger
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